Tire Size on 100 with towing in mind... (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Aug 12, 2009
Threads
149
Messages
463
I am about to buy some tires...I will be towing our evolution e1 (~2000 lbs.) tent trailer a good percentage of the time I use the 100. Should I go with 285s or 295s? I just don't want to bog down the 100 too much...Thanks, Mike
 
my 2000 w/ 285/75/16s tows a 3800# boat with zero issues. It's fine on the flat and mountain roads.
 
I towed a 3000lb pop-up on 285's with no issues. 2k should be no problem with either.


We'll need a few pictures to really judge. :D and a sigline would be nice too.
 
Towing ~2000 lbs with 315's is fine as well. So I imagine 285 or 295 is not an issue.
 
I recently dropped from 315s to 295s for towing and I can say that I'm a lot happier now. 2k shouldn't be an issue for 295s.

What I have found to affect towing more than anything though is how well the trailer tucks in behind the vehicle. We had our pop up modified to haul an ATV on the front and it was a huge mistake. It went from towing well to to acting like a huge parachute. The weight change wasn't that much. Our horse trailer pulls harder at 4k than a car trailer with an 80 on it which I imagine would be 8k. Think about this when you start adding things to your trailer as I see these trailers all loaded up. Wind resistance can be worse than weight.
 
Thanks for all the good thoughts...Now, I have to see if 295s fit under the factory spare...
 
I am not sure about towing but I can tell you that switching from Bridgestone Dueler HT (Street tread) in 275/65R18 to Cooper ZEON LTZ (AT tread, Load Range E) in 275/70R18 (33") is definitely noticeable. The extra weight of the tires slows the truck down a bit when accelerating and it feels like it works a little harder going up hills.

For me, 33" will be the max if I plan on towing a travel trailer (3500-6500 LBS). I guess with a small tent or off road trailer it is less of an issue.
 
295 will fit in the spare location. I pull a e-1. I've regeared to 4.88's and running 295's. It gets over the moutains better now that it's regeared.
 
295 will fit in the spare location. I pull a e-1. I've regeared to 4.88's and running 295's. It gets over the moutains better now that it's regeared.

so hows the power with 4.88's and 295's? you may or may not drive it like a sports car but I could always use a little more get go off the line. I can gun mine off a stop light and nothing really happens until I get moving above 20...
 
Our horse trailer pulls harder at 4k than a car trailer with an 80 on it which I imagine would be 8k.

ginericLC, if you aren't already using one, consider a weight distribution hitch. For heavy or bulky tows (like horse trailers), it is a god-send. Ours is about 5k lbs. The bear is that the CG on the horse trailer loaded is about the head-height of passengers in the 100! The difference without the distribution bars attached is lie night and day. Besides redistributing the weight more evenly fore/aft on the both the vehicle and trailer axles, it really stabilizes the trailer and locks it in train behind the tow vehicle. I have done some experimenting with various loads and the break-point with our 100 is about 2.5. Below that, no huge benefits from the w/d hitch & bars. Over that, the benefits increase exponentially with additional weight.
 
so hows the power with 4.88's and 295's? you may or may not drive it like a sports car but I could always use a little more get go off the line. I can gun mine off a stop light and nothing really happens until I get moving above 20...

he lives at 8,000+ feet. He's so high he doesnt even know what power is.
 
he lives at 8,000+ feet. He's so high he doesnt even know what power is.

lol. He could always do what the Flinestones did and pick up a little power

Fred-Flintstone-Barney-Rubble-Car.jpg
 
It accelerates much better than before. I used to be 7% over factory. I'm now 3% under. I haven't towed the camper since the regear. I'm picking it up from storage tomorow.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom