tires to wide or am i just not used to them (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter camcruiser13
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
- Thread starter
- #42
let me clear things up, the tires in this thread is a 36x13.5x15 bias ply.
i was street legal. its all about who you know at the safety and inspection station. as far as highway patrol goes, your on your own.
- Thread starter
- #43
Here's a pic of my fat a$$ 38 in tsl super swampers. There almost dead. Next ones will be just a wee bit narrower.- Matt
it looks like the are on 8 inch wheels right?
and are they bias.
- Thread starter
- #44
That proves how much I know about tires then. Seems like most of wheelers around here run the wide tires. Maybe for a wider stance, better stability?
They are TSL Radial SS.
I think personally, that a 12.5 is wide enough for most everything in a 40. However, when you go taller than 35-37", 12.50s don't look right and you end up going a little bit wider. Weight of the vehicle is a big factor in how wide you need also.
Why?
- Thread starter
- #52
perfect, thanks
yours look good though. i am ordering new rims so if anyone needs nib spanking new 15x10s let me know. i got 4 unopened.
Pressure on your contact patch.
So a truck that weighs more will put more pressure on the contact patch. Yes that is true. But a skinnier tire will actually have a longer (and larger) contact patch than a wide one will.
So even though a heavier rig puts more pressure on the patch, the skinniertire will actually have a larger patch. The skinnier tire increases traction.
Weight does not really matter until you get into flotation situations. Then there is no way you can tell me that a suburban on 44's will do better in the sand than a 1500 lb buggy on 44's..
The more your truck weighs the harder it is to make it perform off road.
I agree with some of that.
Are you saying that a 33x9.50 tire with say 10psi will have more surface area touching the ground than a 33x12.50 with the same ply rating and air pressure? I'm not getting that right now, I might have to do some math to figure that out.
And no, a suburban on 44s won't do better than a light buggy on 44s in sand. I am of the "lighter is better" school in all offroad situations because gravity is a bitch. Sometimes, however, you can't have a 1500 pound buggy and you might need wider tires to lessen the pressure on the ground and keep from sinking.
Yes, obviously there will be limitations to this but yes.. Additionally, the longer contact patch is harder to break loose than a wider patch..
In flotation situations you have two basic choices and a multitude of driving styles. Skinny tire (lots of traction, cuts down to a "hard" surface) Wide tire that can basically be a floatation device. But if you get into the flotation situation, you better have enough HP to spin the crap out of the tires..
In flotation situations you have two basic choices and a multitude of driving styles. Skinny tire (lots of traction, cuts down to a "hard" surface) Wide tire that can basically be a floatation device. But if you get into the flotation situation, you better have enough HP to spin the crap out of the tires..
What i dont understand about the whole 8 inch wheel thing is if it is so universally accepted that 8 inch wheels are better for wheeling why dont the manufacturers list them as appropriate wheel sizes for the 12.50 and up tires? I put 15x10s on my truck before i knew about the whole longer contact patch business, but the fact that on the sidewall it says the minimum is a 8.5 inch wheel size (which i dont even think is a common size) somewhat dissuaded me from considering the 8 inch.
Here is a shot of my IROK bias in 36" on 8" wheel.
Last edited:
Ok, did some reading. I have wrapped my brain around this now. The fact remains though, that when you go to a taller tire, you should also go to a proportionally wider tire to keep the same contact patch shape. The contact area increases when you go taller and wider--obviously. The NHRA would not have those bigass wide tires if this was not the case.
For the sake of our situation though, I say buy whatever the hell you want because most of the popular tires on the market will perform well off-road. There are a lot more variable to worry about rather than tire size when off-roading. Tire pressure is a very important one.
