I ended up buying some tires and wheels on my way home from work the other day. These are factory alcoas from a 1997 f250. I like 'em. The mounting surface of the wheel is thicker, so not as much stud sticks out past the lug nuts now. It's still adequate, I just don't have much extra. The tires are a 265/75/16, so they are the same height as my old 235/86/16 set, but wider. Even with my saggy old springs, they still don't rub. I was really surprised as to how much lighter these are than my stock steel wheels and tires, even considering being a bigger tire.

The only problem is that I only have three 2wd center caps, so I'm just going to leave the rear ones off until I get another. The ride is a lot smoother now, though it was fine before. And the steering feels a lot more planted. If my gas mileage stays the same, I'll buy this bigger size again.

 

they look pretty good. each tire is 3cm wider than the old tires which will make it ride smoother but might hurt your gas mileage. i have been thinking about getting 16" tires for my ramcharger so i can get narrower tires which could help me toward getting better gas mileage but i am not sure if i want to pay the extra money for the tires.

 

Thanks. They are wider, but they are also literally probably about 20lbs lighter per wheel/tire, considering I went from a M/T tire and steel rims to these lighter rims and street tires. We'll see how it goes. I figure that I have improved two factors and hurt another in regards to efficiency, so I don't expect to see much of a change.

 

Those look pretty nice on the old 89.
Me like.


Nice paint too.

 

You just improved everything on that truck as far as rolling resistance, reciprocating mass, unsprung weight, and now your truck will handle better, better acceleration, get better mileage, and better braking as well as look better!

 

I can tell it handles better and tracks rough roads better. So far I haven't had a chance to check mileage, but I spent 30 minutes today waiting for construction and accidents, so I don't have my hopes up for this tank. I think if it brakes much better than it did before, I'll have to install a neck brace. HA! Just kidding, but that's the one area where I don't think I'll see much improvement since it was already capable of doing the dash to zero pretty quickly.

What's reciprocating mass in terms of wheels?

I'm still a little wary about aluminum rims. I've seen too many of them start leaking from the bead, and I've personally cracked one, but it was a cheap cast aluminum rim, and it was enough force to bust up the rest of the vehicle too. I've heard that these are some of the toughest aluminum light truck rims you can get though, so maybe I shouldn't be so concerned.

 

My wheels are almost as original as the rest of the truck. Mine were likely put on in 2000 or so and they have been used to haul cattle trailers and they are still alive.

I don't think you'll have an issue.

 

In a sense, aluminum WHEELS are many times the load bearing that their same size steel counterparts are. And the Alcoas are the best wheel out there for that. They are far stronger, and usually less prone to bending although in EXTREME conditions, you can break a alloy wheel. Those reasons I mentioned in my previous post are the reasons big trucks use them and also why many large 3/4 ton and 1 ton dually trucks use them.

When I bought new wheels and tyres for my Focus SVT I made sure I didn't go AS heavy as the stock wheels. I dropped almost 20lbs per wheel tyre combo and in a 17in car application, that is a LOT! I noticed the advantages right away over the stock very heavy wheels and tyres. My mileage alone went up a couple to a few MPG, and the difference in braking and accel was noticeable as well. I learned this when I went from 16.5 steel wagon wheels and 35in tyres on my Ramcharger to 38.5 tyres and Alcoa wheels. I dropped almost 45lbs per wheel tyres combo because I got alcoas and bias ply Super Swampers. That was so different my brakes felt like I put on 6 pot race calipers all the way round! And accel was far quicker as was the 4mpg I got out of that swap.

 

i got the lightest rims you can get for a truck and i still get crappy gas mileage. the rims on my 81 are not aluminum.

 

Wolfie, do you have magnesium wheels?

SniperX, is that a new Focus SVT? My neighbor just traded in his 2011 ram for one. I have yet to get to ride in it, but I've heard they are mean.