Tires: Tires Sizes, chevrolet silverado, tire sizing

Question
HI,

 I have a 1998 Chevrolet Silverado Z71. My tires on the truck need to be replaced. I want to go up to a bigger tire but I am not sure how big I can go. I don't want to do anything to the truck like lifting it. I want to put a tire on that is more off road aggressive. I currently have on the truck now 265/75/16. Do you think it's possible to go up to a 285/75/16? Can you explain how tire sizing goes? 265 means the width of the tire and 16 would be the wheel size....right? What does the 75 mean? Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hello, Eric
You should be able to go with a 285/75R16 with no problem.  A buddy of mine has a 2001 Z71 and he went to the 285 tire size. It really made the truck look good. Realize the speedo will change by about 3.5%. When the speedo reads 60 MPH you are really going around 62.5 MPH. I went to bigger tires on my 2003 Silverado and had the dealer reprogram the computer to have my speedo read correctly. BFGoodrich makes a nice looking T/A radial in a 285/70R16. The 75 is the aspect ratio. It's a calulation of the total width and how much rubber is between the road and the widest point on the tire sidewall. So It should be about 75 mm from the road to where the sidewall bulges out the most about halfway up to the rim.