Taller tires for pickup?(do they increase mileage?)

[SmellyCat]

I replaced bigger cooler fatter stock tires on my Tacoma with some taller skinnier un cool road only tires. Got maybe 1-2mpg gain. It was not worth it because my truck looked stupid with street tires. Maybe if I got 5 mpg gain it would be worth the humiliation. sc

[mcrews]

The REAL issue on trucks and larger tires was pointed out by Frank Lee at the very begining:

Final drive ratio.

(shame op didnt even understand that he had gotten his answer on the first reply)

To determine if this mod is correct for a specific truck, the owner needs to walk thru the following:
What was the stock size (maybe the last owner already upsized and you will go too far!)
What is the Current rear ratio
Current rpm at 50, 60, 70
What do you REALLY use the truck for (if you really do tow or haul, the lose of the smaller /original size might hurt performance)
How much time on the road at 'cruzin speed'(as opposed to intown/city)
Compound difference in tire rubber (as Racer discusses so well)
visuall appeal.

"Typically"......if you upsize from the stock size and stay w/ a 'road' tire. ANd rpms are above around 2-2500 (w stock), then upsizing might make sense.

[t vago]

Originally Posted by mcrews

What do you REALLY use the truck for (if you really do tow or haul, the lose of the smaller /original size might hurt performance)
How much time on the road at 'cruzin speed'(as opposed to intown/city)
Compound difference in tire rubber (as Racer discusses so well)
visuall appeal.

"Typically"......if you upsize from the stock size and stay w/ a 'road' tire. ANd rpms are above around 2-2500 (w stock), then upsizing might make sense.

OP did state he wants to travel from Alaska to Colorado. That points toward highway driving.

[SmellyCat]

Oh another bummer was taller tires made speedometer incorrect. that bugged me too

[mcrews]

Originally Posted by SmellyCat

Oh another bummer was taller tires made speedometer incorrect. that bugged me too

Yes, that can be a draw back.
I use the Garmin GPS mph reading, but you could use the scangauge

Which is another entire thread on:
1. Using a Scangauge (or similar item)
2. Mounting it in a user friendly manner!

[mcrews]

Originally Posted by t vago

OP did state he wants to travel from Alaska to Colorado. That points toward highway driving.

on the 15th post AFTER lecturing us on how we should post links.
In a sentence w/ absolutely no punctuation.....

So IF that is his main concern, go to ebay, buy used oversized that fit.

Then rethink new buy based on actually facts about his driving style.

But (again) he claims 3.55 rear ratio but a 4x4 should be 4.XX
But he is getting 1950 rpms at 55 so maybe the 3.55 is correct.
So the question remains (since he didnt post 50,60, 70 mph/rpms.....)
wOuld he be happy driving 55mph at the 50 mph RPM? given a 'potential' 8-10% size increase....






(so busy butthurting so little time to search and learn )

[aktacoma]

I apologize in short for my brief first post usually I tend to post more. The truck right now has goodyear fortera's 235/75 r15 235mm(9.25in) wide, 176.25mm(6.9in) tall; 6.9 in from rim to tread. 28.8 in overall height
originally had 225/75 225mm(8.86 in) wide 168.75mm(6.64 in) tall, stock overall height 28.28 in
I really don't care about looks that much see pic below
the truck actually is a lot peppier after I installed the electric fan and removed the A/C and power steering belt. so I might get away with one more size up

here is the main reason I got mad

"How'ed your 'search' go????????

Probably 100 threads on this topic......with research and testing........" -mcrews

8 question marks
15 periods

"People don't react well to sarcasm - and they certainly don't change based on sarcasm."- capriracer

exactly!

If you would have instead wrote
" did you search for this? there are quite a few threads on this topic specifically and I think if you look you will learn some valuable info"

says same thing and keeps us both happy because I find the info w/out being spoonfed it and you dont have to deal with answering the stupid questions.

I would have said you know I didnt even think to search I will go do so thanks for reminding me!

"I make an effert to greet almost every newbie.
I typically post a very short
'welcome and dont forget to put tires at 40+psi'

Now according to op, that is rude and I should provide a link....
what about posters who say 'dont forget the 65 ....' and don't post the link?"

let me retract my original statement about links at the time I was quite aggravated.

" I replaced bigger cooler fatter stock tires on my Tacoma with some taller skinnier un cool road only tires. Got maybe 1-2mpg gain. It was not worth it because my truck looked stupid with street tires. Maybe if I got 5 mpg gain it would be worth the humiliation." smellycat

my point of view is 2 mpg for tires plus 20 mpg for all the other miscellaneous stuff is big bucks! If any specific mod on a vehicle did 5 mpg or 25% of a change against epa's number dont you think they would do that stock?

As far as mcrews questioning my gear ratio I looked it up based on the door jam sticker that says B02A B= 8 in ring gear 02=3.58 A= 2 pinion open gear
other than that I havent counted my splines or what not.

Thanks guys for any additional help

edit: added to first paragraph

[CapriRacer]

Here, let me show you how this works:

*********************
OP: I'm too lazy to do a search, so I'll just ask the question I want answered.

Curmudgeon: Do your own freaking searches. You guys frost my butt.

Emo-modder: I'll answer your question, but it would be better if you used the search function as you may find something useful you didn't expect.

Stew-in-Silence: [.....]

**********************

So which approach is more likely to generate the desired behavior?

[wdb]

[General comment: I used to frequent a board like this often enough that they made me a moderator. I saw people get aggravated at seeing the same question umpteen gazillion times. The ones getting aggravated tended to be frequent visitors themselves. I suggested that they spend the energy making FAQs rather than ranting at n00bs. We got some good FAQs.]

Originally Posted by SmellyCat

I replaced bigger cooler fatter stock tires on my Tacoma with some taller skinnier un cool road only tires. Got maybe 1-2mpg gain. It was not worth it because my truck looked stupid with street tires. Maybe if I got 5 mpg gain it would be worth the humiliation. sc

2MPG in a pickup truck is nothing to sneeze at, is it? I don't drive one, but I'd assume that 2MPG is probably somewhere around 10% improvement.

Originally Posted by mcrews

I use the Garmin GPS mph reading, but you could use the scangauge

I'm very interested in hearing how one might go about using a scangauge to correct for speedometer error brought on by changing tire diameter from stock.

[mcrews]

Originally Posted by wdb

I'm very interested in hearing how one might go about using a scangauge to correct for speedometer error brought on by changing tire diameter from stock.

Scangauge has a setting screen where you calibrate to the actual speed.
1. set the gps and the scangauge to metric. This gives a more exact reading than miles.
2. if you dont have a gps, then you need to track your odometer on the highway to determine how accurate it is (the green miles markers)
3. Since I have the gps, I dont keep the scangauge on mph since there are only 4 screens at one time.
4. I rarely use my speedometer any more. (in the Q45 or Sportage) since i have the gps.
5. that is why I am a big fan of mounting a gps/scangauge in a location that is easy to see with just a slight shift of the eyes off the road.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...uge-18431.html