gas mileage with big tires

[bmxryder]

alright so i was getting around 15-16 MPG with stock tires and now that ive put 35's on my truck im getting around 10-12 MPG.

im saving money now to lock and re-gear my rear end to like 5.13's or lower but is that gonna bring my gas mileage back to around where it was?

 

[exbass94]

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Gear_Tire_RatioChange.html

 

[bmxryder]

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Gear_Tire_RatioChange.html

im more asking about mpg because those 35's with steel wheels are WAY heavier than stocks and could re-gearing make that up?

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

regearing will help, but you have more rotating mass and more wind resistance now, your fuel mileage and power will never be back where it was with the smaller tires.

 

[snake]

Part of the loss is that the odometer is slower and not accurate anymore (until you tell the computer about the tire/wheel change). Have you noticed a slower speedometer? Add in the miles you are losing and the MPG might not be as bad as you think, but will never be up as high as it was for the above post reasons.

 

[Mac]

Even with the same size tire, if you go with a more aggressive tire tread you are going to lose mileage. Going bigger is sure to cost in MPG. Lots involved in tire size, rear gearing to get to the best point.
Dave

 

[Destroyer000]

i went fron 3.27s an stock 235s an getting 19-22 out of mine an now iam on 33s lifted 5inches an 4.10s an iam getting 17-18 so its not a bad trade off .

 

[JeepRecoveryTeam]

35s arnt a big tire. if your lifting for 4wheeling dont worry bout gas mileage build it for wheelin. gas mileage dont matter its just money we throw away every week to play with our toys. our toys just use alil more of it.

 

[bmxryder]

yeah i know the whole odometer and speedometer change but i never thought about it affecting my gas mileage calculation. thanks for that tip

as for 35's not being big... i would say they are pretty big for a ranger and going up 10 inches in diameter from stock is pretty big step up.

and as for not worrying about what my gas mileage is. i dont really WORRY about it but i do care since i dont make much money and its my DD.

thanks for the posts guys

 

[Sevensecondsuv]

The problem is that 35's on a daily driver is pretty much pointless and a waste of money. In my opinoin, one should wait until they can afford two vehicles before putting 35's on a ranger. My guess is that you didn't upgrade the brakes, right? That's another reason you shouldn't be daily driving it. 35's induce loads on the brake system that are outside of the design margin in the stock parts.

My recomendation is that if it is a daily driver, which means that you care about fuel mileage, then take the 35's off and put a size tire on it that is condusive to street use. Save your money from gas savings and eventually buy another rig to modify into a wheeler.

There are also other significant problems with wheeling your daily driver. It kinda sucks if you break it and have no way to get to work.

Sorry to sound harsh but I went through this stage myself when my exploder was my only vehicle. I wanted to daily drive it and have it be a lifted off-road beast with 35's at the same time. Experience has taught me that that is far from the optimal case. Two vehicles is a far better way to do it.

 

[Mechanickid]

My explorer STOCK with 31's and 3:73's gets 16.5 MPG.

 

[bmxryder]

The problem is that 35's on a daily driver is pretty much pointless and a waste of money. In my opinoin, one should wait until they can afford two vehicles before putting 35's on a ranger. My guess is that you didn't upgrade the brakes, right? That's another reason you shouldn't be daily driving it. 35's induce loads on the brake system that are outside of the design margin in the stock parts.

My recomendation is that if it is a daily driver, which means that you care about fuel mileage, then take the 35's off and put a size tire on it that is condusive to street use. Save your money from gas savings and eventually buy another rig to modify into a wheeler.

There are also other significant problems with wheeling your daily driver. It kinda sucks if you break it and have no way to get to work.

Sorry to sound harsh but I went through this stage myself when my exploder was my only vehicle. I wanted to daily drive it and have it be a lifted off-road beast with 35's at the same time. Experience has taught me that that is far from the optimal case. Two vehicles is a far better way to do it.

i understand what your saying. i think just about everybody i know has said that 35's are too big . i think that 33's just look too small. i also got a fat deal on my tires from my friend.

as for buying another car... it would take a LONG LONG time to break even with the savings of brakes and gas on a truck that i seriously love to drive.

and while im still living at my parents house i can drive their car when my truck is out of order.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

as for buying another car... it would take a LONG LONG time to break even with the savings of brakes and gas on a truck that i seriously love to drive.

do the math.

at 12MPG, assuming $2/gal for fuel, your truck costs you $0.16 a mile.

my $500 escort gets 34 MPG, so it costs me $0.05 per mile. thats an $0.11 per mile savings. it may not sound like much, but that means it would only take about 4,500 miles to make up the cost of an ecobeater like an escort.

of coarse the higher gas prices soar (and believe me, they WILL go back up again this summer), the faster an ecobeater will pay for itself. even if gas peaks out at "only" $3/gal again, that means you need less than 3,000 miles to pay for the car.

this also doesnt take into account the increased price of maintainence items like brakes and wheel bearings that come along with big tires.

i agree 100% with sevensecond.

 

[Sunk]

Buy a motorcycle. They are cheap in the winter, and you could likely pick one up that needs a little work for only a few hundred $$. And the mileage is better than you will get with almost any car.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

do the math.

at 12MPG, assuming $2/gal for fuel, your truck costs you $0.16 a mile.

my $500 escort gets 34 MPG, so it costs me $0.05 per mile. thats an $0.11 per mile savings. it may not sound like much, but that means it would only take about 4,500 miles to make up the cost of an ecobeater like an escort.

of coarse the higher gas prices soar (and believe me, they WILL go back up again this summer), the faster an ecobeater will pay for itself. even if gas peaks out at "only" $3/gal again, that means you need less than 3,000 miles to pay for the car.

this also doesnt take into account the increased price of maintainence items like brakes and wheel bearings that come along with big tires.

i agree 100% with sevensecond.

A $500 car is a crapshoot though, it could be a great dd, or it could be 1000 miles away from needing something major repaired which will probably at least double what you have in the car.