depends on the tire really... 285/75/16 if its mud terrain 305/70/16 on an all terrain

 

20 is cold here.... and i dont mean 20 below. hell, i dont like 40...lol

 

It regularly gets into the negative teens, maybe negative 20 ish, during the coldest parts of the winter. -30 or -40 with windchill is pretty rare, but not unheard of.

One time last winter, in small town north of me about an hour and a half, it dropped to -42... and thats not including wind chill. It was only -26 here that same night.

 

Can you explain how and why? Some of the guys have said they rub with 285/75/16 mud or a/t.

 

I dont understand that either! It is measuring the height and width of a tire. Sure, there will be differences between manufactures, but the diff. in height between a BFG A/T and BFG M/T should be none (Just an example).

 

When I purchased my truck in 2001 it had a set of 285 Bigfoot Ats on it that didn't rub. I changed them out for a set of Truxus swampers that were the same size but noticable smaller. The bigfoots measured 33.1 in diameter and th Truxus were about 32.6 or 32.8. They were also a bit narrower across the tread due to the foot print design and alternating lugs.
Doing a bit of reading, I found this:
BFG mud terrains 33.1 diameter
BFG All terrains...32.8 diameter
General AT2........33.1 diameter
Dayton mud tire...32.7 diameter

Off topic...coldest wind chill I remember was around -85, back in '77...got the frostbite scars to prove it.
and that is why I try to stay south of the Mason Dixon line as much as possible.

 

tread depth is not counted in the total diameter of the tire. most mud tires had much deeper tread depth than an all terrain.

as far as rubbing goes... if you stick to stock backspacing the 305 may rub af full turn but the 285 should be fine. if you shorten your backspacing then the tire will hit the inner fender and possibly more. the rear wheels arent an issue with either.

 

for example. 285mm wide 75% of 285mm sidewall 16in dia rim = 32.8in (in theory)
however, my tires are only 31.3in tall

also...rin width plays a huge role. the narrower the rim...the taller the tire will stand. the wider the rim...the shorter the tire will stand.

 

Couple more sizes...
Truxus M/T 32.7 diameter 11.2 cross section (no wonder it looked so much smaller than my bigfoots!)
Heres the biggest I've found...
Interco Swamper SSR... 33.9 diameter (!) 11.4 inch cross section.

Anyways...if you put a 285 size tire on a 16x7 factory rim or one with the factory backspacing without any suspension mods, you shouldn't rub under everyday driving situations.

 

lol, I don't pay attention to the thread for a day and all hell breaks loose! anyways, I'm looking for mud tires that work fine on pavement and snow, once I get my new Box on and the Paint Sets, I expect to do my share of Snow Drifting and then Mudding in the spring during the thaw. Where it counts the Most is in the Mud, That's all this truck will be used for once I get my Camaro (I know, a Camaro, But Dodge didn't have anything good in the 80's).