Uh, I don't know if this question has been asked before... I've searched though, so help me out if you can.

I'm running 31x10.5x15 tires. I was thinking about getting some new wheels: the not-so-original Cragar Soft 8's. From what I understand from reading the many posts on here, I should get the 15x8 w/4in backspacing. I like the look of my truck right now, though, so I wanted to stick with size of the wheels I have.

Now, I just went out and measured my wheel and found something that confused the heck out of me. I looks like I have 16"+ wheels on my truck right now!?! This can't be right, can it? 15" tires on 16" wheels? WTH!? Am I missing something? I used 4crawler's site to find out how to measure, but this doesn't sound right at all:

Here's a close-up pic:


Further away... am I measuring wrong or what?


And, on a side note, if I do have 15" tires on 16" wheels, you think this could cause the tires to not balance correctly? I've been trying for over a year to track down a stupid vibration problem that I assume has to do with my tires not balancing correctly. Thanks in advance.

 

Looks like the lip around the edge of the wheel is throwing off your measurments. Measure where the tire seats in the wheel. If you have been running those wheels with 15 inch diameter tires they are 15 inch wheels. I can see in the pic that the tire is a 31/10.5/15 . So get the 15 inch cragars and call it good.

 

It looks like that is some kind of beadlock type wheel... the lip will stick out farther than the actual wheel diameter. Those are 15's. I'm virtually certain you cannot mount 15" tires on 16" wheels.

Also, you may not need to buy new wheels; pull those off and measure the backspacing. They are obviously not the wheels that your truck came with.

 

x 2 on not being physically able to put 15's on a 16" wheel, but if you ever get new wheel, I would like first dibs on those ones !!!!!

 

I've wondered if these wheels weren't some type of bead lock wheel. From what I've seen in other pictures the bead generally sits on or out from the edge of the tire. Mine are definitely inside of the lip or rim or whatever. Who knows though? I sure don't. I just figured they were poser bead locks. If they are, though, isn't that not recommended for street use?

re: xxxtreme22r - if i do end up getting rid of these wheels, I'd totally sell them to you, but shipping would be crazy expensive from CA to PA. These wheels are super heavy.

I think I'd need to pull the tires off to measure correctly then. I tried measuring from other points but didn't get 15" from anywhere. I do know that the backspacing is 4.5+ and am sure that these weren't the original wheels since most of what's in/on my truck isn't what it came with.

 

they are definitely posers, and as far as beadlocks most states it's "illegal" to run them on the street. not sure why though as I would consider them safer than any wheel out there.

Fedex freight is usually pretty good with prices. And I can always ship them to my work.

 

Those wheels are actually pretty sweet.
I'd take em, strip em, and paint em up in rim paint silver, or even gunmetal black.
or just regular ol' silver.

 

rock on. if you really want these, if (probably more like when) i get rid of them, i'll let you know.

 

Those are not real bead locks, they're "street locks" they're just for looks.
I can see that you put your tape measure on the out side of the lip, and you're measuring to the inside of the upper lip... That could be why you're getting the extra inch out of it. Try measuring the inside of the lip where on that picture the 16" line on your tape measure is.
Measuring the outer diameter of the rim it's self will almost always yield a bigger measurement than if you measured the inside diameter of where the bead of the tire sits.

 

balancing issues could be your stripped off bolt heads, but im positive there's a steel cord on the lip of tires that helps hold it together, that wouldn't allow you to stretch it that extra inch.

 

I thought that could be it too, but when I had the tires mounted the bolt heads were missing then too. I honestly don't know what to do about the balancing issue. I went to Wheel Works (ugh - never again) to get my alignment done and the jack behind the counter said that it was impossible to balance them - that they had a "hop" no matter what they did. I'd think this could be corrected with weights though...

 

hmmm bent wheel maybe? or the tire itself isn't sitting straight on the wheel?

 

This train of thought is what got me thinking about getting new wheels in the first place. It's worth it to me to spend (another) $200 on some new, straight, round wheels to fix this vibration problem. At least then I'd know if it was the wheels or the tires - ugh!

 

btw xxxtreme22r, your avatar is hilarious!

 

maybe the guy didn't have then on the machine the right way either. lol After all you said you wouldn't go back there again.

 

Thanks courtesy of superbleeder. lol you think the avatar is funny read this thread start to finish.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...o-pole-205852/

 

everyone should read that thread! the whole thing was hilarious!

back on topic: we'll see tomorrow what the deal is. i'm bringin the truck in to get those tires balanced at america's tire co. (where i got the tires). that should solve the mystery of my wheel size as well since i can't get 15" flat from any 2 directly opposite points on this wheel from the front.

on a side note: apparently it is possible to mount a 15" tire on a 15 1/2" wheel, though it's not recommended. there is a note on the side of the tire that says, "DANGER! Do not mount this tire on a 15 1/2 inch wheel."