The impact of Larger Tires

[buddy]

Mounting larger size tires can have as impact on the overall vehicle performance. Below I've listed some of the noticeable differences I encountered after installing 37" GY MT/R's.

I hope this can shed some light for those who wanta know.

The 37" GY's mounted of stock wheels weigh: 117 lbs. 22lbs more

The 35' BFG's mounted on stock wheels weigh: 95lbs.

The GY MT/R's look awesome. They have a much more aggressive look than the BFG AT's. Even though the GY's are mudders, they seem to work on everything but, deep mud.

The extra 22lbs. of unsprung was noticeable to me. The extra weight is mutiplied many times at higher speeds creating a heavier and slower responding vehicle.

My tires required several ounces of weight to balance even on radical force machine. The tires were turned several times to get best wheel/tire match. Ride is still very good.

Some cornering speed is lost. I know the H2 is not a sports car, but it does handle corners surprisling well with the stock tires. With the taller 37's, some additional unwanted body roll is present .

Braking distance is longer with more brake fade. Panic stops are true panic stops. Brake wear will accelerate. The installation of better pads and rotors would be a plus.

Less fuel mileage? Probably so, but I haven't run a mileage check.

The step in/out is higher, I don't notice it, but my wife does...she's okay with it either way.

The H2 definitely has slower acceleration and more gear searching. The transmission doesn't like overdrive at 45 mph anymore and is in and out of overdrive at any speed below 50 mph. The gearing needs to be corrected to 4:30 ratio to maintain same vehicle response. At least thats what I came up with doing the math.

No clearance problems whatsoever. Extreme articulation limits may cause some rubbing. I haven't been to those limits so I can't really say.

The B. F. Goodrich's are excellent overall tires. I have run them for years on other vehicles and love them. But, on the H2 the stock tires look wimpy compared to the 37" GY's. Saying that, I took the 37"'s off and put the 35's back on last week just to get a better comparsion. I love the look of the 37"s, but I've decided to run the stock tires for awhile. The 35's look funny now.

I thought this may help answer some questions.