How much difference going from 16" to 18" wheel

Hi, how much difference is there mechanically going from a 16" rim to an 18" rim to fit bigger road tires; i.e. more or less stress on engine, more or less rolling resistance, etc.? Currently running 245/75 r16 would like to go to 275/65 r18.

Any advice or experience with doing so? Thanks in advance for your response.

 

Is the truck stock?

 

The overall diameter and width of the tires can be pretty near the same on a 15", 16", 17", 18" or 20" wheel. The only difference is the size of the hole in the middle and how much rubber is between the road and bottom of the wheel. It depends on WHICH tire size you buy.

Old school trucks had 15" wheels on 1/2 tons and 16" wheels on 3/4 ton and 1 ton's. Small trucks were 14" or 15". The trend toward bigger wheels was to be able to fit bigger brakes on trucks, not to fit bigger tires.

Generally speaking larger wheels mean less rubber between the road and bottom of the wheel. This results in a firmer ride and more stability in aggressive cornering. Smaller wheels give you more rubber between the road and bottom of the wheel. This offers more cushion and a softer ride, but more body lean in aggressive cornering. More rubber between the ground and bottom of the wheel is an advantage off road too.

You could come pretty close to the same overall dimensions staying with a 16" rim. 265/75/16's are a bit smaller, 285/75/16's are a bit bigger.

Use this to get some ideas of how they will look and some hard numbers as to how much bigger. If you go with 265/75/16's any loss of performance or fuel mileage is negligible. 285/75/16 is a common upgrade, but you'll need to modify the suspension to make them fit. As you will with 275/65/18's. There will be some noticeable loss of power and a small, but measurable loss of fuel mileage. The exact tire has more to do with that than the size.

 

Take 2 inches off the sidewall of a tire and that ride is gonna get rough.

 

The tire sizes the OP listed have the same sidewall height.

For the OP - you won't have a problem at all. Tons of people on this site have gone from stock size 30" tires to 32" tires without a problem. The rim size will really only affect ride quality if you were to stay with the same overall size but since you are going to a 2'" larger rim with a 2" larger tire you likely won't notice a difference in ride quality. You will probably see a decrease in fuel economy due to the larger tire, added weight and effective gearing change by increasing overall size.

 

my mistake, I did not read the whole post. I was thinking changes in the rim, not tire.... but
E rated tires are the heaviest and no matter what air pressure you are running, they are heavy and feel just about every defect in the road.
*there are c load and lighter tires available, especially if you do not take it off road often.

 

Thanks everyone. I am looking for it to roll a little easier. I am running OME leaf packs and coil over bilsteins in front. I can fit a larger tire that has a higher speed rating with an 18" rim ( S or T rating ) than a 16" rim ( R rating is the best for a 33" tire); but I am worried it may mess with the gearing as crazysccrmd mentioned. Changing the gearing myself is out of my comfort skill level but I do wonder what all is involved and how much something like that would cost.

I have a set of toyo mt 255/85 r16s. They look great and give me great lift but are hard to push with a Q speed rating on the highway, plus I think the gearing is a bit off. They are currently collecting dust.

 

About this much of a difference

 

Ride will be rougher, acceleration slower, fuel economy worse, macho looks improved.