- Understanding how the width of a tire
can dramatically affect its performance
might just be one of the most misunderstood characteristics
of a tire, when it comes to purchasing a new set.
And so today, we answer the age old debate of
which one is better.
A narrower tire or a wider tire.
Hey, what's up guys, Josh from TrailBuilt
and most of us look for two things when searching
for a new set of tires.
One is the value and two is the performance.
Granted there are those who care more about
how the tire looks on a vehicle, but for most of us,
we want a tire that is gonna offer the best performance
and usually the best price.
Now, when I say that the width of a tire is quite possibly
the most misunderstood part of choosing a tire,
it's because most of us will consider the performance
of the tire's tread pattern first,
then maybe the designation category of the tire.
Is it an all season, all terrain,
hybrid or mud terrain tire?
Is it rated for mud and snow?
Does it have the three peak mountain snowflake rated?
All of these questions are definitely important
but if we don't match the correct width of the tire
to our vehicle's needs,
then it's not gonna matter what the tire is
might as well just run drag slicks for that matter.
First thing we should be considering when shopping
for a new set of tires is the size of the tire.
Height and width that's gonna work best for us.
Then once we figure that out, we can narrow it down
to the other performance characteristics of the tire
but how do we know how to match the perfect size of the tire
to our own particular vehicle needs?
Well, simple.
It starts by understanding how the width
of a tire affects the tire's performance
and that boils down to one thing,
the weight distribution of the vehicle
through the tire's contact patch.
Think of a narrower tire as you would think
of a pizza cutter.
It's designed to break through the cross
because of its sharper edge.
Now imagine a wider tire is more like a bread roller
or a dough rolling pin.
Those are designed to roll over the top of something
even as soft as dough without cutting through it,
same concept with tires and here's why.
It all boils down to PSI and not so much the air pressure
that's in the tire although that does play a major part
to the tires performance,
especially while aired down for more off road traction
but rather the contact pressure per square inch
measured in pounds and is divided
by the weight of the vehicle.
A narrower tire like a pizza cutter,
will have a higher amount of pounds
or more weight of pressure per square inch
through a smaller contact area
compared to a wider tire that distributes more of the weight
of the vehicle throughout the wide tire's contact patch
resulting in having a lower number of pounds per square inch
of pressure, because the weight is more distributed
throughout the tire's contact patch,
just like a rolling pit clear as mud, right?
A quick example of that is a lighter vehicle
like a two door Jeep Wrangler running a 34
by nine and a half inch wide tire like a Super Swamper TSL
and it'll have more bite per square inch
than let's say a 35 inch tall tire
that's 12 and a half inches wide.
Or another example is, let's say we have a heavier vehicle
like a four door Jeep Wrangler running 35 inch tall tires
that are 12 and a half inches wide
and because a Wrangler four door is heavier
but the tires are wider,
the effect of the weight might just be
the same amount of pressure per square inch
through the tire's contact patch
as what the lighter two door Wrangler
with narrower tires is.
So then with that said,
how do we know how to match the correct width of the tire
to the weight of our vehicle?
And the answer is, it all depends
on what we're using our vehicles for
and how we're using our vehicle.
A vehicle designed for mud running
will typically have a wider size tire to gain more flotation
on top of the mud
whereas a rock crawling buggy won't necessarily
have a super narrow tire
but will often have tires that are between 12
and a half inches wide up to about 14 inches wide.
But what about the majority of us,
who use our vehicles as daily drivers
but often like to hit the trails on the weekends?
Well, too wide of a tire
and it'll create more rolling resistance
making the engine work harder than it needs to
and ultimately causing more wear and tear
on the driveline and consuming a lot more fuel
plus not to mention too wide of a tire
and it'll start to hydroplane over water
or float too much over snow and ice,
and will be much easier to lose control over your steering
and your vehicle.
Wider tires also will require additional clearance
for the suspension components, upper control arms,
coilovers, leaf springs and or lower control arms
which will require a wheel with more of a negative offset.
The challenge with increasing the negative offset
in addition to installing a wider tire is that,
even though we may have gained plenty of clearance
to not have our tire interfere
with the suspension components,
chances are the front tires are now gonna make contact
with the front bumper or behind the tire
on the inner fender liner or even the rocker panels
and possibly the cab mounts,
depending on the vehicle of course
therefore we might need to purchase a new set of wheels
or even spacers to get that additional clearance
we're looking for.
