Considering a 4" or 6" lift for my Ram 1500 and I was pondering upgrading both wheels and tires at the same time. I figure my mpg is going to take a huge nosedive, but it would be nice to minimize it as much as possible. Basically I was wondering if you guys had any pro tips on the best way to get the most mpg on 35s.
Couple of things I was considering:
What do you guys think?
Couple of things I was considering:
- Does wheel size make a difference? I was thinking this might be the case because larger diameter wheels might simply weigh more than the tire sidewalls they are replacing. Maybe not, depending on...
- Wheel composition: Basically thinking that on average, aluminum wheels should be lighter than steel wheels, but wondering if they may be more expensive and could be less durable than steel wheels. Or if they would have to be so beefy that there would be little net weight benefit.
- Tread width. I'm assuming that rolling friction should be higher for wider tires, all other things being equal. I live in the western US and the majority of my wheeling will be in the Rocky Mountains or in the desert, so it's not likely I really will need super swamper-wide tires for soft boggy mud driving. I'm thinking narrower might be better for traction and mpg for me anyway.
- Rubber compound. The ideal rubber compound for mpg would have very low rolling resistance. For cars, they make special high-efficiency compounds for like hybrid and electric cars...I'm guessing manufacturers probably figure most people buying 35" tires aren't super concerned with mpg and probably want to bias "traction" (i.e. soft compounds with just about the opposite effect) over just about anything else when buying a ginormous big off road tire, but I thought I'd ask about this too because hey, who knows, maybe someone here knows if anyone makes like a 35" tire with somewhat aggressive tread that people routinely get high mileage out of.
- Probably something else I'm missing. Ideas? More rake? Rocket boosters? I'm open to ideas.
What do you guys think?