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BFG 285-75-16

Hi this is my first post and let me start of by saying that all the discussions have been excellent :)
I'm a few weeks away from getting my factory ordered, yellow Av ;D.
It's going to be a 1500-Z71, does anyone know if there's any difference in suspension/vehicle height between the 1500s and the 2500s? My local dealer didn't have any 2500s instock for me to measure up.
Thanks for the info.
 
mrrosenfield, post some pics of that beast >:D, TommyTo, the 2500 has the same suspension as the z71 but it is alot beefier and rides stiffer due to it being a 3/4 ton. The z71 is actually taller than the 2500 due to the fact that the 2500 comes with 245 vs 265 series tires on the z71.

Alex
 
The 2500 uses the heavy duty truck rear end components: 10.5" 14-bolt rear end (full floating) with 8 lugs. It also uses leaf springs instead of coil springs. The GVW is 8600 lbs compared to the 1500's 6800lbs.
The 2500 has the 8.1 L engine; it comes in 4x4 only, at this time. The 1500 is only available with the 5.3, and either two- or four-wheel drive.
The 2500 can tow 4000 lbs more than the 1500.
The 2500 uses a heavier transmission, as well.
Hope this helps. I ordered mine 2/17, and it arrived 3/4. Fast! :B:
 
I just checked the door jam and it shows the stock wheels at 16 x 6.5 for the 03 2500. The factory recommends 50 psi up front and 80 psi in the back. With the 285's I am running about 45-50 up front and about 50-55 rear unloaded.

That centerline deals sounds great. Quality forged wheels often run over $200 a pop.
 
mrosenfield said:
Here it is, in all its glory. ?(y)
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Looks great with the new shoes! ;D
 
Alex, mrosenfield,
Thanks for the info on the differences/similarities. It's great to have such a deep resource to go to for mods. I'm swapping out the stock rubber for the bigger tires right away and get full credit on the trade in. It'll definitely be 285/70/17s for me, but BFG or GY is another matter.
 
I just put new tires on my 1500 in February, I was told that I could fit the 285/75/16's on there with no problems until one guy checked the rear tire spacing between inside of the tire and the inner fender wall. He said that it was too close for the 285's especially if you load your truck like I do. I've maxed the payload a few times. I just thought I would offer that up to those thinking about it.

 
After some driving I noticed a little rubbing on the inside front fenderwell with the 285's on my 2500. I think this has been mentioned in several other posts. It happens at full left or full right only.

The bump is nothing more than a raised section of plastic sitting against the firewall. There is nothing behind it and I cannot figure why they did that. Some people have suggested hammering it down or grinding. I used a heat gun (not a hair dryer), melted the plastic down and pushed it in. A little scraping and sanding and the rub is gone.

I am wondering what tire pressure people are running their 285's at. Factory recommends 50 front 80 rear but I guess that is for a fully loaded truck. The tires are very quiet but feel kinda stiff.
 
bigjohnn said:
I just add BF Goodrich AT's 265/75/16 on my 2002 1500. They fit great. Added about 1 inche in lift. My dealer ordered a 285/75/16.. to big for stock 1500. I did not want to mess with any type of lift so these worked great.
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Not sure what you meant about 285/75R16 being too big for stock 1500. They're within a tenth of an inch OD of my tires which fit fine. I have GoodYear Wrangler MT/R 285/70R17 on stock 2003 Z-71 rims with no problems or rubs anywhere.

TommyTo, look here to see what your ride will look like with the new shoes. I have clearance pictures around the front and back tires too if you're interested.

Front_Corner_w_Mod_021214_s.jpg
 

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My 2500 with 285/75R16 rub also. Perhaps wheel offset has something to do with it. It only rubs at the rear, left side on a sharp left turn, right side on a right turn. I heated up with heat gun, but it's still not flat enough. The left front rubbed, but that was fixed by flattening the fender liner.

As for tire pressure, the stock tire is load range E - 85 PSI. The placard on the door reflects this tire. The larger tires are all (as far as I've seen) load range D - max 65 PSI. Since they have a larger footprint, they actually hold about 300 lbs more than the smaller tire at lower pressure. I aired mine down more or less proportionally to the factory specs.
 
Don't go with the factory tire pressure specs. Those numbers are only for if you are carrying a load. There's been some pretty long discussions about the correct tire pressure as well as a forumla that you can use to calculate it. The formula was based on what fraction of it's max load the tire is carrying. A search will find it for ya.

The stock AV weight distribution is supposedly pretty close to 50-50 (53/47 was stated from someone who visited a CAT scale) so there's no reason to be higher pressure in the rear than the front unless you are carrying a heavy load in the bed.

