>>Not true. I have 31x10.5-15s on my stock '93 alloy rims (only
>I've been led to understand that this will create some strange
>treadwear patterns. Apparently, since the narrower wheel
>bulges the tire out it doesn't quite sit flat on the road, no
>matter what you do. What has your experience been?
>>Note that you can fine-tune your footprint with such oversize
That about says it all, you can ride on the center tread with too
much pressure, on the outer tread with too little. Basically, the
range of pressures where a reasonable cross-section of the tread
is in the contact patch is reduced, compared to a tire designed
for any given wheel width.
The simplest way to see what your contact patch looks like is to
drive onto a clean piece of paper with dusty tires. If you can jack
up a wheel by the A-arm (or rear axle) you can let it down on a piece
of paper too. Jacking the frame will give you a distorted (stressed)
patch, until you move the vehicle and let the tire scrub.
Keep in mind that the weight loading the tire affects the contact
patch too, so with wider than recommended tires, you need to adjust
the tire pressure for the load you're carrying -- especially the
rear of a pickup truck.
Happy Motoring,
Jim
'Give me your motor-voter, your scared senior, your lifelong welfare
recipient, your generally misinformed, your undereducated, your envious,
your dissatisfied-with-life, your lover-of-failed-policies past, your
Hollywood contacts, your Tyson Foods employee, your Clinton has made
interest rates go down believer, your tax lover...I need that vote'
Billary '96
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