The Yukon needs new winter tires this year. We've had Nokian Hakkapeliitta LT2 studded tires for the past 6 winters and they've been awesome, so that part is decided: we're getting another set. The only question is size.
Last time, we had 245/75R16, which worked perfectly fine. My only reservation is that they do look a little bit small. Yeah, I know. [emoji15]
I think my preferred choice would be 265/75R16. It matches the diameter of the stock 265/70R17 tires perfectly, but there's a big snag in that our winter rims are only 6.5" wide, which is 1/2" too narrow. Kal-Tire is the only seller of Nokians here, and they won't mount the tires on rims any narrower than 7". I guess I could buy the tires there and find another shop to mount them, but that's a pain. I'm also not crazy about the doughnut look of a wide tire on a narrow rim, and of course it's just plain not ideal from a tire engineering point of view.
I could buy some wider aftermarket rims, but it's really tough to find any that aren't of the vomit-inducing bro-dozer style. [emoji14] I could probably live with these, but now we're looking at an extra $800. But the old rims are rusty AF (only on the inside, chrome face still looks good), so maybe it's time for new ones anyway. [emoji53]
The last option is a little out of left field, but I'm tempted to take it old school with a set of tall and skinny 235/85R16s. The overall diameter is a perfect match for stock, and the narrow tires will fit fine on the current winter rims. I think ride quality might suffer a bit, and I'm not sure about handling, but on the other hand, narrower is better for winter blah, blah, blah...
If I had a 1987 Suburban 2500, for sure I'd go with the tall and skinny tires - I love that look! Just not sure how it will work on a 2011. [emoji53] Not mine, obviously, but this is the idea: