Tires: going to narrower tire, emergency maneuvers, tire failure

Question
I've got 265/70R17 tires on my 04 Dodge quad cab half ton and considering going to a 255/70R17 tire.  First, will these fit my existing rims? Second, what expected tradoffs will I notice going to a narrower tire?

Answer
Mark,

That would be going down in load carrying capacity and that increases the risk of a load related tire failure, which sometimes has tragic results.  That fact alone should be enough to say that this is not a good move.

But when tires are used closer to their load carrying capacity, they can get "saturated", and that can lead to handling issues, especially in emergency maneuvers - just when you'd want a tire to behave most predictably.

You might think that there may be a fuel economy advantage, but the opposite is true.  Larger tires, when used at the same load, are a bit more efficient than smaller tires.

Overall, there are so many downsides that I recommend against this move.