Changing wheel sizes - advice welcome!

[fickman]

Our current TV is a 2010 Chevrolet Express G3500 12-passenger van. It started as a basic fleet white van and we've slowly upgraded a few things over the last year to help it look more like a private vehicle.

The tires will be due for replacement soon and I'm considering upgrading the wheels (it currently has the gray painted 16" ugly wheels).

I want to upgrade the looks without sacrificing performance.

I'd prefer to go to 18" wheels, but I'd like some input on the LT E-load range tires I'd need to couple with them.

Questions off the top of my head:
- If we went to 18" wheels, would the ride be significantly rougher or noisier?
- Are the tires significantly more expensive in 18"?
- Should I be looking at 17"?
- Should I leave well enough alone and just get custom 16"?

Any other advice or things to think about? I'd prefer to keep the total diameter about the same so that I don't change the gearing of the rear end or mess up the accuracy of the speedometer.

[fickman]

ktosv wrote:
fickman, what did you decide to do? Did you get new wheels for your van? If so, how does it look and what did you end up going with?

I actually picked up a set of the GMT800 HD aluminum wheels that were so popular that I am refinishing to put on our van.

My BIL found me some 17"x8 Dodge 2500 HD OEM takeoff wheels that had the same bolt pattern as my Express; I went with the 245/70/r17 load range E tires. Pic now in signature.

Couldn't be happier with the setup.

[ktosv]

fickman, what did you decide to do? Did you get new wheels for your van? If so, how does it look and what did you end up going with?

I actually picked up a set of the GMT800 HD aluminum wheels that were so popular that I am refinishing to put on our van.

[Snow_King]

SoCalDesertRider wrote:
I think you mean 265/75-16. That is the common size. 265/70-16 isn't a common size.

NO he means 265/70R16. Look back at my posts and I found those for him that have a similar diameter to 245/75R16's. They will not adversely effect his gearing.

[SoCalDesertRid1]

blt2ski wrote:
If you go with a 265, get a 7-8" rims as is called for. Having driven 265-75's on 16x6.5" rims and 7.5" rims, major difference in how things handle IMHO. Yeah teh 6.5s work, but not near as well as the proper width rim.

Marty

I fully agree with that.

I had 265's on the stock 6" rims on my old GM dually, on the front axle only. The truck was wallowy and rolled in the turns and didn't steer right. Put 235's back on the front and the handling improved quite noticeably. Never messed with 265's on 6" rims again.

Too wide tires on too narrow rims isn't a good thing, especially on the front axle.

[fickman]

SoCalDesertRider wrote:
I think you mean 265/75-16. That is the common size. 265/70-16 isn't a common size.

We were actually looking at the 70s (pending pricing and availability) to keep the overall diameter from increasing. I know they're not as common, but I REALLY don't want to mess with the gearing or risk hitting the wheel well.

We'd also have to ensure that the sliding door wouldn't be impeded by the wider tire. I think one size up should be fine.

blt2ski wrote:
If you go with a 265, get a 7-8" rims as is called for. Having driven 265-75's on 16x6.5" rims and 7.5" rims, major difference in how things handle IMHO. Yeah teh 6.5s work, but not near as well as the proper width rim.

Marty

Noted. . . when I had my '05 Chevy 2500HD pickup, the guy who put the 285/75/16 tires on it didn't buy the right width of wheels, and I could DEFINITELY tell. My BIL will make sure to match the wheel to the tire for us.

[blt2ski]

If you go with a 265, get a 7-8" rims as is called for. Having driven 265-75's on 16x6.5" rims and 7.5" rims, major difference in how things handle IMHO. Yeah teh 6.5s work, but not near as well as the proper width rim.

Marty

[SoCalDesertRid1]

I think you mean 265/75-16. That is the common size. 265/70-16 isn't a common size.

[fickman]

.I think we've narrowed the search to 265/70/r16 or 245/70/r17 tires and are down to a handful of wheels. Thanks everybody for the input so far, we've taken most of it into account to narrow the options.

I'm probably leaning a little more towards the 265/70/r16 option and sticking with a 16" wheel. Going to a machined finish or chrome will still have a dramatic effect on the looks.

[SoCalDesertRid1]

Jarlaxle wrote:

NewsW wrote:

fickman wrote:
Consider me successfully talked down from the 18" ledge.

Are all of these concerns just as valid for the 17"? To keep the same overall diameter the same, I believe I'd go from 75 ratio tires to 70.

I'll definitely ask around about the stability control. It's still under warranty, so the local dealership is always helpful with random queries.

A few answers to questions from other posts:
- Unloaded on city streets, the 3500 can be pretty rough. It smooths out on the highway and is like butter with a camper hooked up, but we're in between RVs right now and only take one out (my parents' or my inlaws') a couple of times a year.

- i'm not opposed to staying with 16". The main goal is to continue to transition from a fleet look to a private vehicle look.

- my BIL said the price difference for LT tires in 16" and 17" is reasonable ($20/tire)

Thanks a ton for the advice so far, it's really been helping me think through this!

Be aware that any one with a risk of liability is going to be real quesey about answering questions about a passenger van and mods that affect handling and stability.