 
Thanks for the pic, TXAVy! I found your other pics and they tell the whole story, I'm going with the MTRs (I've already got the dealer sourcing them). ;)

One detail that I have not seen in all the posts re: 285 tires is clearance during full suspension travel & full crank. Are there any issues for the taller tires during full travel? I've always taken my rigs off-road (mostly up around the Whistler Mountain area) and the trails here are tight! :eek: I know I'll be doing my share of full cranks at full travel on these trails and being forewarned will keep my mind at ease while I'm wheeling. One good thing about the MTRs is that they have a 275 (which is 10.9 section width x 32.4 diameter).

Thanks for the info.
 
Haven't heard any rubbing complaints here around full conpression and full turn, but that's kind of hard to test too. I guess personal experience will have to tell there, but there's been no complaints thus far.

One good thing about the MTRs is that they have a 275 (which is 10.9 section width x 32.4 diameter).
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Yup, the MT/Rs come in quite a few sizes even for 17" rims which is nice if you're worried about the 285s rubbing.

Judging from the remaining space around my tires I think I'm going to try to have Discount Tire slide a set of 305/70R17 on there next time which gains a little over an inch OD and should still fit on the stock rims ok. Will have to check for rubbing under compression though.

 
If those are "D" rated tires that may be higher than you need for the weight distribution - I run 42-45 on my 65 psi max tires - seems very workable and hits the weight slope just about right. If they are "E" rated [10 ply] 50-55 would be in the range but a little stiff - trade off of comfort vs mpg. My $.02 ;D
 
I just checked my tires and they are "D" rated. I kinda thought 55 was on the high side. I'll drop them down to 45lbs and see how that works. Thanks for the input.

Gary
 
I didn't think they were 10 plys - not many out there in the 285 range - TrXus makes one that is one mean tire.

Jack
 
E is a "10 ply rating" and does not necesarilly mean it has 10 plys.

BFG 285 AT at 65 max psi are D rated and have a 3300lb rating. ?Multiply that by 4 and you have a total load rating of 13,200lbs. If you are not running a maximum load, you can lower the air pressure. How much? That is the big question. I am testing 40-45psi. An older thread mentioned that the AV is very close to a 50/50 weight distribution so you be able to run the same pressure front and back unless you got a heavy load in the trunk.

Stock 2500 Fstone 245 E have a 3000lb load capacity at 80 psi which ?puts them at 12,000lbs. ?That is the max load rating for the 2500

The 285 Ds have a higher load rating than the stock 245 Es

BFG AT 285's ?have a 3 ply sidewall "TriGard" which gives it extra strength in offroad conditions and air down driving. ?Most tires have only a 2 ply sidewall.

Hope that adds to the confusion.
 
hq said:
An older thread mentioned that the AV is very close to a 50/50 weight distribution so you be able to run the same pressure front and back unless you got a heavy load in the trunk.
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Trunk?!? Your av has a Trunk?

Just kiddin with ya. ?>:D

 
TXAVy said:
Trunk?!? Your av has a Trunk?

Just kiddin with ya. ?>:D
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With the covers on, it's a trunk, with the tops off, it's a truck.

It is has a different look when it topless.

 
Just got a free alignment at the dealer. Most dealers will provide a courtesy alignment on vehicles with 500-1000 miles. After that, they will charge you.

Prior to the alignment, the 285's touched the rear fender wall on full right or full left. Now, I have at least an inch of clearance. Unfortunately I didn't take any before and after photos.

I am not sure if they cranked the torsion bars or not but whatever they did, it corrected the slight rub and the vehicle tracks straight.

It is a little known secret that dealers will provide a free alignment on new vehicles between 500 and 1000 miles. I had it done on my last truck as well as my new AV. If you have any plans on cranking your torsions or swapping tires, do it in the first 1,000 miles and the dealer "should" take care of any alignment problems.


 
Hey there, these forums have been a great help in figuring out which new shoes I was going to put on my '02 1500 with the stock 16 rims (7 inch diameter) -- I pulled the trigger last week on some BFG T/A KOs 285-75-16 and they fit very well. Gave me about a two-inch lift, and drastically improved the handling - especially in the rain. I've now got about 11 inches of clearance on the bottom. If I crank the wheel all the way one direction and go hard down something, I'll get a little rub, but otherwise, they are perfect. One note about my truck -- it was a showroom model which originally had some 20-inch chrome rims with big-ass tires. Since those are not my style (especially since they were a $5,000 option), I had the dealer take them off and go with the stock tires. So I think the dealer may have cranked it up a little bit to make those fit, and therefore, I was able to put the 285s on there. I have seen others say the stock 1500 can't take 285s without a lift, and I am here to tell you that is not the case. Got a good deal from Discount Tire on the new ones and would recommend these tires to anyone. I am just itching to take them out into the dirt.
 
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