Why are 18" and 17" tires so much more than 16?

For M/T it is like $185 for 16", $241 for 17", and $288 for 18". Any ideas why the price difference is so much?

I have an 2009 Sport with the OEM Dunlops and the 17" alloys. My truck is not the off road model so I won't pretend it is. All my off roading would be to try and get somewhere I need to be. So, no wheeling for sport like rock climbing but defintely could be water, snow, ice, mud, sand, etc for hiking or camping or to get to my in-laws in AL.

Most of my time will be on the payment. I work from home and the truck is used for work around the house and 1.5 acre lot, running errands, going to the gym, and the airport parking lot. I have two motorcycles and a big mower I will load in the back when I have to and a trans am I rarely will have to tow. There will be the occasional trips that could be 700-1000 miles that would not happen more than every other year.

So, I am considering an all terrain tire. And while I am at it this would be the time to change rim sizes. If I don't change rim sizes I can run the stock rims and upgrade to a nicer 17" rim later or just bit the bullet and get new rims now if I am changing rim size.

16" could save money on tires but how often will I be needing to change tires. So, the savings may not pay for itself. If I am not wheeling enough to lower tire pressures then does the 18" make more sense? For my trans am the difference from 17" to 18" was more looks than performance as you really had to push it hard to take advantage of the lower profile 18" tire and it is not like you can drive like that all the time.

I suspect with truck you will get better manners on the street with 18. i.e. cornering, and less manners off road.

I thought writing all this out would help me decide but I am not any closer to pulling the trigger. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

 

Interesting that this off road writer says rim size is mainly personal preference: http://www.offroaders.com/tech/Truck-Tires.htm. I doubt that is the case for hard off roading where 15" is the best.

 

The writer is an idiot and put out bad information that is false like a wider tire offeres more traction and contact area. This is NOT always the case. He used some bad grammer/word selection too. Oh, and his breath stinks (thught Id throw that in since I was on an insult spree).

 

IMO because more vehicles are coming out with bigger wheel sizes so Tire Companies jack up the prices on the tires with the bigger wheel size. It's a new style for stock trucks bigger wheels smaller tires, the F150s come in 18s even the 4x4 ones have 18s. Less trucks now a days come in 16s and im glad its becoming like that, i hate big wheels so please companies keep on what you are doing so tires will be cheaper for me.

 

Hell I saved 250 bucks by going down to 16s

 

because the tire is bigger!

 

This guy is a complete moron. The quality of the tire determines if the wider tire makes more contact with the road (belt package construction, sidewall plys, etc).