Larger wheels increase on-road and off-road performances. But if you don’t consider the rim size, you’re doomed! Using the wrong tire sizes for a specific wheel size will result in poor traction and clearance – overall decreasing your truck’s performance.
If you’re trying to figure out if 15 inch wheels with 35 inch tires match well, here’s the answer.
Yes, 15 inch wheels with 35 inch tires is an acceptable combo. But it’s not the best combo I’ll recommend. It’s because 15-inch wheels drifts more, have a short lifetime, and have a bouncy riding experience. Instead, you should go for at least 17-inch wheels. It’ll provide you with the best off-road applications as well.
By reading this article till the end you’ll learn more about why you should use 17-inch wheels for 35-inch tires instead of 15-inch wheels.
Why You Shouldn’t Use 15-Inch Wheels with 35-Inch Tires?
You shouldn’t use 15-inch wheels with 35-inch tires for 5 significant reasons. By going for a 15-inch wheel, you’ll shorten the lifetime of the tire due to high drifting. You’ll also have slow acceleration, an erroneous speedometer reading, and overall a bouncy off-road driving experience with your vehicle.
Keep reading the segments below to learn more about the disadvantages of using a 15-inch wheel with a 35-inch tire.
Short Lifetime
When you use 15-inch wheels with 35-inch tires instead of using 17-inch wheels, the tires start wearing off fast. It’s because smaller wheels tend to get more in contact with the road. So, the overall lifespan decreases.
High Drifting
Another reason you shouldn’t use 15-inch wheels with 35-inch tires is it increases the amount of drifting. As a result, the tire gets heated up with each rotation. This melts the rubber on the tire and so the tire wears off quickly.
Bouncy Riding Experience
Apart from the short life span and drifting issues, using 15-inch wheels will destruct the off-road riding experience. The tire will roll with each step and make it bouncy. It will seem like taking the tire off the wheel. So, it becomes a hectic drive for off-road riding.
Slow Acceleration and Hard Steering
Though 15-inch wheels with 35-inch tires lead to better self-centering, they harm the steering, too, especially when you want to steer at a sharp corner. This can be attributed to the tires’ increased contact patch and weight. The weight also affects acceleration.
Error in Speedometer
Your car’s speedometer is calibrated based on the standard components installed in it. This means installing 15-inch wheels with 35-inch tires will lead to errors on the speedometer.
What is the Best Rim Size for 35-inch Tires?
17-inch rims are the best rim size for 35-inch tires. However, there are other rim sizes as well that fit 35s tires perfectly. Here’s a list of rim sizes that are compatible with 35-inch tires.
| Rim | 15-Ich | 16-Inch | 17-Inch | 18-Inch | 20-Inch | 22-Inch | 24-Inch |
| 35-Inch Tires | 35X12.50-15 | 315/75-16 | 295/70-17315/70-17 | 35X12.50-18305/70-18325/65-18295/70-18285/75-18 | 35X13.50-2035X12.50-20 35X11.50-20325/60-20315/60-20295/65-20285/65-20275/65-20 | 325/50-2235X12.50-22 | 325/45-24 |
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Why Should You Use 17-inch Wheels with 35-inch Tires?
You should use 17-inch wheels with 35-inch tires for 6 reasons. It’ll provide your vehicle with the perfect amount of ground clearance, traction, self-centering, and wet performance. Moreover, it improves the overall aesthetics of your vehicle.
You can also check out the sections below to get a deeper understanding of this matter.
Ground Clearance
Most off-road enthusiasts mount 17-inch wheels with 35-inch tires on their trucks for greater ground clearance. This enables them to avoid significant obstructions that would have otherwise struck the vehicle’s bottom, possibly harming the engine and chassis parts.
Traction
The fastest and most reliable technique to increase traction is to install bigger tires. The math is straightforward: if you put 17-inch wheels with 35-inch tires on a car that had 33-inch tires before, there will be more rubber contacting the ground and a proportional improvement in grip.
A wider tire featuring a similar rubber compound as a narrower one will usually survive much longer and is less likely to overheat in harsh conditions because they disperse the weight of the automobile over a larger area and have a greater heat-absorbing bulk.
Self-Centering
The width of cars with 17-inch wheels and 35-inch tires is bigger than that of cars with 15-inch rims and smaller tires. There are two key benefits to this. First, the wider track width alone will often provide a better grip.
Second, the wheel’s improved leverage on the steering elements will enhance the steering feel and feedback. This phenomenon is known as self-centering, and it is what makes a vehicle’s steering move to its neutral position when a driver releases the steering.
Increased steering feedback, essential for performance driving, comes from more self-centering.
Wet Performance
Most car enthusiasts are unaware of another significant advantage of 17-inch wheels with 35-inch tires: even with a typical all-season tread, a wider tire will achieve nearly the same performance as a dedicated summer tire while still operating safely in the rain.
Specialized performance tires with bigger tread blocks and lesser water channels to expand the tire’s contact patch have always had this problem.
You Can Also Check Out: Can You Fit 265 on 10 inch wheel?
Tread Deformation
Larger sidewalls on a 35-inch tire enable the tread to flex more. While lateral deflection affects handling, longitudinal deformation causes the tread to flatten out.
More rubber is laid down when the tread is flat, which improves traction on and off-road. This impact can be improved by “airing down,” a process involving letting some air out of the tire.
Aesthetics
Apart from performance, one of the reasons you would like to have 17-inch wheels with 35-inch tires on your vehicle is aesthetics.
Compared to 17-inch wheels with smaller tires, 17-inch wheels with 35-inch tires are more aesthetically appealing.
Custom Offsets Match Up: 33×12.5 on 15×8 -22 (Video)
Do You Need to Modify Your Truck to Install the 35-Ich Tires?
Unless you own a 1 or ¾ ton truck, you need to modify your truck to install the 35-inch tires. Using a suspension kit or a leveling kit helps in this case. In some cases, new custom wheels might be necessary.
What Tires are Equivalent to the 35-Inch Tires?
The tires equivalent to the 35-inch tires include 275, 285, 295, 305, and 315. 315/70/17 is usually the accepted metric equivalent size for standard/imperial 35-inch tires.
Can You Put Larger Tires on the Same Rim?
Yes, you can put larger tires on the same rim. Bigger tires can be installed on the same rim. However, you must ensure that the middle of the tires is the right size for those rims.
Final Take
15-inch wheels with 35-inch tires are available in the market and can be installed on your SUV or truck. The advantages of this wheel/tire combination are enhanced aesthetics, improved traction, and better-wet performance, among others.
