Best wheel (rim) / tire combo on 04 3/4 Burban?

[duramat 462]

So the time has come to replace the tires on the burban Im lookin for ideas of what size rims and tires would be ideal for my 04 3/4 suburban (8 lug) Any thoughts of where I should begin? Im a Les Schwab guiy after getting hosed by Sears and some other outfits in years past. Currently on the 16" stock wheels with 75's Open Country.. What would look decent, 16's, 17's, 18's or 20's?

 

Post pics o what ya like

 

Thanx!

 

Matt

[Big Po 1]

Here's some pics of my mom's 2002 Z71 Suburban. It has a 6" Superlift with double-shocks up front, 20x10" Helo Maxx6 wheels 35x12.50r20 Nitto Trail Grapplers.

 

They offer rims very similar to this, but 8-lug version called the Maxx8. I currently have them on my Dodge 2500 Cummins, and they look sharp.

 

Edited August 9, 2011 by Big Po

[duramat 462]

Po, I like that! Our Burban is Black so that gives me a good idea. Heres another question to ya, What are the biggeest tires i can put on mine (whithout getting a lift kit) Ive been told 85's?

[Dj8312 2]

Hey according to offroaders.com you should be able to fit a 34. I don't know what metric size that is to many factors for me to figure.

 

Depending on your backspacing on the wheels they may work.

 

Get the 20s. It's not that much money difference. I like the radio-edit Cepek DC1 or DC2.

[DarksideR 1,679]

The ones in the new Transformers movie were crazy! I want one REAL bad!

 

[Big Po 1]

Po, I like that! Our Burban is Black so that gives me a good idea. Heres another question to ya, What are the biggeest tires i can put on mine (whithout getting a lift kit) Ive been told 85's?

I would go with some 285's. Or you could raise the front up by adjusting the torsion bars, and put some 305/70r16 or up to 315/75r16 tires (fit a set of these on my buddy's GF's 2000 Z71 truck on stock wheels, and they fit REALLY good). All we had to do was adjust the torsion bars up a bit, and that truck was sitting real mean looking.

[islander033 2]

If I was you I wouldn't go too big on your wheel/tire combo. You'll be giving up some fuel mileage and towability.

 

Other than that I say shop on old man!

 

 

[Big Po 1]

Actually, you will only give up mileage around town, but not much....I gained MPG's on the highway with all my trucks, and everyone of them was lifted with big tires. Reason being is big tires roll less revolutions per mile than a smaller tire does, which means greater traveled distance in the same number of revolutions for both the taller tires.

 

You won't give up hardly any towability either. If you go several sizes over stock, re-gearing will be necessary to retain all the power and towing power your truck originally had.

 

I would recommend leveling the front end, and putting some 285's on some 20" wheels. Black wheels look the best on black vehicles, IMO.

[islander033 2]

Sorry PO, but the laws of physics are against what you said about fuel mileage and larger tires. Rolling resistence and rotational mass to start with....

 

But you are right about re-gearing if you want to keep your stock towability...$$$.

 

I've never understood front leveling kits for tow pigs, can you explain the purpose?

 

Thanks!

[Big Po 1]

Psysics may be against me, but I've had 7 lifted vehicles.....All of which gained MPG's on the highway, but lost them around town, except for my current vehicle, b/c it onyl got 14MPG highway brand new b/c of all that stupid emissions equipment stopping it up. So, once I removed all that, and did a few other modifications, it now gets around 15 MPG around town, and 18 or so on the highway.

 

Also part of the reason vehicles with larger than stock tires get better MPG's on the highway is b/c it requires them to run less RPM's to achieve the same speed, since the larger tires use less revolution per mile to achieve the same distance.

 

I'm far from a newbie with lifted vehicles. I do all my own suspension work, engine work, axle work, custom fabrication, etc....

 

Well, the main purpose in a leveling kit is to level the front end with the rear. If the rear end is stuck way up in the air, then the tongue of the trailer it up, the back end is down, if the trailer doesn't have much tongue weight to sag the rear of the vehicle... If that is the case, your fuel mileage will decrease from inefficient aerodynamics while towing. If your vehicle is leveled, and so is your trailer, you will get improved aerodynamics, which will improve MPG's, and allow your surge brakes to work properly.

 

The reason I was telling him to level the front end, is so he can fit larger tires under there, not necessarily for tow purposes.

Edited August 10, 2011 by Big Po

[islander033 2]

Psysics may be against me, but I've had 7 lifted vehicles.....All of which gained MPG's on the highway, but lost them around town, except for my current vehicle, b/c it onyl got 14MPG highway brand new b/c of all that stupid emissions equipment stopping it up. So, once I removed all that, and did a few other modifications, it now gets around 15 MPG around town, and 18 or so on the highway.

 

So you did more than just larger rims + tires + lift the vehicle for better mileage.....other emission mods actually did this for you, not the larger wheels and tires + lift.

Also part of the reason vehicles with larger than stock tires get better MPG's on the highway is b/c it requires them to run less RPM's to achieve the same speed, since the larger tires use less revolution per mile to achieve the same distance.

 

See rotational mass, rolling resitance.... again + drag coefficient (larger surface area to push with larger tires + lift).

I'm far from a newbie with lifted vehicles. I do all my own suspension work, engine work, axle work, custom fabrication, etc....

