Best tire for good MPG's and stable towing

[Bildro]

I Need help!

Howdy yall! I have firestone destenation le's and they feel like crap when towing my drift car. The car is about 2500lbs and the trailer is about 1000lbs. I was thinking of upgrading to the A/T versions but want to get the best MPG's. The A/T's are only like 4lbs heaver at 34lbs each.
My avrage MPG's are as follows:

17 city ( 1mpg less before intake and exhaust )
21+ highway ( 1mpg less before intake and exhaust )
15-17 towing 3500-4500lbs ( 1mpg less before intake and exhaust )


My truck is used 95-98% on road so Im sure highway tires are the best choice for the best MPG"s but I want something more stable then these nobby soft sidewall all season bs wannabe truck tires.
Theres just too many variables to pick the lightest whatever ply tire for best MPG's.

Any Help helps!

I didnt get much sleep last night (time for a new bed) so dont mind me if I'm all over the place.

 

[curtperry]

Are you running higher air pressure in the rear while towing? If not try adding 5-10psi (assuming that's still under the max psi rating for the tire) and see if it helps.

 

[shadow247]

When deciding on tires, you need to look at the actual load rating of the tire and not just the C/D/E designation. Some D rated tires actually have a higher load rating then E Range tires. I think you'll be fine with a C rated 265/70/16, just check the actual weight rating in LBs and compare to your current tires. You should be able to find the exact weight rating of the tires on the manufacturers website.

 

[Ryanincc]

I Need help!

Howdy yall! I have firestone destenation le's and they feel like crap when towing my drift car. The car is about 2500lbs and the trailer is about 1000lbs. I was thinking of upgrading to the A/T versions but want to get the best MPG's. The A/T's are only like 4lbs heaver at 34lbs each.
My avrage MPG's are as follows:

17 city ( 1mpg less before intake and exhaust )
21+ highway ( 1mpg less before intake and exhaust )
15-17 towing 3500-4500lbs ( 1mpg less before intake and exhaust )


My truck is used 95-98% on road so Im sure highway tires are the best choice for the best MPG"s but I want something more stable then these nobby soft sidewall all season bs wannabe truck tires.
Theres just too many variables to pick the lightest whatever ply tire for best MPG's.

Any Help helps!

I didnt get much sleep last night (time for a new bed) so dont mind me if I'm all over the place.

Im needing new tires pretty soon. I have stock suspension and the most off roading ill do is on dirt roads and packed down sand at the beach. Im a cheapass so Im looking for the best MPG first. And Ill be towing a SMALL pop-up camper maybe 6 times a year.

I don't care about loss of acceleration or top speeds unless the MPGs are a factor. Been shopping for 265/75r16, but I don't know if a taller or smaller tire is better for MPG. in fact, i Don't understand the first three digits. Higher equals taller or the other way around? I read it was a ratio so Im confused.

In a nutshell, whats the best MPG/light towing/no significant off-roading tire with stock suspension for a '97 T4R?

 

[kernel.panik]

Most of those come in P rated sizes, if you have P rated tires, switching to an LT with stiffer sidewalls will be night and day different in handling while towing.


just my $0.02

 

[kernel.panik]

Im needing new tires pretty soon. I have stock suspension and the most off roading ill do is on dirt roads and packed down sand at the beach. Im a cheapass so Im looking for the best MPG first. And Ill be towing a SMALL pop-up camper maybe 6 times a year.

I don't care about loss of acceleration or top speeds unless the MPGs are a factor. Been shopping for 265/75r16, but I don't know if a taller or smaller tire is better for MPG. in fact, i Don't understand the first three digits. Higher equals taller or the other way around? I read it was a ratio so Im confused.

In a nutshell, whats the best MPG/light towing/no significant off-roading tire with stock suspension for a '97 T4R?

265 is cross-section width in millimeters 75 is the percentage of that width in height. So, it would be 198.75mm from the rim to the outside of the tire.

265mm = 10.433 inches wide
75% of that is 7.824 inches So a 16" wheel plus Top and Bottom 7.824" = 31.648"

 

[Ryanincc]

265 is cross-section width in millimeters 75 is the percentage of that width in height. So, it would be 198.75mm from the rim to the outside of the tire.

265mm = 10.433 inches wide
75% of that is 7.824 inches So a 16" wheel plus Top and Bottom 7.824" = 31.648"

Thanks for the clarification. Any advice on the size I need? I don't know if the taller wider tire has better mpg than the smaller one.

 

[Hepar]

Im needing new tires pretty soon. I have stock suspension and the most off roading ill do is on dirt roads and packed down sand at the beach. Im a cheapass so Im looking for the best MPG first. And Ill be towing a SMALL pop-up camper maybe 6 times a year.

I don't care about loss of acceleration or top speeds unless the MPGs are a factor. Been shopping for 265/75r16, but I don't know if a taller or smaller tire is better for MPG. in fact, i Don't understand the first three digits. Higher equals taller or the other way around? I read it was a ratio so Im confused.

In a nutshell, whats the best MPG/light towing/no significant off-roading tire with stock suspension for a '97 T4R?

The tire sizing numbers can be a little confusing since they're a mix of standard and metric measurements. The first number is the width of the tire in mm. The 2nd number is the % of the width that makes up the sidewall. So in the case of a 265/75, that means 75% of the 265 is how much sidewall you have. The last number is the size of the wheel in inches. So, to figure out the height of the tire, you take 75% of 265, multiply that by 2 and then add the wheel size. So a 265/75-16 is roughly just under a 32" tire.

Another thing to keep in mind is the load rating of the tire. For example, many of the larger tires come only in load rating E. Unless you are going to do a lot of rock crawling, I would avoid them. They are more meant for much larger and heavier vehicles, so they are much stiffer and heavier. Putting them on these 3rd gens will cost you some mpg's.

 

[kernel.panik]

Thanks for the clarification. Any advice on the size I need? I don't know if the taller wider tire has better mpg than the smaller one.

As far as size goes, it's all about gearing.
If you are towing at slower speeds, a smaller tire will help you out.
At highway speeds, a taller tire will lower your RPMs, but at some point you wont have any more horsepower to pull the load. I can't recommend a size because there are too many variables.

I have LT 265/75/16s BFG A/Ts and noticed a bit of power loss from the stock size of 265/70/16s. I wouldn't want to tow anything with a tire taller without re-gearing.