15" vs 16" or 16.5"

[Irish_Alley]

Ok I been wanting new tires but I came across some 44" gumbos on rims but they are 15s now I know I can make them fit but two questions 1. How much of a ride difference will be on the 15 vs 16s or 16.5 I have.38" swamper on 16s right now I mean at 500 bucks its hard for me to pass them up. 2nd question I have the big brakes on my 14 bolt. The what 13"? can't remember but will the 15s fit over them or will I have to down size my drums I also have brake drums off a 14 bolt for the 11" brakes. Trucks not around right now for me to check

[bgctrading]

15's should work on the back. As far as ride difference I dont think you can tell much diff. with those big mud slingers. I have never seen a set balance well.


Brandon

[Irish_Alley]

Not really talking about the balance but more of the sway or how much of a steering difference it will be

[fitz]

The rears should be fine, the front may take some grinding on the calipers to get things to fit.

[4x4orbust]

with the 15" rim the tires have a lot of rubber between the rim and the road, so you will notice "some" difference from your 38's.  so long as it's not your daily driver, or your race car, it will be fine.  offroad you won't notice a difference at all as far as driveability, except you can go through deeper stuff. keep a few extra psi in them then you normally would offroad so you can avoid the tire folding over on itself.  as far as the steering, if there is any play in your existing setup, it wil be even more noticeable with the bigger tires.

[Irish_Alley]

so the difference in sidewall stiffness isn't really a factor when you have a 15" tire vs a 16.5" to me a 1.5" ain't going to make that much of a difference with 44s but i just want to make sure. theres no play in the steering system just kind of thinking like you said about the tire rolling even on the road

[4x4orbust]

the difference is minimal from the 15 to the 16.5.e   now if you were gonna get real technical about it you should be running a rim that is about half the size of the tire (I.E.  20's on 44's) for on-road and off road tire stability.   and it's gonna look a little goofy having 44's on 15's.   
you are gonna have a LOT of grinding to do on your front calipers.   the rears will fit no problem.  i would look into a set for 16" rims if i were you. 

[Irish_Alley]

I have a set of 16s and a set of 16.5 but if I were to buy these tires new ill be looking at 2k or close to it and I can get theses for the price of one for the 16s and besides that I talked the wife into letting me get the hummer tires they are 37x12x16.5 I have a set of rims for them they will cost 400 so a couple hundred more vs 1500 more will go over easier lol

[fitz]

   and it's gonna look a little goofy having 44's on 15's.   

This is what it will look like. These are 44" swampers on 15" rims.

[4x4orbust]

how did that handle on/off road?   i love that truck!   are you still planning on lowering it?

[fitz]

how did that handle on/off road?   i love that truck!   are you still planning on lowering it?

  I never took it 4 wheeling. On the street it drove horrible with the 12" lift and the 44" swampers. I lowered it down and put 35"s on it and now I use it for a daily driver in the nice weather. It sounds like Irish alley does more 4 wheeling than me so I can see why he want's the 44"s, it just wasn't for me.
  Here is how it looks on 35"s.

[treestandjunkie]

Much better!! IMO!