Explain to me wheel width in correlation to tire size

[emerica243]

Il try to keep this as short as possible. On a stock TRD OR the ideal(general consensus) wheel and tire fitment with no issues would be a 17x8.5" wheel paired with a 285/70/17.

Now my question is, whats the algorith or logic around that 285 width tire being paired with an 8.5" wheel? Is it ideal bead placement? Because what i really want to know is, what if i wanted for some reason go with a 275/70/17 tire and then go up a wheel width to a 17x9" wheel?

How do you know if that would aesthetically pleasing or odd? Is there now tire stretching or safety issues? Im just trying to understand what situations or pros\cons you would pair smaller size tires on wider size wheels or the opposite?

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[emerica243]

Maybe this will help with my questions\topics. Theres tons of +25 offset examples already(i started a +25 specific thread) of a 285\70\17 on a 17x8.5 wheel.

Here is specifically going smaller in tire size( Toyo Open Country AT3 275/70R17) but also bigger in wheel width(Vossen HF6-4 17x9 +0mm). It definitely doesnt look abnormal or anything to my eyes. But whats the pro\con\value or purpose of doing this in this context?

 

[MT-Taco]

If the rim is too narrow it will push the sidewall inwards too far putting pressure on the center of the tire causing it to budge slightly, which causes uneven wear. Too wide the bead will be difficult to seat properly and or cause the bead to break easily.

 

[emerica243]

If the rim is too narrow it will push the sidewall inwards too far putting pressure on the center of the tire causing it to budge slightly, which causes uneven wear. Too wide the bead will be difficult to seat properly and or cause the bead to break easily.

THank you. How do you know if thats going to be the case? Like how do you know the algorith or formula to know your safe\buffer range between the tire width and wheel width?

 

[chasea1989]

If the rim is too narrow it will push the sidewall inwards too far putting pressure on the center of the tire causing it to budge slightly, which causes uneven wear. Too wide the bead will be difficult to seat properly and or cause the bead to break easily.

This. As someone who has mounted probably hundreds of tires, trying to mount stock size tires on wider aftermarket rims is a pain in the ass and makes your mechanic just hate you. lol. I came to this thread to see if I could help, but this is a pretty well written explanation

 

[chasea1989]

THank you. How do you know if thats going to be the case? Like how do you know the algorith or formula to know your safe\buffer range between the tire width and wheel width?

The first number in the tire size is the width of the tread in millimeters. You can convert that to inches and the bead should be around the same size, maybe about an inch or so narrower narrower. For example, on a 275/70R17 tire, the width of the tread is going to be 275mm, which is about 10.8", which would easily fit on a 8.5" or 9" wide rim. I wouldn't recommend putting that wide of a tire on anything narrower than that.

 

[StreeTaco]

THank you. How do you know if thats going to be the case? Like how do you know the algorith or formula to know your safe\buffer range between the tire width and wheel width?

Easy. Every tire has a spec sheet usually found on its website. The spec sheet lists all specs for all sizes of that the particular tires that’s available. In these, you’ll find the recommended, as well as, the tested rim widths.

 

[braaadyyota]

There are a lot of possible tire sizes you could go with. The best thing to do to know what it will look like is to look at wheel and tire threads or just google. You could even do a 255/70 on a 17x9 but it won't look very aesthetically pleasing compared to a 315/70 on a 17x8.5. Really depends on how much "meat" you want.

Use something like Tire Size Comparison or Willtheyfit to get an idea of the size differences based on numbers. A lot more useful for lowered cars but still good tools.

 

[Kdbradley85]

Tire manufacturers will tell you which size wheels are an ideal fit with the tire, and it's usually a decent sized range. When in doubt, check the specs.

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