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Posted by Dan Shockley on Thursday, May 08, 2008 at 10:27:04 :
In Reply to: One Man's opninion- Flat out WRONG! posted by chriscase@san diego on Thursday, May 08, 2008 at 09:33:12 :
"The 16x5.5 is the RIM size. That means NOTHING as to appropriate tire size."
I don't know about that. The 5.5" width on the stock wheel means that it came with a 7.5" tire. And, the 6.5" width means that it came with a 9.00 tire.
Opinions aside, it is hard to argue with the fact that Dodge thought it was important enough to use different size wheels. All tire manufacturers have recommended widths for each of their tires. Some have specific widths and some list ranges. In the case of the Michelin 900 and 1100 16s, they both list the 6.5" rim width as recommended. However, if you look at a 32, 11.50 from most manufacturers they list 7.0 or 8.0 as the recommended width.
Now for the opinion: I think that there are two reasons for why manufacturers recommend rim width: 1) inflated tire shape impacts wear. The use of a proper width and proper tire inflation impacts wear patterns. 2) wheel/tire combination safety. I think that it is possible to deviate from the recommendations and do so safely. I also think that you can push the limits and result in a combination that is unsafe. This is particularly true when consider lock ring or split ring style wheels (I am specifcally not useing "two-piece" because there are other types of two piece wheels and "lock ring" and/or "split ring" are commonly used and understood on this board).
If you want to use a different size tire on a wheel and it impacts wear - your money - your decision. But, if it can impact vehicle safety, then the onus is on you to make a well informed, educated decision that you are prepared to live with.
In the case of the 5.5" v. the 6.5" wheel, my opinion is that they are safe for cruising around. However, because the 5.5" wheel was sped' for the lower GVWR specification FFPW, I strongly believe that the use of a 5.5" wheel in combination with the 9.00" tire results in a combination that is not prepared to be operated at its design limit.
Let the BS continue...
Dan
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