What tires do you recommend on your truck when towing a trailer?

I’m buying a trailer soon and tires for my truck. I have 265/75/16 but want to go to 285/75/16 will that be to heavy for towing a travel trailer? Will it be to sluggish and waste tons of gas towing a trailer?

 

Why do you want to go with the bigger tire?? Especially why when you are going to be towing a travel trailer. Yes your mpg will decrease and your truck will have to have to work harder to pull your trailer. How much dry weight does the trailer you are buying weigh? I assume you want the larger tires for looks. I personally would go with the best most efficient tires for towing and not larger tires.

 

The bigger heavier tire will handicap you big time towing.

 

Stay with a 265/75r16 in a C load. There’s a noticeable loss in towing ability when you go bigger. It’s not fun when you have it floored and continue to loose speed going up a hill.

 

I want to go bigger but looks like I shouldn’t

 

I have 265/75/16 now so I’ll just keep those

 

It makes a big difference. I had C load 265/70r17 and towed a 17’ trailer, when I stepped up to 255/85r16 it made a big difference. The power is down and the tranny heats up. If you’re towing in the hills the torque converter doesn’t stay locked like it used to.

 

Ok cool

 

that’s makes sense for sure. Some people say the E rated tires are better for towing but I’m guessing not on the Tacoma

 

Yeah if you're going to be towing definitely stay stock, and the smaller stock size at that. If you feel the need for larger tires you're going to need gears to tow appropriately.

 

The Tacoma doesn't have the towing capacity to warrant E load tires for their weight capacity.

You will overload the truck before you overload the tires.

 

yeah I kinda figured it was for other trucks But those 285 errata tires look so good LOL

 

I wouldn't discount an e rated tired for towing. If anything, it's like insurance if you are towing decent weight. Having more stability and stronger sidewalls isn't a bad thing.

My 18x8.5 enclosed car hauler came with c class tires. It's roughly 4300lbs without motorcycles or vehicle in it, and dual axle. I really wish it had come with class d or e tires because I've blown out quite a few C's, sometimes just taking tight turns in a parking lot. Had I known sooner, I would have just upgraded from the start.

If you're towing down a highway with some decent weight and happen to hit a tractor trailer retread or other big debris, I'd rather be on e rated tires. I have had a passenger tire go dead flat in under a minute going 70 on an older car (no tpms) from a retread, and that was almost sketchy. Given the same situation, even if you have tpms warning, that doesn't leave you much time to slow a heavy load and safely pull over. In my experience, stronger tires are a safer choice.

 

I mean I have 285's E loads on my truck (285 75 17, 34"s) but I don't tow. I only have E-load as they don't make the tire I want in the size I want in a lighter load rating. It's kind of a slug as I don't have gears yet and off road it's very apparent I need gears.

Yes E loads are heavier, yes they can support more weight in theory, yes that's better for towing, but there's two different issues here.

Weight vs height.

A 29" tall 285mm wide E load (do they make them that small?) Would be fantastic for towing and the width would certainly fill out the tacoma more but it's still got to be a 29" tall tire to work with the stock 3.73 gears to have the torque and mechanical advantage for towing and braking while towing width isn't the factory in towing (aside from more rolling resistance.) Tire height is.

 

Just looking at Firestone transforce ht2's, you can run a 225/75r16 for a 29.3 or a 245/70r16 for a 30.5. I run the 245's on a diesel van for over 100k, roughly half of that from heavy towing, no complaints or flats.

I don't see any options for an e rated 285 width tire 30" or under for any size rim. You'd probably have to go at least 32 or 33" tire for 285 width and e rating.

 

285/75/16 in falken at3 or BFG KO2 those don’t have any option for rated E?

 

They do make them in E load but you haven’t heard what we’re saying. Those are tall, wide, heavy tires. Probably 60 lbs or more a piece with a lot of rolling resistance. You’ll likely have to cut and trim around the wheel well to get them fit. Accelerations, braking and fuel economy are going to suffer every day WITHOUT towing a trailer. Add a trailer and it will be even worse.

It’s totally doable and many people have done it, just be aware there is going to be a penalty.

 

Simple.

Properly inflated tires with the load capacity to handle the Cargo + Truck weight.

 

Here's a chart of Falken Wildpeak AT3 options. There are several e rated options with all the specs.

 

What size trailer are you looking at getting? Open or enclosed? Towing anything of significant weight? Just curious.