Why are 16" tires so expensive?

Next stop after rear suspension is wheels and tires for me. I was looking around and I'm leaning towards some 15" rims because it seems tires for 16"s are so freakin expensive. Only problem now is that the rims I want (Mickey Thompson sidebiters) only come with a 3.31" backspace...that's gonna stick out pretty far and probably cause more rubbing issues than I want to take care of. I plan on running some 32-11.5-15 or 285/75/16 bfg a/ts or hankook dynapro m/ts. I'm running out of options and I've thought about just running 16"s but damn they are expensive.

Any advice or direction from guys running 15"s or really backspaced rims? Thanks in advance

 

I don't believe we have as many issues with clearing calipers on 1st gens, but our stock backspacing is 4.5" so to go to 3.31" is roughly equivalent to putting on a 1.25" wheel spacer. Then add in the fact that I'll be looking for some 8" wide rims that's already 2.25" wider than stock and the tire will push beyond the lip of the rim a decent amount as well. I just don't want to have to cut too much. I'm fine with a little but I don't want to have to cut up my flares or potentially some sheet metal.

 

Yeah this is my dd but i will be flexing everything out every once in a while. I know we have two totally different trucks but I'm getting more and more convinced I could pull it off

 

Okay so I have 15/10's with a 3.76" BS with 33/12.5's and I needed bushwhacker cut aways to fit in the front without rubbing on the fender. After the install i do not rub on the fender at all on the "street" I still haven't been wheelin sense I installed them I'll let you know if i rub after Saturday . As for the fire wall I'm rubbing pretty bad off road at full stuff but i don't have my sway bar on so i can stuff the tire all the way up to the bump. I'm tubing the fire wall to stuff 35's when i buy my next set of tires.

Okay for you A 15/8" with a 3.31" BS and a 33/11.5 shouldn't be that bad. I mean your going to have to do the pinch weld mod and some flair trimming but it shouldn't be too bad defiantly not as bad as mine.

 

Thanks man, do you think most of the flare trimming will be on the inside? I have a feeling I'll end up getting bushwhackers later down the road if I run this setup but I'll need it to cycle pretty well before then.

 

Well it what I did is cut my fenders to be ready for the cut a ways. I don't think you would have to cut the fender it self all i had to remove is 1" to clear it so with that size it would most likely just be the plastic flair you would be trimming.

This is how much you will cut for the cut a ways this is the rear.


And installed.


and this is what i removed from the fronts just to take the truck off road i still rub pretty bad.




and the piles of shit removed and that's just the fronts.

 

Damn haha looks like some serious work, bet you can't wait for that solid axle. I'll look around for something closer to 3.75" I think, but thanks for all the help man.

 

THe reason 16" tires are so expensive is because everything is expensive. We recently had a group buy back in April (and May) on tires and i noticed a 25% increase in just that timeframe on tires. Between increased shipping costs, increased rubber costs and increased overseas tariff costs, who knows whats to blame...

 

If you think 16's are expensive, look at 17's or 18's!

 

It just makes no sense to me. Lets take a 285/75/16 versus a 33-12.5-15 bfg a/t. Discount tire direct has the 285 at $229 a piece while the 33 which has more rubber and is heavier is $201. That may not be the best analogy, but that's over a hundred bucks cheaper for a set of four bigger and heavier tires.

And even as you go up rim sizes it just gets more and more expensive for a comparable tire with less rubber and less weight