235/85R16 tires on a 4x4 VS30?

wooteroni

Member
Greetings Folks,

Thinking about putting a set of this size on factory steelies. Anyone out there that has this setup? Pics? Reasons why not?

I appreciate the info and have done some searching that never quite tied into the VS30 (hence the questions)

Thx!
 

Slavy

2017 2500 4x4 6 cyl. with 34,000 miles
I have them and no issues. I purchased the van this way and so the decision was easy. The speedometer is a bit off, but otherwise it seems good.

IMG_8280.jpg
 

fireball05

Newly arrived 2021 144HR 4x4 passenger
What made you all choose the 235/85/16 over the 265/75/16?

Diameter is almost exactly the same. I would think on a big heavy van that the wider 265/75 would be a slightly better choice?
 

cryan

Member
Answering a question you didn't ask, but I'm running 265/75R16 with no issues. They fit fine on stock steel rims and don't require any fender mods. Should be the same diameter as 235/85s, just wider.
 

VanGoSki

Well-known member
What made you all choose the 235/85/16 over the 265/75/16?

Diameter is almost exactly the same. I would think on a big heavy van that the wider 265/75 would be a slightly better choice?
Snow performance! Look at my username, I spend a lot of time in the snow. Narrower is better in the snow. You don't want flotation, you want to cut through to the pavement. There's a bit of a tradeoff of course for deep sand where wider is better, and maybe highway? The 235's are only 3/8" narrower than the stock tires which I think is not noticeable for every day use. But the 265's are 1.25" wider than the 235's, and that's a bigger difference. You'll probably get a little better gas mileage with narrower tires too, but I'm not sure how much.
 

MountainR

New member
Snow performance! Look at my username, I spend a lot of time in the snow. Narrower is better in the snow. You don't want flotation, you want to cut through to the pavement. There's a bit of a tradeoff of course for deep sand where wider is better, and maybe highway? The 235's are only 3/8" narrower than the stock tires which I think is not noticeable for every day use. But the 265's are 1.25" wider than the 235's, and that's a bigger difference. You'll probably get a little better gas mileage with narrower tires too, but I'm not sure how much.
@VanGoSki I’m considering this same falken set-up for the reasons you mentioned. How many miles have you been running these? Used them in the winter yet? Any noticable difference in highway manners beyond the speedo being off a bit?
 

VanGoSki

Well-known member
@VanGoSki I’m considering this same falken set-up for the reasons you mentioned. How many miles have you been running these? Used them in the winter yet? Any noticable difference in highway manners beyond the speedo being off a bit?
About 10K miles on them. I also have the original tires on a second set of wheels which I've used on some long road trips this summer because there's no point in wearing out my winter/off-road tires on these kind of trips. They seemed terrific in the snow, although I did not see as much snow with them as I hoped. Pretty much all online reviews are extremely favorable in snow and they garner an Excellent snow rating on sites like TireRack.

Highway handling and noise was excellent with one possible caveat. When I first installed them I tried a lower tire pressure, maybe around 45 PSI, but they felt vague and swayed a bit in handling which I attributed to sidewall flex. Increasing tire pressure to 60/70s fixed them and they handled as well as the stock tires at that point. Maybe I'll try the experiment again when I put them back on in the fall.
 

MountainR

New member
@VanGoSki good feedback, thanks. My main concern was the sidewall flex for “tall skinnies” on a heavy sprinter. I run dedicated winters on all my other rigs. The sprinter came with the continental van contact winter tires, which have been decent in the snow and I’ve been trying to kill before I buy new tires (at 20k they’ll be dead). Thinking at this point that I’ll run 265/75r16 falkens for this winter with fresh rubber then likely add a dedicated set of winter tires into the rotation for the following winter, likely at the 235 size.
 

Tst4adv

New member
To those running 235/85r16s, what tire pressure works best for you on road? And what pressures off road aired down?

Thx!
 

Rocksnsalt

There Can Be Only ONE
About 10K miles on them. I also have the original tires on a second set of wheels which I've used on some long road trips this summer because there's no point in wearing out my winter/off-road tires on these kind of trips. They seemed terrific in the snow, although I did not see as much snow with them as I hoped. Pretty much all online reviews are extremely favorable in snow and they garner an Excellent snow rating on sites like TireRack.

Highway handling and noise was excellent with one possible caveat. When I first installed them I tried a lower tire pressure, maybe around 45 PSI, but they felt vague and swayed a bit in handling which I attributed to sidewall flex. Increasing tire pressure to 60/70s fixed them and they handled as well as the stock tires at that point. Maybe I'll try the experiment again when I put them back on in the fall.
20mos since you had 10k miles on them, how are these tall skinnies wearing now?
Plenty of snow this year so hows the snow performance been?
 
