Gun

i was wonderin how wide of tire you could go on stock 15s? im havin trouble deciding if i should buy 35x12.5 or 35x13.5 inch tires. any help?

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also wondered if wider tires would rub easier. just wanted to see if i could get away with another inch wider (from 35x12.5 to 35x13.5)

Just call me Sean

iTrader: (1)

Technically, you shouldn't be running either of those on the stock rims. Wide tires on skinny rims makes the center of the tire bulge out, like an overinflated tire. Yes, the tires will rub easier.

Gun

this is gettin expensive lol. so a good thing would be to save up for new rims before i add bigger tires?

Just call me Sean

iTrader: (1)

It will be better for tire wear to get the wider rims first. I've got 32x11.5 wide tires on 8 inch rims, but I buy my tires used for $10 each so I don't really care about tire wear.

dewman

I am running 31x10.5 tires on my stock 15" rims. No bulging of the tire and no unusual tire wear.

Just call me Sean

iTrader: (1)

Oh there's bulging, it just might not be that noticeable. Your tires will wear in the center, but it might take a while. You definitely won't get the same miles out of them that you would on a wider rim. I don't really think it's that big of a deal, I do it too.

DixieDarkhorse

i think you'd be alot better of with 10.5" then 13.5's. putting real wide rims and tires on puts alot of extra load and stress on your wheel bearings, especially up front.

dewman

I have put 22,000 miles on the tires and they are wearing quite evenly across the tread. I will take some close-up pics tomorrow and post them. I have seen cars and trucks with the bulging balloon tires and mine do not look anything like that.

Just call me Sean

iTrader: (1)

If you use a tread depth measurer you will see that they will be worn more in the center, even if only slightly.

turbojimmy

I did a lot of rim and tire research before ultimately deciding to get stock-sized replacement tires for my truck. Anything wider than the 235mm stock tires is technically too wide for the 7" rim (I'm pretty sure my stock XL rims are 7", not 8").

Tire manufacturers use a 'measuring rim' to get the optimal section width out of a given tire size. For tires with aspect ratios between 80 and 50 (which is what we're talking about here), the 'measuring rim' is 70% of the section width. So a 235/75 tire is designed for a 6.5" rim. A rough guideline for wider tires would be:

10.5" = 7.5" rim (so if you have an 8" rim you're good)
12.5" = 8.75" rim (basically need a 9" rim)
13.5" = 9.5" rim (basically need a 10" rim)

Obviously you can jam wider tires on smaller rims, but it impacts wear, traction and handling (not to mention starts to look silly at a certain point).

Jim