Matt replied:

Hi alex
I have been watching and thought you would have had a reply by now. So I'll try my best to give you one. I have the same escape as you, right down to the manufacture date. who knows the colour is probably even the same. Anyway if you look in the operators manual in section 12-3 the front and rear track difference between the gls and the escape is 45mm. Given that you would only be adding 15mm to each side of the vehicle you would still have plenty of room for the tryes to move freely in the tyre well. Do you want to do this for gound clearance or for looks as you must be able to get 265s for your current size rim.
Best of luck Matt

Andrew replied:

I have an NL Paj (2000) and I've ditched the 235's in favour of 265/75x16's Cooper ST. Its the best thing I've done for 4wd ability. Heaps more clearance and grip. Changed the speedo drive gear to correct the ratio. The minor problems are far outweighed by the advantages. Do it!!!!!!!

Greg replied:

Alex I would be concerned about the effect this has on on road power and torque. If the vehicle is an auto then the loss of power would be more dramatic as the auto already has fairly high gearing. I have been through this exercise with several vehicles and did not enjoy the power loss. Economy may be slightly better and a set of extractors with a larger exhaust will remedy any power loss.
To demonstrate my point I owned a 3 litre manual GLX Pajero and now have a 3.5 DOHC auto GLS. The difference in on road power between the two is noticeable but there isn't much in it especially when towing. Certainly the 16 inch wheels make the clearance noticeably better (although post NJ pajeros have the body raised on the chassis). What I have noticed is the NK doesn't handle or ride as well on the bitumen. I suspect the GLS has firmer springs than the GLX and certainly the wide tyres in my opinion cause a rougher ride and from my experience more tyre damage problems. I am looking at going to narrower and slightly less in diameter tyres if I can legally do so. By the way my GLX had been in some pretty rough areas without any problems (but plenty of wheel lifting). The only clearance problems I had with the GLX was when I fitted a long range tank. This tank is now in the GLS and has presented no problems. This is the only advantage I can see in the larger wheels.

Another piece of useful info is that 15 inch Pajero rims won't fit (the brake caliper touches) my NK GLS but this won't affect you. Also when buying rims make sure they have the Pajero offset as others will stick out from under the guards.

Andrew Donald replied:

$56 and fitted it myself. I've advised my insurance company about the new tyres and haven't heard back.