Hello,
We are planning to replace the tires on our 2004 1500 2wd Suburban. Our current tires are the recommended size for this vehicle - 265 70R17. We can get a set of General Grabber STX tires in that size for about $600 total from Walmart. Money is a little tight so we shopped around for some take-offs. We found some new Michelin tires for $300. The tire size is 265 65R17. The deal also includes new Toyota rims which we could re-sell. We initially decided against buying these tires because I think they would look too small on our vehicle. The sidewalls would be about 1/2" smaller than the 70R17's. Of course, that would make the tire 1" shorter. I think the 265 70R17 tire size looks perfect on our Suburban but Michelins are better tires than the new ones we can afford. Am I being too picky? Would the smaller size look bad or would the difference not be very noticeable? Any opinions would be appreciated.

 

While the overall diameter would be about an inch less, the sidewall of the tire would only be about a half inch less which would probably not be that noticeable without having something side-by-side to compare it to Your speedometer would read a little bit faster than your actual speed but that might be a good thing.
Are the Michelins new or almost new? They are definitely a better tire than the Generals would be.