bigger wheels and tires

[food4me]

besides gas mileage how will bigger tires affect the overass performance and handling

[PigPen5150]

Depending on how big you go you may need to change the gears.

[jrmcx]

Screws up speedometer reading, is really hard on clutch or auto transmission. If you go really big you can't maintain wheel offset and wheel bearings will suffer. As a side note if tires stick out they'll kick up stones and ding the paint down the sides. As mentioned the whole drive train is geared to factory tire size. So any major change in size will require new axle ratio(s) As an example I went to 32" tires on my Toyota 4x4 and milage dropped 25% and first gear was unusable..

[fanworks]

It depends on your goal? I am upgrading from my stock 15" rims on my rig to 16" rims to get into the higher load range tires, but I am also working at making sure the overall diameter of the wheel stays close to the original size. Big wheels will always act as a gear-down on your system, getting more distance with less revoltions. This can cause strain on several things. For me, I am being careful as I only have a 3-speed automatic tranny with no overdrive (Never had one), so my rear differential gears are smaller than the ones that would have been in a similar rig with overdrive. (3.21 Rear vs. 3.54 Rear)

If you're going for more ground clearance, etc, the bigger tires will likely need your to change out your Ring and Pinion gearing in your differential to compensate.

[LTJGWorth]

You typed overass. That's funny. But bigger wheels/tires do a number of things. Most of which have already been named above. I dont' think it will hurt anything like everyone is mentioning above. With the speedo, you can either get a reprogrammer, or take it down to a mechanic that has one and they will hook the reprogrammer up to your computer and input the new tire/wheel sizes in. There will probably be a little more strain on things like gears and tranny, but it's no more than what your truck would go through hauling a trailer or a heavy load in the bed, which is what trucks are meant for. I don't think you've got anything to worry about going with bigger. Just make sure you've got the clearence in the fender wells. Oh, by the way, how big are you going for? If you are planning to go monster truck with your wheels and tires, then you do need to beef some stuff up.

[milkman1]

All of the above is true. Main thing is gears depending on how big you go. Our Ramcharger has 18x 44's on it and we went to 410 gears but really should have gone 456 or 488's. Motor was lacking on power with the big tires so there is a 471 blower on top of that. Big tires suck all of your power out. Also its harder on your brakes. Hard on axles have broke front end twice. One good thing about them is it will build up your muscles when you have to change one of them!!!!

[Shane927]

Bigger tires havent really affected much on my ram and i've had a set of 315's and now a set of 35's on it and started with 33's.I've had both sets of the bigger tires for over 45k miles and my truck has handled them much better than expected. It does slow your accel down though and it set my speedo off 6mph at 65 and has also set my odometer off by nearly 3k miles so be careful you get everything recalibrated computerwise if you go up a few inches.

[food4me]

you guys are all talking about reprograming my computer but i don't have one i drive an 87' 150 with a 500 in it

[777stickman]

So now we know what you drive?? Read all the above but leave out the 'puter stuff. Bigger tires mean less towing and up-hills power. Maybe better mileage but you won't know it 'cause your speedo is going to be off. Handling?? Taller tires is taller C.G. Not good @ 180 mph in left hander's. Go Dale Jr.

[Russ_M]

If your goin with the bigger mudder type tires your lookin at wheel bearing, axle, universals, suspension, and stearing strain. Not to mention if the diffs aren't geared low enough you'll be lugging the engine in the mudd, or from take off. If the tranny is an auto your going to have heat issues under load too. You need to maintain a high RPM in the engine to keep tranny fluid circulation up. So a tranny cooler and a higher capacity tranny pan could help. If its a manual tranny, your lookin at smokin the clutch at take off gettin all that rubber rollin. You can get performance clutchs just about anywhere......To make a long story short, your lookin at some wrenchin time in the near future.....have with it and good luck.