Tire Size and Vehicle Wear and Tear

[theyeofra]

So, i've been researching this topic as much as I can over the last few weeks/months trying to come to some firm answers but I am having difficulties in that. I thought I would post a topic relating directly to tire size and what the effects can be based on the size. LEt me expand upon this slightly related to the questions I am having.

I like many other people on this forum want to get bigger tires for my vehicle. The question I am having is what will the negative affects of this be on the wear and tear for my vehicle and what size can I reasonably get and avoid this fate. I am not really concerned with the louder driving noise, slower braking, worse handling. I am more concerned with the wear and tear aspects of the larger tires.

I have a base non-squatch on order and would like to updgrade to a size 33 tire but would this tires size and weight work with the components of the base. The base gearing is only 3.73. Is that gearing enough to handle that tire size without causing early failure of components? Would the gearing not need to be more like 4.10 to avoid early failure? Also, the heavier weight of the larger tires. The bigger tires are substantially heavier. Would this extra rotating weight cause failure of components as well. I assume with bigger heavier tires the axle, ball bearings, and transmission would all be put under stress they werent designed for. Is this line of though correct with 33in tires? There seems to be alot of conflicting information out there regarding this. I am sure alot of it is peoples bias trying to justify there actions and this is why it is hard to wade through fact from fiction related to this.

What I have determined as it relates to larger tires on a base is a size 32in is probably acceptable as the outer banks has the same size tire and same gearing and axles. I am not sure how much tire weight matters but I assume you would want to stick to around a 40lb tire like the outer banks has.

If anyone can help expand on this and give some advice that would be very helpful to me and I am sure others who are trying to figure this out would be appreciative also.

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[clarkT]

I put much larger rims and tires and a 2 inch lift on an F150 fx4. Figured the fx4 off road model could handle it. It couldn’t. It EATS ball joints and tie rods. Which are not hard to do yourself but annoying to do every 2 years (and they don’t wear out together so you seem to be doing something every 6 months). That’s with highway use mainly. No “fun” off road.

That said, from what we know all bronco models have same suspension. So if you stick to a stock wheel / tire size and watch not adding too much weight to each wheel when upgrading it should be ok.

So go check out the sticky on stock rim / tire / weight combos and have at it!

 

[Butzy]

For reference, 33" tires are 1" larger in diameter than 32" so ½" in radius and roughly 3" in circumference larger. Without doubt, your 30" tires would be much easier on components than 33"s but I don't think I would be concerned with premature failure.

 

[Tricky Dick]

Since all Broncos through Sasquatch apparently use the same wheel bearings and ball joints it should be pretty safe to run up to 35s for those common failure spots.

Since Ford switched to F150 Raptor wheel bearings for the Braptor it tells you how they feel about going over 35s on the regular Broncos.

 

[PaBronco]

So, i've been researching this topic as much as I can over the last few weeks/months trying to come to some firm answers but I am having difficulties in that. I thought I would post a topic relating directly to tire size and what the effects can be based on the size. LEt me expand upon this slightly related to the questions I am having.

I like many other people on this forum want to get bigger tires for my vehicle. The question I am having is what will the negative affects of this be on the wear and tear for my vehicle and what size can I reasonably get and avoid this fate. I am not really concerned with the louder driving noise, slower braking, worse handling. I am more concerned with the wear and tear aspects of the larger tires.

I have a base non-squatch on order and would like to updgrade to a size 33 tire but would this tires size and weight work with the components of the base. The base gearing is only 3.73. Is that gearing enough to handle that tire size without causing early failure of components? Would the gearing not need to be more like 4.10 to avoid early failure? Also, the heavier weight of the larger tires. The bigger tires are substantially heavier. Would this extra rotating weight cause failure of components as well. I assume with bigger heavier tires the axle, ball bearings, and transmission would all be put under stress they werent designed for. Is this line of though correct with 33in tires? There seems to be alot of conflicting information out there regarding this. I am sure alot of it is peoples bias trying to justify there actions and this is why it is hard to wade through fact from fiction related to this.

What I have determined as it relates to larger tires on a base is a size 32in is probably acceptable as the outer banks has the same size tire and same gearing and axles. I am not sure how much tire weight matters but I assume you would want to stick to around a 40lb tire like the outer banks has.

If anyone can help expand on this and give some advice that would be very helpful to me and I am sure others who are trying to figure this out would be appreciative also.

3:73s will be fine to run a 33" tire. I had 33s on my Jeep with 4:10s and thought the gear was a little high for highway use.

 

[theyeofra]

This is all good information. I did not know that all of the models used the same wheel bearings and ball joints. If that's the case that eliminates a very big point of failure that you would have to worry about.

It seems like it would most likely be fine to go to 33's with the 3.73 gearing. It does seem like it would be better to at least have 4.10 gearing but I haven't found evidence 33's would cause early issues with the transmission and gearing.

I'll be curious to see down the line if there are any issues with the base and 33's and up based on that size and weight. It would be nice if ford would release some information for each model what they can reasonably handle and stay within a zone of avoiding failure and not voiding the warranty. For a vehicle they want to be modded I think creating some clear guidlines could save them money on warranties and help the consumer make educated choices on these matters.

I also may just be thinking way to much about this, but it is a new vehicle and I would like to avoid messing it up.

 

[BC overlanding]

You will be 100% fine going to 33”s with No lift. Won’t hurt anything. It’s all about geometry 1 inch isnt going to through stuff off so bad it starts tearing crap up. If you where talking 35 which would require a lift then different Story

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