I can't seem to find it but i thought there was a post a while back talking about wheel and tire combos to help with MPG? Can somebody help me out?

 

i missed that one but im running 20's on 35's and at 70mph im running 1900 rpms and still passing people so im prob goin a lil faster than is says i stay consist at 20 mpg on the highway and have got as lil as 18 and as good as 22 that was hand calculated to this past december comin home from colorado

 

maybe there wasn't a post

So what is the best wheel and tire combo for MPG.

 

Its all gonna come down to where you drive. If you are on the highway often you can go a little larger to keep rpms down. In the city you want a little smaller and easier to turn over. Either way if you can reduce weight/rotational mass it may help a bit. In the long run unless you are an over the road hauler I doubt any set up is going to help you much, and all that money you sepnd on wheels and tires would be better spent on fuel.
JMO.

 

i currently have moto metal 951's and pro comp xtreme tires. The biggest that would fit without a leveling kit. I do mainly highway driving and will need new tires soon. Will go with something less aggressive and looking for ideas

 

Stock highway tires on stock Dodge aluminum wheels

 

Honestly think lighter, skinnier, and a touch taller than stock height. I am running 295/70/17 nitto terra grapplers on my truck and am thinking about dropping to a 285/70/17 with a more full rib design to cut the rolling resistance more. Hope this helps.

 

For best mpg the lightest, narrowest wheel/tire combo would be best. Your trucks gearing would determine the tire diameter.

The tire would have to have a highway type rib tread.
For most trucks going to a taller tire would help.

Just a quick search for the stock 17inch wheels:

LT235/80R17E's are readily available, much narrower but nearly the same diameter as the stock 265/70R17's.

Nitto Dura-Grapplers in LT285/75R17E. Nearly 2 inches taller than the stock 265/70R17's. Only about a inch wider.

http://www.nittotire.com/#index%2Eti...appler%2Esizes

LT225/70R19.5G's highway ribs on 19.5 inch aluminum wheels would be interesting. The 19.5inch G tires are very
heavy but very narrow. Plus they are expensive.

 

Thanks great info

 

The 235/80 would be an excellent mileage tire overall. It might be too narrow to carry the weight well in corners though. Taller is not always your friend with mileage because taller is heavier. Just raising the effective gear ratio with a taller tire is not necesarily going to help at all, it depends on the speeds you are driving and your current ratio. Don't fall into the trap of bigger is always better.

For instance, a taller, heavier, wider tire will offer more rolling resistance and more mass to spin up each time you start out. That means lower mileage. It may also drop you to a less efficient RPM at the speed you want the best mileage. So if any gains are realized it's only after those penalties are made up. In other words, there is probably a better way. A common mistake is to simply think lower RPM means better mileage. If that was true we would all be running around at idle RPM on the highway and expecting 30 MPG. Plus driveability suffers with too low of an RPM.