I want to get rid of the 33x12.50's on my '79 Power Wagon. They are too big for my taste. The rims on the truck are 10" and I plan to replace them in the future, but would like to replace tires immediately. Can I safely run 255/70/15's?

Edit: whats the narrowest tire on 10" rim? I'm looking to get somewhere around what would've come stock as I prefer that appearance, and from what I have found now it would probably be 235/75R15. I'm doubting I can keep my 10" rims but please any tire experts, advise me.

Thank you.

Why come here and get a bunch of incorrect, contradictory or wrong opinions?

Go to tirerack.com, look up the specific tire and it will tell you the manufacturer's recommended rim sizes.

My answer is No, or I would not.

I don't think it's a good idea either, but I was hoping it might be ok until I can afford to buy some rims. I hate the tires on there now. Thanks.

Because:

a) I know that for liability reasons the manufacturers "recommendation" is going to say no even if it's ok, just like they do with speed ratings, and

b) I thought the exact purpose of a forum was to get some answers from people who are in the know. There are plenty of members I'm sure who have experience in the tire industry.

^^accident sorry ^^

I would be OK with a 255 on a 10" rim .

Is it just a matter of whether the bead will hold? Another words can I buy the tires online and have my buddy with tire machine mount them and we pump them up and see if they pop and seal the tire bead?

They will no problem

I always thought the 33-12.5 was the perfect Power Wagon tire

The 255 will work on your rim, you'll be losing some height too

In the late 80s, Mini-Truck dudes were running 195-50-15 tires on 9 inch wheels and 205-50-15s on a 10 inch rim. This stretch look was made possible by a machine known as the "Master Blaster"...It provided a rapid shot of air pressure to inflate and seat the beads!
I wasn't into the Mini-Truck scene but I do remember the impact they had back then.

255 mm = 10" ( well, close enough )

But the 10" on rim its at the tire bed, then ad around 1" more width tto the outer rim edges.

Will fit quite perfect what doesn't mean will look perfect to what you could expect... everything depends on what you expect and the final look

About smaller tires such as 235 on 10" rims... will fit too, is just about 13/16" smaller. I have seen even smaller ones on them, but if you are thinking on get narrower rires, get at once the rim, because the worn pattern will defintelly change when changing the rim on same tire.

I had 275/60R15 on 10 inch rims. They fit ok but they looked a little weird. I ended up switching to a 8 inch rim.

A 255-70 will be ok on a 10" wide rim. My first truck in high school had 15x9 rims and 255-70 tires. No problems whatsoever and didn't look bad at all.

See what I talk? Diff opinions about how they look, diff stages about what does look right or weird! LOL. SO AT THE END, your apreciation and what you expect is what decide if looks good or bad!

True last post are about wider track tires on smaller rim width, and not oposite like OP asked, but what it looked fine to one person can look bad to another.

Last two posts show about same relation tire size against rim width used, and both got opposite opinions

275 over 10 rims... looked weird opinion

255 over 9 rims... looked ok opinion

LOL


The fact is, maths says 255 with fit allmost squared to the rim, with some rounded side taking to inside of course.

The walls bubble will fill the space between tire bed on rim amd rim edge.

I wouldn't try 235 on 10", but definitelly will be fine on 8". 235 tires threaded surface takes to 9.25". I'm not meaning won't work, just I wouldn't do it.

IMHO Wider tire than the rim is better than smaller. Maybe 1" to 3" wider. Taking that, even 255/70 will look better on 8" than 235/75

Side walls height will affect too of course. The higher the side wall, the wider tire will fit better because will take better the width difference between tire thread and rim

You left the part out that I said they fit OK. So I didn`t like the look, big deal. It`s a opinion of mine and if you like the look then fine. I don`t like orange cars but some people love them.

The OP asked if a 255 on a 10" rim would work...the answer is YES. Then it spiraled into a whole bunch of opinions on the looks of it. The OP just wants to change tires TEMPORARILY.

Exactly. It has a big mud tire on the truck now. I am spending a bunch of money immediately (other thread in truck board) on engine maintenance items and I don't mind the rims that are on there, but really want to get rid of the tires now. Would like something a bit smaller, CLOSER to stock, and more of a street tire while still having a truck tire look but not so much an off road tire. Down the road I will change out rims.

Thanks for help.