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Happy29

2020 2500 OM642 4x2 170HR
To those running 235/85r16s, what tire pressure works best for you on road? And what pressures off road aired down?

Thx!
Depends on axle weight. Contact tire manufacture, give them your front and rear weights and they will give you the PSI to start with. That said, I prefer 55 front and 78 rear for normal use. I've gone as low as 25 front and 45 rear for sand as we didn't need more traction than that provided but I wouldn't hesitate to go lower if needed. I run Falken WildPeak AT but in 235/80-R17. Very happy with them @7k miles.

No strange cupping. Very smooth running. No balance issues. 3 TPMS have died but that's not the tires fault :) 5 wheel rotation performed at 5k miles and plan to stay with that cadence. I may go wider next time but these are looking to be good for 50k or more.

@Rocksnsalt Ran twice in snow this fall in Utah and Tahoe. Very predictable performance in 2wd. Used snow socks for about 10 mins. to get out our camp spot that was on a bit of an incline but paved. No issues making it over Echo Summit with chain controls...without chains. No one was there checking and the controls should have been already lifted in my opinion. I grew up crossing that pass over and over and over...CalTrans errors on the tourist (read Sacramento/Bay Area) conservative side.
 
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Rocksnsalt

There Can Be Only ONE
Depends on axle weight. Contact tire manufacture, give them your front and rear weights and they will give you the PSI to start with. That said, I prefer 55 front and 78 rear for normal use. I've gone as low as 25 front and 45 rear for sand as we didn't need more traction than that provided but I wouldn't hesitate to go lower if needed. I run Falken WildPeak AT but in 235/80-R17. Very happy with them @7k miles.

No strange cupping. Very smooth running. No balance issues. 3 TPMS have died but that's not the tires fault :) 5 wheel rotation performed at 5k miles and plan to stay with that cadence. I may go wider next time but these are looking to be good for 50k or more.

@Rocksnsalt Ran twice in snow this fall in Utah and Tahoe. Very predictable performance in 2wd. Used snow socks for about 10 mins. to get out our camp spot that was on a bit of an incline but paved. No issues making it over Echo Summit with chain controls...without chains. No one was there checking and the controls should have been already lifted in my opinion. I grew up crossing that pass over and over and over...CalTrans errors on the tourist (read Sacramento/Bay Area) conservative side.
Thanks, hoping to get some feedback after 30+ thousand miles as that seems to be about when tires are showing possible issues.
 
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Happy29

2020 2500 OM642 4x2 170HR
Thanks, hoping to get some feedback after 30+ thousand miles as that seems to be about when tires are showing possible issues.
True. The large tread blocks may very well start to cup and/or slap making more noise at that point. At this point, I would still buy them again if they only make it 30k.
 

Rocksnsalt

There Can Be Only ONE
True. The large tread blocks may very well start to cup and/or slap making more noise at that point. At this point, I would still buy them again if they only make it 30k.
I’d bet you’ll be fine with your 5k mile rotation cadence. That’s huge. I’d expect no less than 50k miles of even wear with that regimen.
 
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foeix

NCV3 2018 4WD 144
Running the Cooper AT3 equivalent of a 235/85r16 on a NCV3. These replaced a set of aftermarket wheels with wider tires. Very happy with the MPG and driveability of the tall skinny tires. 20MPG at 65MPH is normal with this configuration - this is a V6 4x4.

 

VanGoSki

Well-known member
20mos since you had 10k miles on them, how are these tall skinnies wearing now?
Plenty of snow this year so hows the snow performance been?
They're wearing really well. I do have two sets of wheels, but I've driven almost exclusively on the Wildpeaks because I love them so much. I'm guessing 30-40K miles at least and they have a lot left in them.

The snow performance is fantastic. I can't imagine anything better. I've got 25 days in at Tahoe, much of it during storms and I've never even slipped a tire, except for doing silly stuff like driving over a frozen berm to get into an unplowed parking spot. And even then the anti-slip kicked in and pulled me right over it. I've even gotten lost trying to get around some grid-locked traffic when the highway was closed and ended up lost in a steep mountainside community with unplowed roads. I was driving through probably a foot of fresh snow. Zero slippage whatsoever. It was like driving a tractor.

I did fishtail on on some black ice recently. It was on the Auburn Ravine Road exit off I80 just before it climbs up the pass, just after dawn. I took a left and was going over the overpass to get to my usual Valero diesel stop when my rear end broke loose and I started going sideways. Fortunately it recovered almost immediately, but not before inducing a few heart palpitations. Watch those overpasses, guys! :eek:
 

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