Best wheel size/width for off road tires?

[cptcrusty1]

Hi there!

I put 15x8 rims on my baja and found me some decent mud tires, but the tires are likely too tall (29-30) inches. I've been given lots of advice here about ATV or UTV tires instead; however, I just can't find anything that will utlimately work.

Going back to car/truck tires. Is there a wheel diameter/width/offset combo that works good for finding a wide range of All Terrain or Mud tires? I don't seem to have the right one.

[Mikedrevguy]

What’s your criteria for the right set up?
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79 VW Iltis
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[oprn]

These are the tires ordered in to one of our local tire shops for a side by side owner. I was told they are street legal but I am not sure what other sizes they come in.

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[cptcrusty1]

My criteria is 26" diameter for a 15inch rim. I have 15x8 rims.

The mud tires shown are for a 14 inch rim and 28". Wow... that's a big tire for a 14 inch rim...

I plan on heading to the local tire shop too as they will have a better idea. I need front tires also... UGH.... never ends.

[DesertSasquatchXploration]

So you want to put a stock diameter tire on a Baja bug?

[71StandardReduction]

Once you drop below 235/75r15, your choice for anything other than street tread or trailer tire becomes extremely limited.

I personally would go back to building/rebuilding the other Engine for your car and move forward from there.
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[ORANGECRUSHer]

I had 15" standard good year wranglers on the back of my baja. They wore well and felt like a good size. I believe they worked out to around 29" tall. Not expensive. I had regular cheapo tires on the front that were shorter. Front tires aren't that big a deal IMO unless you're going for looks. Bajas look good with lots of rubber though.

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[oprn]

[joemama]

On my class 11 look, I had General Grabber All Terrain in 215/75/15, they are listed as 27.7" tall. They are also available as 205/75/15, 27.1" tall, but your rim is probably too wide for those.

[joemama]

Should have mentioned, my rims were 5 1/2" wide Mangels.

[Dale M.]

Always thought wheel (rim) width should be somewhat close to tire tread width.... If its a 8 inch wide tread width rim should be 6-7 inches wide to keep proper tread profile...
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All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ...

[joemama]

TireRack is a great resource for finding tire heigth, width, and rim size fitment range

[dirtkeeper]

I have found most tires are undersized per spec. I have 30 x9.5 bfg’s on 15 x8 rims and my tires are 28.5 tall actual . These may be a little tall for a 1600. But i got around ok for years with a 1600 and 31” tires. Gearing is important but seems the best improvement I had was a stroker engine with some low rpm torque

[bedlamite]

As a general rule for off road, tire size should be twice the rim diameter, and 1.5x rim width. I'm running 31x10.5 on 15x7 wheels.

Engine and gearing make a big difference. Displacement is what gives you torque, and a 002 trans with 5.38 r/p, 65mph is right at 3k rpm with my tires.

[dustymojave]

Back in the 1970s, Winston Tire made an L60-15 tire called a "Fun & Mud". Offroad tread on a low profile casing. Fit 8" rims fine. Not good on swingaxle cars due to it's square edge rather than rounded tread for swingaxle. No safe for use near rocks. But you wanting low profile tires suggests you're after a street buggy rather than one for rocks and sand and mud.
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Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[oprn]

The bottom line is that you can’t have a small engine, tall tires and stock gearing. Pick two out of the three. The cheapest of course is the shorter rubber but it looks like you need to go down in wheel size to do that.

I did two out of the three. I have 14” x 10” x 26” tires and a Bus 002 transaxle with a 1641 SP engine. This is a purely off road Buggy but if it were used on the highway a cruise speed of 60 mph would be maximum for a reasonable rpm. Yes it will do 70 but it is screaming it’s lungs out. On the back roads 40 mph is quite comfortable comfortable in 4th gear.
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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[Mickey bitsko]

205 70r15 bfg a/t = 26.9 x 8.5..just saying

[dustymojave]

With the 1385cc 40hp engine and long axle swingaxle trans in my Baja I used to roll on H78-15s on 8" wide rims. Then when the bias plys were no longer available, I switched to 215-75s on the same wheels. Anything bigger the tire becomes the travel limiter as it hits the inner fender panel. Later, after I converted it to IRS, I switched to Centerline 7" wide rims with 30x9.50 tires. The tire still rubs the inner fender lightly at full bump. Just rubs the paint a little. 3x3s or even just 0x1s would allow for larger tires.

_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.