How do 35's affect MPG and towing

[WXman]

The stock tires on mine weighed 63 lbs, and the stock wheels apparently weighed 28 lbs, for a total of 91 lbs (not including balancing weights).

My replacement 35” Cooper STTs weigh 67 lbs, and my replacement wheels weigh 26 lbs, for a total of 93 lbs (not including balancing weights).

So, I increased my tire/wheel combo weight by about 2%.

I assume that increasing tire weight has more of impact on mileage than increasing wheel weight because of the greater moment arm for the increased weight of the tire, as opposed to the wheels, which are closer to the center-axle line.

Nevertheless, this overall 2% increase in tire/wheel weight has produced no material noticeable difference in MPGs in mine. I can't say that it hasn't gone down at all, because it's almost impossible to prove. However, running the same routes, under similar climate and traffic conditions as before generally produces the same average mileage as I got on my stock setup.

I suspect that if I had put 34-lb wheels on my JTR, like I had on my GMC Sierra for some reason, my MPGs would have gone down enough to notice.

Stock tires weighed 63 lbs? Did you have the Falken M/Ts?

All of the stock wheels I've weighed are in the 21-23 lb. range. I've never seen a stock Wrangler wheel on a JK or JL or JT go more than that.

The stock tires on a Max Tow are 33 lbs. each, so if yours really are 63 lbs. that's insane and that explains why Rubicon owners always report such terrible MPGs compared to other trims. I have JL Rubicon tires on my stock wheels...even those are far less at 51 lbs.

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[ShadowsPapa]

Do you have those numbers reversed?

Not necessarily is he drives over 70 or 75 on the highway. These are not highway friendly. They are bricks. They are sails. They are tall ships. Nothing aerodynamic about them in the slightest.
Wind resistance increases exponentially above about 60 mph.

On the other hand, if the auto shut-off is enabled, these can do pretty well in town. I found mine GAINED on my average display yesterday while driving around shopping and running errands!
Yup - running around here and there, I went from about 18 to 19.1 running errands while my 75 mph highway driving gained me nothing at all.

He MAY have his numbers reversed, but it sort of depends on the highways, wind speeds, how FAST he drives, and what is considered "in town" and if auto-stop/start is enabled.

 

[Onebigyoshi]

Stock tires weighed 63 lbs? Did you have the Falken M/Ts?

All of the stock wheels I've weighed are in the 21-23 lb. range. I've never seen a stock Wrangler wheel on a JK or JL or JT go more than that.

The stock tires on a Max Tow are 33 lbs. each, so if yours really are 63 lbs. that's insane and that explains why Rubicon owners always report such terrible MPGs compared to other trims. I have JL Rubicon tires on my stock wheels...even those are far less at 51 lbs.

You're def right on the wheel weights. Someone has already done this. Rubicon wheels weigh 23lbs and Falken tires weigh 64lbs. Thread below post #15

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/stock-rubicon-wheel-weights.17070/

 

[MarineHawk]

Stock tires weighed 63 lbs? Did you have the Falken M/Ts?

All of the stock wheels I've weighed are in the 21-23 lb. range. I've never seen a stock Wrangler wheel on a JK or JL or JT go more than that.

The stock tires on a Max Tow are 33 lbs. each, so if yours really are 63 lbs. that's insane and that explains why Rubicon owners always report such terrible MPGs compared to other trims. I have JL Rubicon tires on my stock wheels...even those are far less at 51 lbs.

According to the Falken website, the Falken Wildpeak Load C A/Ts in LT285/70R17 are 62.8 lbs each. Those are what my JTR came with stock. My 35" Cooper STTs are 66 lbs. I still get 23.5 mpg when I go on relatively-flat terrain and don't go above 65 mph or below 50 mph and winds aren't crazy. I have a 16.2 mile test run for that. I never get that good of mileage in real-world driving because I'm usually driving a lot faster or a lot slower.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

It explains why the back of my truck dropped so much with the 4 Rubicon tires/wheels loaded up in the back. My friend who picked them up for me in Omaha and held them until I picked them up even commended on how bloody heavy they were - and again when he helped load them into my truck from his garage where he had them stored. Crazy - over 320 pounds of wheels and tires in the back of that truck and it did drop it a bit. (I have noticed a drop in MPG, too - of course the aggressive tread ain't helping that, either)

 

[Texops]

so I have decided to change up my wheels because although I love the AEV Borah's with rash rings they weigh 46# added to my conservative sized tires 285/75/17 Nitto ridge grapplers each corner weighs 105# & this is still not 35' tires. so I ordered fifteen52 analog wheels I like the simple smoothie look. 26# . so this should help my towing some. wheels showed up today . right now I average 16 in town & 17.8 highway we have no mountains flattest place on earth

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