Hi tire people,

Right now I'm running 225/45/17 in the front and 255/40/17 in the rear. I'm going to install 4.77's in my AP1 but I've been playing around with the idea of using rear tire size to affect the gearing if I find that 4.77 gearing is too short.

I've calculated that dropping from 255/40/17 in the rear (25" diameter) to 255/35/17 in the rear (24" diameter) would drop the 4.77 FD ratio down to a 4.58. Any there any downsides/caveats to doing this? For example, would a 255/35 in the rear look weird compared to a 225/45 in the front? Would it be too uncomfortable or risk breaking the rims?

Thanks, just wondering.

 

If your gearing is too short then you would actually want a bigger tire to compensate. 225/45 and 255/40 are slightly larger diameter than stock, so you are already going in the right direction. I would not drastically alter tire diameter just to affect gearing though.

 

So when ever your kids bring home an "F" from a math test and start to argue: "Ill never use math in real life anyways!" ......

Just show them this thread

 

Playing around with too many variables can get you lost in the wilderness. Besides gearing, you'll start to change handling, braking and ride harshness when going with different tire sizes, especially if staying with the OEM wheel.