Example: Wally I have been to will no longer install wheels and tires that are non-standard size (defined as those not listed on the manufacturer's door sticker).

I would love to show up there with my father in law's Firebird and watch them try to figure out exactly what an H70-R15 is! What do they do if the sticker is illegible or, as is the case with my Caddy, Liz's GN, and my first Caprice wagon, simply missing? Or the OEM tire size is simply no longer available? (220/55R390, anyone?)

Having said that, if you are seeking comfort, why are you going lower profile?

Why not keep what you have, but drop the tire pressure to what is required to carry your load (check with tire manufacturer chart)?

Door stickers pressures assume a full load --- and you are not carrying one now.

Your cheapest transition from fleet to private vehicle look is to get some hubcaps!

No, that will make it look like a fleet van that someone is trying to make look like it's NOT a fleet van.

They usually look up the tire specs in their computer data base which covers most cars on the road. There are size conversions available for the old sizing nomenclature. To properly convert, all you need is a metric tire with a similar width, height and weight rating, not the same actual tire size nomenclature printed on the tire side wall.

[BenK]

Here is an example of how wheel offset affects

My GMT400 Suburban's OEM wheels are 16x6.5 with a 1.5" positive offset (rim
center line moves inwards from the hub contact surface)

My 16x10 wheels are 1.5" negative offset. Rim centerline is outwards
of the hub contact surface.

So my wheels has a total of 3" negative offset from the OEM stock offset. Why
my track is over 10.5" from stock (wider stance) It corners and handles
like it is on rails, but there is a down side

The cost for that re-engineered suspension setup is that now my Sub is in the
shop for a new steering box and linkages.

Did not help when off roading being too lazy to go out and move the rocks and
small bolder by hand...touch the boulder with the front wheel and turn the
steering wheel to have the steering system move that boulder... 😞

That extra leverage wore out my steering box at just over 155K miles. I've also
adjusted the steering box many times and there is no more left to adjust.

[SoCalDesertRid1]

CND SuperCrew wrote:

Snow_King wrote:

MegaCab_PL wrote:
I always thought that the aluminium 16" wheels from 2001-2006 HD GM pickups were one of the best looking wheels. They should fit your van.

Those are 6.5 wide and limited to 245's. Do they have the right offset for vans?

Not true, many people run up to a 285 on those rims with no problem, check out Dieselplace.com

The 2500HD wheels are way outside of the minimum width range required by all manufacturers of 285 tires. 8" minimum wheel width required to run 285 tires, plainly listed on most major tire manufacturer's web sites for anyone to see.

[SoCalDesertRid1]

Snow_King wrote:

MegaCab_PL wrote:
I always thought that the aluminium 16" wheels from 2001-2006 HD GM pickups were one of the best looking wheels. They should fit your van.

Those are 6.5 wide and limited to 245's. Do they have the right offset for vans?

The ones on the 2500HD's are 6.5" wide. The ones on the 3500SRW pickups are wider, with higher weight rating. Stock tire size on the 3500SRW pickups was 265/75-16E, rated 3415 lbs/tire.

[Jarlaxle]

NewsW wrote:

fickman wrote:
Consider me successfully talked down from the 18" ledge.

Are all of these concerns just as valid for the 17"? To keep the same overall diameter the same, I believe I'd go from 75 ratio tires to 70.

I'll definitely ask around about the stability control. It's still under warranty, so the local dealership is always helpful with random queries.

A few answers to questions from other posts:
- Unloaded on city streets, the 3500 can be pretty rough. It smooths out on the highway and is like butter with a camper hooked up, but we're in between RVs right now and only take one out (my parents' or my inlaws') a couple of times a year.

- i'm not opposed to staying with 16". The main goal is to continue to transition from a fleet look to a private vehicle look.

- my BIL said the price difference for LT tires in 16" and 17" is reasonable ($20/tire)

Thanks a ton for the advice so far, it's really been helping me think through this!

Be aware that any one with a risk of liability is going to be real quesey about answering questions about a passenger van and mods that affect handling and stability.

Example: Wally I have been to will no longer install wheels and tires that are non-standard size (defined as those not listed on the manufacturer's door sticker).

I would love to show up there with my father in law's Firebird and watch them try to figure out exactly what an H70-R15 is! What do they do if the sticker is illegible or, as is the case with my Caddy, Liz's GN, and my first Caprice wagon, simply missing? Or the OEM tire size is simply no longer available? (220/55R390, anyone?)

Having said that, if you are seeking comfort, why are you going lower profile?

Why not keep what you have, but drop the tire pressure to what is required to carry your load (check with tire manufacturer chart)?

Door stickers pressures assume a full load --- and you are not carrying one now.

Your cheapest transition from fleet to private vehicle look is to get some hubcaps!

No, that will make it look like a fleet van that someone is trying to make look like it's NOT a fleet van.

[CND_SuperCrew]

Snow_King wrote:

MegaCab_PL wrote:
I always thought that the aluminium 16" wheels from 2001-2006 HD GM pickups were one of the best looking wheels. They should fit your van.

Those are 6.5 wide and limited to 245's. Do they have the right offset for vans?

Not true, many people run up to a 285 on those rims with no problem, check out Dieselplace.com