Of course! That's what I said! Is just about opinion

I warned you

Me? I'm not uptight about anything. I got my answer. I skimmed past opinions on what it would look like because if you read my question, that's not what I asked.

If one has to fear asking questions on a forum, then what's the point? I'll bet there are more tire experts here then on tireracks site, and as I wrote before, I'm not looking for the lawyer's recommendation. I'm not sure why you are following this thread.

He did warn you.

Actually, I just looked back, and no warning! Just asked why I didn't look elsewhere. Later claims to have warned me; twice.

"Why come here and get a bunch of incorrect, contradictory or wrong opinions?"

Those adept in the nuances of some members here, may see the deeper meaning originally intended. Any oversight might have been he did include himself in the group of three categories. You of course get to make that determination for yourself. He is partly correct, I admit, if one does NOT want opinions, best to go elsewhere then Moparts. I usually feel in no matter how many responses one gets to a question, one is often spot on, figuring out which one, is the key. If your thinking is the majority must be correct, just do a poll from the get go. Looking back, luckily, you got no wrong answers.

You got a bunch of irrelevant opinions too, didn't you?

in my many years of playing with tires, i have done things most here would find disturbing. like mounting a 5.60 vw tire on an 8" rim, and mounting a 13.50 dirt tire on a 4 1/2" rim, just to see if it could be done. would it be recommended ? uh, no ! but.... also, i have run the spectrum of narrow to superwide matching wheels and tires most manufacturers of both do not recommend with sometimes excellent results. usually, one can get away with one to two inches wider or narrower than recommended tire or wheel width without causing major issues. you may, or may not get the maximum life out of the tires, but you won't know it if your tires dry rot before the tread wears out. your opinions and results may [more than likely] vary.

LOL.

it could or it could not be irrelevant! Maybe helpfull maybe not! LOL

He DID! LOL


As I said on a previous thread! Mathematically, the rim tire beds on a 10" rim is the same than the tire threads width ( 255 mm ) so phisically FITS without problems.

Now the look is about opinions. Being a temporally fit just to keep the car on the driveway is not a problem. Usually tires are selected to get threaded section between 1 to 3 inches wider than the rim bed width. There is when the look comes to mind

Now you mentioned also 235s on 10 thinking in 8"s later? IMHO 255s are a better match on a 8" than 235 but 235 will fit on 8"s too practically squared to the outer rim lips. They are 9.25" width on threads. THAT is about prefference look and opinion

235s in 10" will fit too, but it can compromise more the tire integrity depending on time they are installed pressure air tire, weather and enviroment conditions... heat, humidity! Even to be just on driveway.

The use on the temporally fit can be critical due the thread wear pattern when you change the rims. There is where 235 comes to be more critical on this.

Im not an expert really, just thinking on all the factors around. Maybe even overthinking a bit!

Here is a 275/60 on a 10" rim or HAS BEING TOLD is a 10" rim

Figure it out now. Not about the look, but the tire integrity

Of course, a higher side wall will be less compromise to the tire, but 75% of 235 won't be too much diff from 60% of 275, even less on a smaller thread section making it to look more diagonally the side walls

The 255 isn't the tread width, it's the tire section width, or the sidewall width. A 255 tire usually has about a 10-10 1/2" sidewall width and about a 8-9" tread width.

Here's my personal rule of thumb. I like to see the tread width the same or slightly wider than the rim. That usually make the sidewall about 2" wider than the tread. There are about 25mm (25.4) to the inch, so to get a 10" tread usually requires a 12" sidewall, or roughly a 300 mm sidewall. That pretty much means I like to see a 295, 315, or a 325 on a 10" rim.

Thank you Evil Spirit. Good information.

yes, thats when I say a tire 1 to 3 inches wider than the rim itself would be the best.

I forgot to say I stand corrected, being the sidewall width and not the threads!

Just for reference,my 2001 Ram Off-Road has a 275 series tire on an 8 inch wide rim stock. Are your old tires in good/useable shape? How about selling them off as a package if so and recoup some cash.

Old tires have plenty of tread left, just not my cup of tea as they say. Plan on trying to get a few bucks for them. After all this back and forth on whether I can use the 10" rims with smaller tires, I'm considering biting the bullet and buying new rims and tires, and selling my old wheels and tires together and just getting it over with now. Hate to spend more now with all I'm spending on the engine, but I might just do it. Need to find a local buyer though and that might be tough. Not the best pic but here's what's on the truck now. Thanks.