tire width vs wheel width limits?

TeamSpatula

TeamSpatula

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2005
Location
Hickory
Howdy. It's coming up on new tire time for my '62 truck, and I'd like to get something a little more aggressive than the pretty much car tires I'm running now. However, stock rims are only 4.5 inches wide. I can't seem to find a definitive answer on how much wider you can go with a tire before you need a wider wheel. Would an 8.5 width be ok on there? Seems like I've seen lots of guys running 12.5s on 8" Jeep wheels...
I don't want to push it too much, just trying to see what I can do safely.
Thanks,
 
I'm running 42" x 15" wide TSL's on 15x8 rims.
 
Generally the rule of thumb is do not go more then 1.5" wider then the tread width. When you look at a basic 33x12.5x15 The center measurement (12.5) is the crosssection measurement and not the tread width. In your case I would not run anything bigger then a 6" tread width on you 4.5 in rim.
 
I've run 36x16.50 boggers on a 16x6.75" wide rims on the road with 15 psi on a CJ. not saying it was right, but it worked great as a daily driver for a while
 
Check this out. This was on a truck I bought used for drag racing. The tires were wore out with a hand full of rubber caked in the rear bumper so they must have held for a lot of passes. 31x12.5x15 slicks mounted on stock 1967 F100 6" Ford steel rims.
 
I think the rule of thumb is mainly for getting the full use of the tread on the road. For offroad, I'd say anything goes. Especially if you plan on airing down. And DOUBLE especially if you run bead locks.
 
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