Wheel weight vs tire weight

[Mach1Owner]

If I move from a 16in wheel to an 18in wheel, and the wheel weight 3lbs more per rim, who do I figure out the offset of the tires weight from moving to a thinner side wall or wider width? Is there a place that I can look up the weight of a tire?

I don't have a scale to weight the wheel and tire, and even if I did I wouldn't want to pay to have a single tire unmounted just to weigh it.

Also if anyone knows of a really good sources to find the weight of OEM wheels I'd really appreciate it.

 

[JHZR2]

Tire rack gives the mass of tires, as I recall....

 

[CharlieJ]

When you look up a tire on Tirerack, go to the spec sheet. It shows the weights for each size of that tire. You might want to look on a vehicle specific forum for OEM wheel weight.

 

[Mach1Owner]

Thanks for the tire rack tip. Didn't realize they had that.

 

[lizpat]

Originally Posted By: Mach1Owner
If I move from a 16in wheel to an 18in wheel, and the wheel weight 3lbs more per rim, who do I figure out the offset of the tires weight from moving to a thinner side wall or wider width? Is there a place that I can look up the weight of a tire?

I don't have a scale to weight the wheel and tire, and even if I did I wouldn't want to pay to have a single tire unmounted just to weigh it.

Also if anyone knows of a really good sources to find the weight of OEM wheels I'd really appreciate it.


Originally Posted By: Mach1Owner
If I move from a 16in wheel to an 18in wheel, and the wheel weight 3lbs more per rim, who do I figure out the offset of the tires weight from moving to a thinner side wall or wider width? Is there a place that I can look up the weight of a tire?

I don't have a scale to weight the wheel and tire, and even if I did I wouldn't want to pay to have a single tire unmounted just to weigh it.

Also if anyone knows of a really good sources to find the weight of OEM wheels I'd really appreciate it.


It's not really possible in the real world, I think. The tires available for larger wheels typically weigh a lot more and these tires tend to be more performance oriented, they usually weigh more. Be prepared for a lot more un-sprung weight if you go this route, I don't recommend it though.

 

[KitaCam]

I just upsized from 15" steelies (and hubcap) to 17" alloys and the difference in weight for wheel+tire was 4lbs...42 to 46 lbs...

There was a difference in tire wear to consider...the 15s were more worn the 17s at the weigh-in, so a comparable difference was likely a bit less.

The performance gains are significant in suspension stability (front to back as well as the expected gains in cornering)...ride benefits can be attributed to better (performance) tires, but there's an unexpected noticeable improvement in MPG...

...and of course there's the aesthetics...

 

[Zaedock]

Originally Posted By: Mach1Owner
I don't have a scale to weight the wheel and tire, and even if I did I wouldn't want to pay to have a single tire unmounted just to weigh it.


A bathroom scale works very well. I built some "feet" with some 2x4's to simulate your foot position on the scale. Each tire/wheel on my Jeep weighs 160 lbs a piece.

 

[nleksan]

Always buy the lightest (quality) wheels you can afford, it's one of very few areas where you are literally upgrading every single aspect of the vehicle's performance, acceleration, braking, handling, and even ride quality.

I have gone through countless sets of wheels, but I will never forget the day I swapped my E46 M3 Competition Package 19's (19x8.5/9.5) for Volk TE37SL's in a larger 19x9/10.5. The total weight loss was about 8lbs per corner, and it was immediately and incredibly apparent.

Michelin PSS tend to be on the lighter side of tires, too.