 

I am aware of this and agree that you know more about lifting trucks and such than I do. I am just saying that your better mileage has nothing to do with larger tires and rims or installing a lift kit.

Well, the main purpose in a leveling kit is to level the front end with the rear. If the rear end is stuck way up in the air, then the tongue of the trailer it up, the back end is down, if the trailer doesn't have much tongue weight to sag the rear of the vehicle... If that is the case, your fuel mileage will decrease from inefficient aerodynamics while towing. If your vehicle is leveled, and so is your trailer, you will get improved aerodynamics, which will improve MPG's, and allow your surge brakes to work properly.

 

The reason I was telling him to level the front end, is so he can fit larger tires under there, not necessarily for tow purposes.

 

Most leveling kits I see are very unlevel once you put weight on the bumper while towing....looking at the sky is no way to tow...lol.

[Big Po 1]

Actually, on all my other vehicles (other than the current one) the larger tires alone did help....To a point. When I went moderately, and put some 285's or 305's on them, the truck got better MPG's. When I went higher up say 38+" the mileage went down (other than my current ride).

 

The reason most leveling kits are unlevel, is b/c most people are too stupid to know how to build a truck for looks & function. Which is the only kinda trucks I build.

 

Our Dodge 3500 Cummins dually has a leveling kit on it, and with the 30' Gooseneck behind it loaded down with steel, it still sits very level.

 

The trend (especially out west in Cali, Arizona, etc...) is to have the front end of the truck sitting up higher than the back end, and to have BIG wheels, with little rubber-band tires on them. Which is totally retarded, pointless, and completely defeats the purpose of lifting the vehicle, other than for looks. Which still looks retarded & ugly, IMO. So when they tow, it REALLY makes their truck point towards the sky....Which is very dangerous.

Edited August 10, 2011 by Big Po

[Dj8312 2]

I agree with po. I had a 05 1500 that got 17 mpg on interstate with stock tires and it actually got 19 mpg with the 35s. I don't know much about physics but common sense tells you if you run a 31 in tire at 70 mph and your tacking let's say 3000 rpm. And you put taller tires on like 35s. And your run 70 mph at let's say 2400 rpm. Once you get them turning 2400 rpm is gonna burn less fuel than 3000 rpm.

 

No I'm not an expert but I did stay at a holiday inn last night

[islander033 2]

Do me a favor Po. Post your larger tire/fuel economy theory up in your favorite 4X4 forum and then post the link here so that we can follow along with the comments/debate from the truck pro's.

[1911 4]

Im not going to comment on the fuel economy issue. I will say that going to larger tires will effect your towing performance. The truck will be more sluggish, and that is not a good thing when towing. If you want to go bigger, just make a small change. If it were me, Id just find some stock sized wheels that I liked and stick with the stock tire size. It will still give you a better look, and not hurt anything, fuel economy or power wise.

[enzo101mo 98]

Hey Guys the reason your getting better mileage is because now (as Po Said it his tire takes long to go around) the big tire & wheels have changed the speed your traveling. For example it takes long to make one revolution therefore your speedometer is not no long reading speed or distance accurately anymore and your traveling 5 miles faster than what your speedometer is showing you. Get a friend and have them follow you and they will be able to tell you how fast you really going. So in reality your not changing your MPG at all

[DarksideR 1,679]

Hey Guys the reason your getting better mileage is because now (as Po Said it his tire takes long to go around) the big tire & wheels have changed the speed your traveling. For example it takes long to make one revolution therefore your speedometer is not no long reading speed or distance accurately anymore and your traveling 5 miles faster than what your speedometer is showing you. Get a friend and have them follow you and they will be able to tell you how fast you really going. So in reality your not changing your MPG at all

 

I was thinking something like this as well, but didn't want to get into it... oops, guess I buggered that up.

[islander033 2]

If you get better gas mileage with larger tires, why is this NOT a selling feature at tire shops or on tire companies web sites? Why wouldn't car companies who are trying to get away from gas guzzler taxes use really large tires?

 

Not one gas mileage improvement site mentions larger tires. Infact lots of them recommend against it. Why is this?

 

How about a tech article from car and driver?

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/10q1/effects_of_upsized_wheels_and_tires_tested-tech_dept

Edited August 11, 2011 by islander033

[Avy c4 surfer 0]

lets put it this way, my car goes two mph faster when comparing my speedometer and gps when going from 17's to 19's. so when my speedometer says 65, im really going 67. the only way to make sure that gas mileage or loss of power is effected is go do the proper gears in the axles. then youre truck is tricked into believing that you're riding stock, when in reality you have heavy duty mud tires and rims on.

[Dj8312 2]

Sorry Duramat I guess we stole your post here. I'm sure you will but get what you want because even if you don't get better mpg it may look good. If you have a $50000 suv and a $50000 or more boat are you really concerned with mpg.

 

Re gearing is not the only way to have the speedo recalibrated. And as for having your friend follow you how you know his is right. I had plenty of cops check mine before and after I got the programmer from hypertec

 

As po said in town it drinks gas mine went from 15 to about 12 but on interstate it did do better. That may be why tire shops don't try selling that theory.

 

 

I'm sure y'all believe all that crap you see on myth busters

When they test mpg on trucks as well.