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I just bought a 1994 C3500 and it has on it LT265/75R16's. I looked up the recommended tires for that vehicle and they are LT245/75R16's. Since the 265's are wider tires and the 75 means the width is 75% of the height, would that make the tire taller? If so, is it enough to make the speedometer read noticeably less than the true speed?
I ran that size on my service trucks. It’s about 1/2 inch taller. Not really very noticeable and it doesn’t throw the speedo off that much. Not enough to make a difference.
Since the 265's are wider tires and the 75 means the width is 75% of the height, would that make the tire taller? If so, is it enough to make the speedometer read noticeably less than the true speed?
75 means the height of the sidewall is 75% of the width of the tire.
265/75/16 = 31.6" in diameter
245/75/16 = 30.5" in diameter.
...Your speedo would be off about 2MPH at 65MPH....
Except that the speedometer is seldom accurate, even when new. Mine almost always shows speeds a bit higher than what they really are. I can't recall ever having a car that wasn't, and I most always buy new cars and have been doing so for ~50 years.
I check the speed on interstates, and around here at least, mile markers are always shown on interstates every mile.
So if you get slightly bigger tires it's likely that the speedometer will be more accurate than it was originally. Just don't take my word for it. Check it, both before and after you put bigger tires on your vehicle... at least after switching tires.
No speedo is 100% accurate. That 1/2 difference is really absorbed by the drivetrain. Now if you were going from say 245/75/16 to 38/15/16 then you are gonna be way way off. But 1 inch overall height? Won’t be a issue
Ok i'll amend what I said then. Your speedo would read approximately 2MPH higher than whatever it previously indicated at approximately 65MPH actual speed.
Ok i'll amend what I said then. Your speedo would read approximately 2MPH higher than whatever it previously indicated at approximately 65MPH actual speed.
The speedo in all my current vehicle is off by 1-2 mph compared to my GPS. All trucks/cars running stock tires. Well within a 2% margin of error
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