Tires: 4x4 tires, proper inflation pressure, electronic fuel injection

Question
hi barry. i own a 1987 chevy half ton 4x4 with a 305 ci engine electronic fuel injection .i am looking in to switching the originnal 235\75\16 tires for a beefier 245\75\16 ,is there any major changes i will need to make in order to proceed with this minor build up . thank you rob

Answer
Rob,

My book says the original tires on your vehicle were 15", so I think you need to find the placard and see what that says.

The placard is usually located on a doorpost in in the glovebox.  It will tell you the original tire size and the proper inflation pressure for that size.

I'm going to assume that someone replaced the 15" wheels with later model 16" wheels - which would make sense given the tire size on them.  If you are planning to use P245/75R16's that is probably OK, if there isn't a clearance problem (and you are in the best position to determine that.)  

However, if you are planning to move to an LT245/75R16, I'd recommend against that.  LT tires are much heavier and stiffer and the shocks, springs and sway bars are all designed around the softer P metric tires, and this change might cause some unexpected handling problems, especially in emergency maneuvers - just when you'd want the vehicle to be predictable.

Hope this helps.