Buying Wheels/Tires, Questions

[John W]

Some novice questions here;

I need new tires, and maybe rims, and i want to understand what size rims to get.

Currently the van has 325/65/18 tires.

The axles are from a 1999 F-250, and I measured the 8 lug pattern as over 6.5 inches, so it must be 8 on 170mm (170mm = 6.69 inches).

The tires are 325mm wide which is 12.79 inches.

The rims are 18 inches diameter, what width do I need to use the same size tires?

Is there a correct width I need to use, if so, what is that?

Thanks.

John

 

[John W]

Ok, I think I found hte answer here;

http://www.rimsntires.com/specs.jsp

 

[bknudtsen]

I would go with a 18x9" with 4.5" to 4.75" of backspacing.

 

[John W]

Thanks, bknutsen.
Is that what you have on yours?
(I have a UJOR van with 6" lift too)
What are the advantages/disadvantages of the different backspacings?
Also what are the advantages/disadvantages of different tire width/rim width ratios?

 

[bknudtsen]

I have 17x9 with 4.5" inches of backspacing, -12mm offset. 35"x12.50-17 Toyo MT tires. I wanted a 17" wheel so that I could have more sidewall, but it limited the selection of E-rated tires. 18" wheels have a greater selection of E-rated tires, but you lose some sidewall. The backspacing/offset determines how far the wheel sticks out from the wheel well. In my case, 4.5" of backspacing minimized tire stickout from the wheel well, while also minimizing tire rub on the inside against the leaf springs. Wheel backspacing/offset also has an effect on hub bearing wear as it can increase or decrease the leverage that the tire/wheel combo has on the bearings.
.
All tire manufacturers will have a recommended wheel width range. Most 12.5" tires are mounted on 8-9" wheels to ensure proper seating of the bead, as well as, to prevent sidewall bulge. Typically, you don't see people putting tires on rims that are too wide, but many stuff big tires on narrow rims. This increased the risk of popping a bead off when aired down for off road use, and may cause uneven wear on the tread surface. If all you really plan to do is towing or road travel, then I would stick with an 18" tire wheel combo. If you plan to do more off road travel, then the 17" might be a better choice.

 

[John W]

I guess the extra sidewall gives an advantage for lower air pressure offroad driving, bump absorption, molding over rough terrain?

My current wheels stick out a decent amount from the wheel wells, but I have no idea (yet) if anything will rub during various off road uneven surfaces.

This van is my daily driver, by which I mean weekends, I take the subway to work.
But the goal was to do some off road camping, probably including out West, so it will see a much greater percentage street to road usage.

Thanks for the great info!

 

[John W]

So I might go with a set of these wheels;

http://www.4wheelparts.com/Wheels/S...?t_c=11&t_s=210&t_pt=100073&t_pn=PXA1069-8970

Reasonably priced, clean design, and polished metal means no flaking chrome, if they corrode, I could strip the clearcoat, polish, and repaint with clearcoat.

BTW @bknudtsen, I read your whole Vandiana build thread, nice work! And thanks again for the info!

 

[John W]

Ok, just went to google, there's not a damn wheel made that won't end up looking like crap after some salty NYC winters.
Unless I can find some black painted steel rims in 18" x 9".

 

[John W]

Wow this forum is heavily moderated.
How long before they trust you to make a post?
Makes dialog very slow.
Maybe there's a FAQ I should read.

 

[bknudtsen]

Thx and you're welcome. Mods are pretty hands off here compared to some other 4x4 van forums.
.
I think with the harsh winter conditions you face, a good preventative maintenance schedule will be a must. There aren't many surfaces that will hold up to salt, even powdercoated steel is gonna rust. Your best bet is either painted or clear coated aluminum with a heavy coat of wax each Fall. Wipe your wheels down after driving in the crud.

 

[John W]

It's odd because sometimes my posts go up right away, other times much longer.

I'm trying to figure out what to to with the undersides of the van for longevity and rust prevention, the axles, leaf springs, frame etc.

I love how you painted the axles, brake calipers, looks so clean. Almost tempted to tear it down, paint it, and put it back together.

