tires

[tripleh87]

is there a height difference in 33x9.5x15 and 33x12.5x15 tires? right now i'm running 33x9.5x15 tires and the other day i noticed that my front tires are a little more wore down that my rear tires. my left front tire is wore more on the inside edge, probably out of alignment. i was thinking about getting 2 33x12.5x15 kuhmo venture mud terrains and put them on the back and put the 33x9.5x15 on the front until i can get 2 more 33x12.5x15 tires. would the back of my truck sit up higher than the front or are the 33x12.5x15 just a little wider than the 33x9.5x15 tires? sorry if this has been answered before.

 

[Seabronc]

No problem with questions that have been answered before, but you can get a lot of valuable input by searching the forums for things that have been the topic you are interested in. If you search using quotes, for ex "33 x 12.5", that should get you several hits to look at.

33 x 12.5 are the same height but wider tread. The second number is the tread width in inches. 9.5's will fit a stock wheels and 12.5's have been put on stock wheels but that voids the warranty since all manufacturers specify that the minimum rim width for 12.5 is 8.5 - 11.5 inches while the specification for 33 x 9.5's is 6.5 - 8.5 rim width. The bottom line is that if you pop a bead with them mounted on the wrong sized rims and have an accident that causes serious injury to you or someone else, you can't sue them. You will have people tell you that they have them on smaller rims and don't have any problems, but that doesn't change the fact that you void the warranty.

That being said, you can to get a little less in gas milage since they are wider and result in more drag on the engine. They may rub in hard over turns and also if your front springs are weak that may also cause them to rub. A body or suspension lift will help and the setback on the wheels being used will also effect the rubbing problem. If you have an agressive tread pattern, the rubbing problem is more serious since you could ruin a nice set of tires that way.

I like the look of 33 x 12.5 tires and have a set for my truck, but I also have them mounted on the properly sized wheels. The only problem I have is a slight rub in hard over turns, so I don't do that. Right now I have a nice looking set of 31 x 9.5's on stock rims for winter driving and roadability.

I would definately take care of the alignment problems before putting new tires on the truck. That is a lot of money to spend on new tires and just ruin them in no time because of bad alignment or ball joints.

Here is a link to The Tirerack, a very good site on tires and specifictions.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/SearchTires....inSpeedRating=R

Good luck,

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