And guys, just throwing this out there,
buddy if you did end up purchasing your tires from us
here at TrailBuilt and wanted or needed
to get a new set of tires to go with them,
we do offer free mounting and balancing
of your new wheel entire package
plus if you live in any state in the lower 48,
we even ship them to you for free as well.
And guys, for more information on wheels and tires
we'll have that link posted in the description below.
But anyways, having two narrow of a tire
and you'll start to lose traction properties
while out in the trails.
Sometimes a little wider tire will be a bit
of an advantage while trying to climb up
and over rocks or other various trail obstacles
especially when trying to get through the thick, gooey mud.
Now if we knew the exact weight of our vehicle
either fully loaded with all of our gear,
a full tank of fuel, our passengers and even our family pets
or even how we have it loaded for our daily commutes,
we can then figure out what the best width
of tire should be
but because most of us don't know exactly
what our vehicle weighs, the next best step to figure out
what the weight of our vehicle is
if you have a pickup truck, you can base your weight numbers
off the GVWR or Gross Vehicle Weight Rating
that's listed on a little tag on the driver's side door jam
or in the owner's manual
or maybe you don't have a pickup truck
but the GVWR is still listed on the door jam
or in the owner's manual.
If it is, then that's great
if not, might need to find a local trucking scale
to get your vehicle's weight
or Google can definitely help there as well.
So, excluding show boaters, bro dozers
or the guys who play on top of the mud and snow,
the ones who have the super wides
paired with the super lights
and float over the top of everything
well besides them, lighter vehicles that fit
within the load carrying capacities
of 2,500 pounds per tire or less
which is a load index of about 113 or sea load or less,
then the tire industry limits the width of the tires
to about 10 and a half inches wide or narrower
except for maybe a few exceptions.
And this is speaking to all season tires, all train tires,
hybrid and mud train types of tires
fitting wheel diameters that are between 17 and 20 inches.
Once you start getting to load range D rating
and load indexes of 114 and, or a 2,600 pound per tire
or more, then you start seeing
the 12 and a half inch wide tires combined in
with the narrower tires
but even at that low of a weight rating
which means my vehicle is still pretty light yet,
I would wanna run a 10 and a half inch wide tire
or narrower to get the most traction out of the tire
because of having a greater number of pounds of pressure
per square inch.
Personally and this is just my opinion from my experiences
but I wouldn't even wanna consider
a 12 and a half inch wide tire on a daily driver
unless the loaded daily weight of my rig was
at least about 10,000 pounds or so,
just to maintain that higher pounds of pressure
per square inch to the ground
to avoid things like hydroplaning
or even floating on top of the snow and ice
or unless my tires are 37 inches tall or higher.
Now having said that, narrower tires,
definitely aren't going to look as cool,
especially the taller the tire is.
A 33 by 10 and a half inch wide looks okay
and is decently proportional to most vehicles
but a 35 inch wide by 10 and a half inch wide
and you might start getting some strange looks,
especially on a Jeep Wrangler
with high clearance aftermarket fenders.
But if you prefer function over form,
then nine and a half inch wide
to 10 and a half inch wide tires
combined with 35 inch tall tires or smaller
are a great way to achieve the best overall performance.
Fortunately, we do have a tire and wheel fitment gallery
on our website at TrailBuilt
that allows you to view similar vehicles to yours,
with different combinations of wheel and tire setups
so that way you guys can get a pretty good idea
what your vehicle would look like with a similar size setup.
But I am curious though, what do you guys think
is the best height and width combination
for a tire in your experience?
Do you prefer a wider tire
or would you rather have a narrower tire?
I'd also be curious to find out what size tires
you guys are running.
What size lift of suspension do you have
and what is your vehicle that you're currently running
this setup on?
Would be great to hear back from all of you
by letting us know in the comments below.
Also guys, remember to click that link in the description
for everything wheels, tires, suspension and accessories
or to even check out our fitment gallery
on our website at TrailBuilt and guys as always,
we appreciate all of you for watching
and all of your support.
I'm Josh from TrailBuilt and we'll see you guys
out on the trail.
(upbeat music)