 

[derjack]

Some novice questions here;

I need new tires, and maybe rims, and i want to understand what size rims to get.

Currently the van has 325/65/18 tires.

The axles are from a 1999 F-250, and I measured the 8 lug pattern as over 6.5 inches, so it must be 8 on 170mm (170mm = 6.69 inches).

The tires are 325mm wide which is 12.79 inches.

The rims are 18 inches diameter, what width do I need to use the same size tires?

Is there a correct width I need to use, if so, what is that?

Thanks.

John

Hey John,

what is your goal with the new tires/wheels? Otherwise I don´t understand the question. There are hundreds of options for a Van.

Question is:
- On- or Off- Road?
- If Off Road, on tracks, rocks, sand - or just on easy trails?
- I guess you want summer tires? Winter tires don´t fit to "MT" Profile
- the thinner the tires, like yours now, the better on the road, especially in corners. If you are going to 35" (315/75-16 or 17): These are much less usable for street use.
- But 35" are much better Off Road. Side walls can save your Rims. You can drive these with lower air pressure which gives you a HUGE benefit off road.

If you have answers to the questions above, you are ONE step further. The next will be profile choice. Profile choice depends also on the track you are using mostly (like street, trails, winter, wet or dry).
If you have answers to that, you just need to decide how big your tire your tire are going to get:
e.g.: I just decided to go for General Grabber AT2 (also because it was a very good online Deal) in 315/75-16" on 8" Rims. Besides the General Grabber AT2 there is only Hankook allowing 315/75-16 on a 8" narrow Rim! The other ones all need to be at least 8,5-10", like BF, Cooper etc.. The set of 4 315/75-16 are roughly 200$ cheaper that 17" variants (at least in Germany).

And of course if you want to same diameter of bigger. If you go bigger the gear ratio can be an issue.

PS: Don´t choose on marketing! US Manufactures have the better Marketing in the US (of course) but that does not mean that these tires are better than e.g. Hankook from Korea. Besides you want to support US companies.

 

[John W]

The goal with the new tires would have on and off road capability.
Probably more summer than winter, but don't want to rule out either.

For off road, I'd like versatility.

This is my daily driver, which means it gets driven sometimes on the weekends for errands.

The idea was to use the van for dispersed camping in National Forests, BLM lands, or whatever I might find in the East here; Catskills, or Adirondacks, Appalachians, etc.
This could involve any type of terrain; sand, mud, rocks or snow. Also lots of interstate to get there from NYC.
If the path is too treacherous, then I turn back. But I go as far as the van with it's UJOR 6" lift kit and 35" tires will let me. What's it capable of? I don't know yet. 4x4 trails in Vermont?

I understand there are different optimal suspension/tire setups for rocks or mud or snow or sand etc., and probably everything is a compromise.

The van has 325/65/18 tires, and I like the look so I want to keep that size.

I just had no idea what the rim width is, or how to measure it, to replace the rims with an identical set, without first unmounting the tires and measuring.

Seems to ride fine on the street in this configuration, so I don't feel compelled to change it much.

The guy I bought it from used it on beach sand, snow (ski trips), dirt (dirt bikes), so it might be optimized for that, to some extent, or not, he found the current rim/tire set on craigslist, so he may not have looked at a wide range of available choices.

I haven't seen sidewall thickness specs for tires, but sounds like thicker sidewalls are better/safer for low inflation roads. What does that do for street handling?

I have more street motorcycle experience, I have lots to learn about 4x4.

Thanks for the reply.

John

 

[jjohnny350]

I have gone through a good amount of wheels on cars and trucks, I would avoid chromed, or polished, although if you do get a real nice chrome job on there it will last a lot longer than some cheaper ones. Polished is probably the most maintenance to keep up will take a lot of elbow grease. I would recommend a good set of powder coated wheels, they have seemed to last the longest for me. If you cant find a good wheel in the color you like, I almost always end up stripping and painting the wheels the color I want. Chrome is the hardest to get off typically, I made that mistake once. Polished or painted will come off pretty easily if you would like to paint them a different color.

 

[jjohnny350]

Congratulations on the Ujoint van too, you are going to love it.