Wheel Swap performance questions

[Greg1968]

I am going to upgrade from the stock 16" wheels to either 18" or 20" wheels. I have a '02 Sierra extended cab 5.3L 3.73 gears. I was wondering how the wheel swap would effect fuel economy, acceleration and overall performance.

Thanks for the help

[SoylentGreen]

It depends on the diameter of the new tires you are putting on. If they are close to the same diameter, then you should not notice any difference. If the diameter is different the you will need to re-program your truck for the size difference.

[Guest 007FL]

Greg,

SoylentGreen's comment is mostly true. If you stay within 5% of the original TIRE diameter you will notice no difference IN YOUR SPEEDOMETER.

 

However, if you go to a wider tire (even the same diamter) there will be more rolling resistance.. This will effect economy. How much? It depends on how much wider the new tire is (or more accurately, how much larger the new contact patch is) but expect that to be minor.

 

Where you will see a difference is in the weight of the new wheel/tire combination. I'm told by my tire shop that one pound of still weight is equivalent to seven pounds of rolling weight. So, if your new wide chrome tires and wheels weigh fifty pounds (total for four wheels/tires) more on a scale they will effectively become a 350 pound towing weight.

 

That's what happened on my Yukon. My beautiful new chrome wheels ended up loweing my fuel mileage about 1.4 mpg. That was almost ten percent. I'm now trying to find ways to get it back.

 

Good luck.

Jim