Are Big Wheels Good?

mgjessop

New member
Hi Guy's,

I have a 2005 3500 158 with 195/70/15... I have the 3.72 rear end... I bought a full set of six 16x6 steel wheels off a friend who put custom wheels on his Sprinter Motor home... I was thinking about going with 215/85/16 the same size that is on the 2007-2008 year model... When my speed say 60mph I am going 54mph on gps... It will be a 18% difference on my speedo... Which should lower my rpm by 18%... I can only go 77mph top speed, it says I am doing 85mph but the gps doesn't lie.... Does anybody run this size? :thinking:
 

Suba

New member
You'll lose your 3.72. You'll end up with probably a 3.50 or less ( just a guess ) That means if you haul any weight you risk screwing the transmission up as well as lugging the engine, and your Sprinter may be unstable at higher speeds. There's a reason your tires are sized the way they are.

This is of course, just my opinion.......
 

mgjessop

New member
I am never over 1500lbs of cargo... I am looking to get better fuel economy... Thank you for the info...
 

mgjessop

New member
Had the 215/85/16 installed yesterday... What a huge improvement... I am getting 30mpg at 55mph... I use to get right around 27.5-28mpg... At 60mph I am getting about 27-28mpg... I can now go 94mph according to gps... :bow: The van looks like it should now.. Those stupid 195/70/15 tires and rims that they put on the 3500 suck... The transmission shifts perfectly and no Rubble strip noise... I dropped my rpm about 20% across the board... At 35mph I can pull close to 40mpg... I have no idea why they didn't put these on stock... The 2007-2008 3500 have them, but any other year you get stuck with the crappy wheels:thinking:
 
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Nate

Member
Nice. Glad it worked out for you.

Did all of the 3500's come with 15's? Did the 2500's also come with 15's?

My 2500 came with 16" steel wheels. I'm not sure of the tire size but was curious about what came with the 15" and 16" sizes.

Someone else mentioned in a different thread that they just got 16" steelies.
 

mgjessop

New member
The 2500 come with 16inch wheels, while the 3500 Van's all come with 15inch... Some 3500's that are used for flat beds, box truck or motor home's did come with 16inch... All 2007 and on 3500's come with 16inch... Really stupid that they put the 15inch... I think they were trying to save money... Also speedo is way off with stock 15inch tires, say's you going 60mph when you doing 55mph... A great way for dodge to save money... Your od will save 100k when you really have 90k on the van... :rant: The bottom line is each of my tire's has a gross weight of 2830lbs at 80psi, before the 15 inch could only carry 1860 at 65psi... 16980lbs is what my tires can now carry vrs 11160lbs... Much safer with bigger tires...
 

spotfire

New member
Did you get a 16" to fit in the spare carrier? Do they make a different carrier for the different wheels? I got some 16" steelies to put on my 118", but I can't seem to wedge the spare in its place. No, I don't want to mount it on the rear door or carry it inside...
Any tips??
 

miki

Member
mgjessop , how is everything working out with your tires? Please post a follow up for us, mileage, clearance, etc. I for one would gladly get 16's on my rig if I can justify the better mileage! Oh yeah, how about comfort? Did the larger tires make the ride any more compliant? My rig sure can be harsh at times.
Miki
 

mgjessop

New member
There are doing great, have about 30k with the bigger rims and tires, I have no issue what so ever and still have about 85% of tread left... I also don't have rumble strip noise, since I went with the bigger size... I would love to go with 17's if they only made them...
 

miki

Member
Awesome, great initiative! I'd love to find some rims like that somewhere! I'll keep looking, sounds like a really great mod! At first I was regretting getting a 3500 but this may work out to my benefit.
 

HMR TYM

New member
There are doing great, have about 30k with the bigger rims and tires, I have no issue what so ever and still have about 85% of tread left... I also don't have rumble strip noise, since I went with the bigger size... I would love to go with 17's if they only made them...
hmmm, i'm afraid to go larger because i do haul weight, typically 1500-2500lbs at times, but now that you have had them this long, do you think the comment about hurting the trans is accurate? please let me know. any pics of your rig with the larger tires?
 

HMR TYM

New member
I gave my 15's to a friend, I am sorry Guy's...

but but but... do you think, now that you've made the switch, that i would be destroying my tranny and possibly causing engine issues if i went up to the 16's and loaded it as usual?
 

mgjessop

New member
Not one issue with the 16's, I lowed my rpm, thus will make everything last longer... The engine now can turn close to 20% less rpm at the same speed... It is a win-win for me...
 

manxman

New member
.....I have the 16" wheels and a 4:11 final drive. I have been agonizing about going to the 215x85x16 tire as I wonder if it will lower the final drive enough to justify the change,( about $550 at discount tire.) I reall want to conserve fuel and we all know why. Can someone compute what I would gain with about 25 less revolutions per mile with these tires......2006 140" lowroof...............
 

svaric2

Member
.....I have the 16" wheels and a 4:11 final drive. I have been agonizing about going to the 215x85x16 tire as I wonder if it will lower the final drive enough to justify the change,( about $550 at discount tire.) I reall want to conserve fuel and we all know why. Can someone compute what I would gain with about 25 less revolutions per mile with these tires......2006 140" lowroof...............
I'm not sure it's compute-able manxman, :thinking: it's one of those things you just have to try and see.
 

BFargin1

New member
Manxman,
Just find out the cir. of your current tires and compare to the circumference of the tires you are thinking about using. I checked and the tires you are considering have a 95.5" circumference. Find out the cir of your existing tires and you can see what the difference is. For example, if your current tires have a 90" circumference then you would decrease your mileage traveled by 5.75%. If you don't change yourt rear end (final drive ratio) then all you need to do is compare tire size to determine any benefit.

I run the MB 18" rims on my sprinter and it handles way better and gets great fuel mileage. I would highly recommend getting bigger and wider rims (the 15" stock rims are terrible!!)
 

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