I recently got a deal on some tires and wheels from my neighbor. The wheels are chrome modulars in 16"x7" I think. I know they're wider than the stock 16"x6" wheels but don't look wide enough to be 8s so I am assuming they are 7" wide. At this point they have 235/85/R16 tires on them which I will use at least until next spring. My question is: are the 7" wheels wide enough to put 285/75s on? Most tire companies recommend at least 7.5" so I'm wondering if the missing half inch is enough to worry about.

 

I am inclined to think they will fit fine.That last half an inch isn't much.To give yourself an idea, can you measure a 285 tire that is off the wheel? measuring how wide is the bead while the tire is just setting there- if you can easily pull the beads to within 7 inches of each other,I would go ahead and do it. DF

 

You oughta contact a qualified tire shop but, here's my .02. The 285s have a section width of 285mm, which equates to 11.2 inches, kinda wide for only a 7" wheel. I have 255s on my 8.5" wheels, and looking at them, I wouldn't try anything wider than 275s. I don't know how handling would be affected by pinching such a wide tire onto a narrow rim, but it don't sound good. Maybe this helps, maybe not, I just thought I'd try to impress someone with my math skills.

C'YA

 

Thanks for your input guys. I did some measuring and the wheels appear to be 8" wide. Guess I should have thought of that before posting a question. Anyway, thanks for your help and I will consult a good tire shop before doing anything stupid.

 

If they measure 8" outside to outside, they are 7.5" wheels. The width measurement on wheels is bead seat to bead seat. 7.5 wheels are pretty much at or beyond their limit at 275 tires, depending on aspect ratio. You might be able to put a 75 or 80 series 285 on them, but it wouldn't handle especially well. Virtually every tire manufacturer has dimension charts on their web sites which give wheel width recommendations by tire type and size. Browse a little bit and you'll find all the data you need.

 

The measurements I took were from bead seat area to bead seat area. (if that made any sense ) I've looked at just about every tire website I can think of and they pretty much all recommend 7.5-9" wheels for 285s. Again, thanks for your help guys.