How big is Too big?

luke · Mar 6, 2014

It seems most truck guys and off roaders say, when it come to tires bigger is better. But do you think there comes a point where larger tires are really less of an asset and more of a liability?

alwaysFlOoReD · Mar 6, 2014

When the tires are worth more than the truck.

Richard

wahlstrom1 · Mar 6, 2014

Depends on where you wheel and what you have done to the truck....

I kept a Locked D44/8.8 alive on 37's for years in mud, rough cut line trails etc. Took it rock crawling and KABOOM!

Any bigger then a radial 37 is kind of pushing it for a daily driver, but it's all about what your willing to put up with.

Hagan · Mar 6, 2014

Did you hear this from a Toyota owner?

RangerSVT · Mar 6, 2014

I was rebuilding a wheeler intended for 38-40" tires, ended up with a set of 47's and am going to 49's before it hits the trails again...

SVT

stegomon · Mar 6, 2014

i think 54s on a fiesta are a little to big...

luke · Mar 7, 2014

alwaysFlOoReD said:
When the tires are worth more than the truck.

Richard

well, umm... I spent more on my tires than I did on my truck haha uhh...

luke · Mar 7, 2014

I kind of figure 42s on a samurai is a little much for most applications. But even if you have unbreakable axles, at what point would you say "ok, this is a little ridiculous"?

alwaysFlOoReD · Mar 7, 2014

It really depends on the application. On Big Foot the tires are the right size, but on your truck [or mine], the same size tire, not so much.

Richard

bigmark303 · Mar 7, 2014

luke said:
I kind of figure 42s on a samurai is a little much for most applications. But even if you have unbreakable axles, at what point would you say "ok, this is a little ridiculous"?

The only way a big tire is too much for a truck is when you see these road queen half ton and up trucks running 35"+ mud terrains and the tires are almost bald without a single sidewall scuff or mark from any apparent off road use in the tires entire life on the truck, on top of tire shine recently applied after the car wash.

More clearance is never overkill in an offroad environment. Go as big as you can if you actually use the tires for what they are intended for.

4x4junkie · Mar 7, 2014

Depends on the vehicle's wheelbase.

33s might work great on a Samurai or a CJ-5, but would be too small for a Ranger Supercab to run the same trails (poor breakover angle).

Conversely, 40" tires may work well on same Ranger Supercab, but would be much too big for the Sami or CJ (too tippy front-to-back).

swynx · Mar 12, 2014

4x4junkie said:
Depends on the vehicle's wheelbase.

33s might work great on a Samurai or a CJ-5, but would be too small for a Ranger Supercab to run the same trails (poor breakover angle).

Conversely, 40" tires may work well on same Ranger Supercab, but would be much too big for the Sami or CJ (too tippy front-to-back).

Id say its a wheel base thing.

SenorNoob · Mar 12, 2014

IMO, the tires are too big when the body can no longer reasonably set around them on the top portion. Unless you are going for the "monster truck" look. Then bigger is always better.

Sasquatch_Ryda · Mar 12, 2014

40's look right at home under an ext cab truck

85_Ranger4x4 · Mar 13, 2014

luke said:
But do you think there comes a point where larger tires are really less of an asset and more of a liability?

When you have too much flotation and not enough dig if you run in softer terrain like mud or snow.

It really depends on what you are doing...

How big is Too big?

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