Lower MPG with wider tires?

[feellnfroggy]

Yeah 17 inch tires mean less sidewall, and less tire flex when playing or crawling. If you stick with the 15's you can find 33x11.50's all day long. The extra half inch on either side wont hurt too bad. there are a few manufacturer who run 33x10.50's check out the 4 wheeler mags.

 

[Xandor]

I have called a few places and looked online everywhere and the only 33/10.50/15 is the BFGs and I do not want them. I'm not find any 11.50s?? Seems I need to change to 16in rims or just get 12.50s.....

 

[triumphrider-1]

If you jump up to a 16" rim, you could run a 255/85 16 tire. That would give you the 33" height (calculated) with a little over 10" wide tire.

 

[Jay FX4]

Why don't you want the BFG's? I admit that they're not my first choice (although I have never actually used them) but I may end up with them since they're available in a hundred different sizes.

Personally, I'd go with a 16x8 wheel and 285/75's (32.8x11.2). 285/75/16 seems to be a pretty popular tire size. You'd get the good looks of a bigger wheel, and with a 33" tire you really wouldn't be sacrificing off road performance. Also, 11.2 is pretty close to 10.5, and I doubt you'd see much of a decrease in mileage with that small of a width gain.

15x8" wheels all seem to have more negative offset/less back spacing than equivalent 16x8's, so that would be your call.

I'd love to run 285/75/16 Wrangler DuraTrac's, but I'm not sure I could stuff 'em in there....

 

[superds]

I like this Idea. Any downside to bigger rims?

A lot of people have already posted some of the pros and cons.

I have 17s on my Ranger (with 32" rubber) and 16s on my Explorer (with about 30" rubber, looking to increase to 31" or 32" soon). Both originally came with 15" wheels.

I upgraded for several reasons, the availability of tires that fit on those size wheels is becoming greater and greater while the availabilty of tires for 15" wheels seems to be declining. I bought a set of wheels that I would like to have for a long time. I like the improved handling. The weight increase on my aluminum wheels is only a small one, especially compared to running steel wheels. Additionally, my 17s are forged aluminum so they are probably comparable to 15" cast aluminum for weight.

With the shorter sidewalls of the 16 or 17s you'll notice less tire flex if you're on rocks or such. 4Wheel & Offroad magazine recommends tires twice as tall as your wheels to combat this, eg 32" tires on 16" wheels. I don't run on rocks or other surfaces requiring maximum sidewall flex much so I don't notice the difference.

 

[Mike Tonon]

Wrong....you want to run them at the VEHICLE manufacturers recommended pressure...not the max on the side wall of the tire. Read the fine print on the side wall of any tire....it specifically states to run the tire at the vehicle manufacturers pressures.

Say if he puts E rated tires on it...max pressure is 80psi.....80 psi in a ranger is going to wear the centers off the tires and your ride is going to go for shit.

The drives ed teacher and the shop teacher at my high school had this disagreement. I think its something that you need to experiment with on every vehicle. My tires are wearing a little more in the middle, but they are not stock tires for a 2007 Ranger XLT. The door says 35, the tires are around... 60, if I remember correctly. Keep an eye on the psi in the tires and tire wear, adjust accordingly.

 

[Mike Tonon]

Whats a better combo for mpg's and power on a modern Ranger?

4.0l, 4.10 gears, 31" BFG tires
or
4.0l, 3.73 gears, 28.5" good year tires

I would have had the second combo, if I didn't get my truck with the 4.10 and put the FX4 model tires on it. I sometimes wonder if I made the best overall choice.


From what I've heard -

wider tires = lower mpg's and loss of power
bigger tires = lower mpg's and loss of power with lower gearing particularly
beefier tread = lower mpg's and loss of power
Newer Rangers have weak front suspensions, bigger tires, more abuse to the suspension.
More expensive to replace, too.

But, bigger tires = smoother ride.

Am I right about this???

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

I run LT265/75R16's on my 05 sport trac...they are load range E ProComp All Terrains. I run them at 35psi all the way around. I run the rears at 40 Psi when I tow my 4800lbs 24 foot travel trailer. I have no wear or mileage problems.

 

[Xandor]

Thanks guys I'm getting

Rims
http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stor...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10002

Tires
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...TATOWLV2&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

I can get it all done for $1150 so I'm happy

 

[06RangerXLT]

Thanks guys I'm getting

Rims
http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stor...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10002

Tires
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...TATOWLV2&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

I can get it all done for $1150 so I'm happy

glad you found something,

but id take bfg at ko's over destinations. they look too all seasony. i hope you dont plan on taking them through mud, your probably going to be stuck.

 

[JohnnyO]

Once you've changed from the stock tire and wheel size, the manufacturer's recommendation is out the window, as is the max pressure on the sidewall.
All you can do is fiddle with the pressure and watch until the tires wear evenly.
Generally speaking when you go to a bigger tire then it will need less air pressure, other things being equal, since it has a higher weight capacity. A wider wheel will require more air pressure. So there are a lot of variables once you change tire and wheel size.

I have Firestone Destination A/T's on my Sport Trac and very happy with them. About 20k on them and they look like new. Decent in snow and fairly quiet. The Goodyear all-seasons that came on it were useless in snow. Downside, I lost 2 mpg on the highway going from all-seasons to A/T's, stock size BTW. More rolling resistance. For the same reason an A/T will give better mpg than a M/T.

 

[Xandor]

Once you've changed from the stock tire and wheel size, the manufacturer's recommendation is out the window, as is the max pressure on the sidewall.
All you can do is fiddle with the pressure and watch until the tires wear evenly.
Generally speaking when you go to a bigger tire then it will need less air pressure, other things being equal, since it has a higher weight capacity. A wider wheel will require more air pressure. So there are a lot of variables once you change tire and wheel size.

I have Firestone Destination A/T's on my Sport Trac and very happy with them. About 20k on them and they look like new. Decent in snow and fairly quiet. The Goodyear all-seasons that came on it were useless in snow. Downside, I lost 2 mpg on the highway going from all-seasons to A/T's, stock size BTW. More rolling resistance. For the same reason an A/T will give better mpg than a M/T.

Dang you lost MPGs with these? I don't go muddin really as this is me and my wifes only truck so I cant mess anything up. I picked these tires because I thought it would have the least rolling resistance, and they seem to last forever. I do know I will never buy goodyears again, had 2 blow out and the other 2 shift a belt. That was with NO offroading. You know a better road tire?

 

[JohnnyO]

I lost mpg compared to the all-seasons. If I had M/T's and went to A/T's then I would get better mpg. It's all relative.
A better road tire would be the Destination LE or Michelins but then you lose capability off-road and in snow. I don't off-road in this truck but I need to get around in the winter.

 

[Mike Tonon]

I guess you pay oe way or another. Arn't michelin tires generally expensive?

On a somewhat related note, I had a tire pressure sensor band breakoff inside the wheel and shatter into about 100 pieces! The dealership said they'd never seen anything like that happen. I only noticed it because when I rotated my tires, I heard something rattling inside one and when I drove my truck for a long period of time at a high speed, the tire light would go on. Anyone else have this problem?

 

[feellnfroggy]

michelins are the most expensive to my knowledge, but htey are the best ridin tire for any truck.