The odometer is undoubtedly one of the most crucial factors on your vehicle’s instrument cluster. The functioning of the odometer entirely depends on your vehicle because it bases its readings on the size of your car tires. This means that the type of tires your vehicle uses could impact odometer readings.
So, how do bigger tires affect odometers? Bigger tires directly affect the odometer because larger tires travel greater distances with each revolution made by the tire. This will reflect accordingly when you recalibrate the vehicle’s odometer to show the tire size change.
However, if you don’t recalibrate the odometer, larger tires will not impact its readings. Therefore, when you change your vehicle’s tire size to a larger one, you won’t automatically affect your odometer because you have to recalibrate it first. Either way, you need to be cautious about the size of tires you use. While you might be aware of how odometers work, you might not know how tire sizes affect their readings.
When you increase the size of your tire or rim, you change the components involved in making your vehicle start and stop. This includes things like transmission, drivetrain, brake system, and all the related parts of the system. Therefore, it is vital to understand how tire sizes affect odometer readings.
Bigger tires affect your odometer and speedometer because larger tires have a larger circumference. This makes you travel a little bit further for every completed rotation. Therefore, the speedometer will indicate a slower speed than you are, which can result in unnecessary speeding tickets. Understanding the connection between tire sizes and odometer readings will go a long way in avoiding such inconveniences.
It is also vital to know the importance of an odometer to your vehicle as early as possible. Essentially, the main function of an odometer is keeping track of your vehicle’s total distance or the mileage it has traveled since its launch.
These readings are essential, especially if you want to know when to get the car maintained. Even better, you need odometer readings when selling the car because second car buyers make their decisions based on mileage.
For that reason, the law has particular guidelines to protect against any form of odometer tampering. While you might not intend to temper your odometer readings, the law requires that you ensure the odometer gives accurate readings. Even though the impact might not be significant, simple changes like altering tire sizes can affect odometer readings.
The size of a tire can affect odometer reading because the vehicle’s odometer is calibrated to the size of stock tires it came with. There is a simple guide on how odometers work to give accurate readings to enlighten you on that.
An odometer works by having a sensor in the front tires for constant transmission. The sensor keeps track of all the revolutions made by car tires and then sends the figure to the vehicle’s engine control unit (ECU).
The ECU allows the odometer to calculate the vehicle’s total distance traveled based on tires’ revolutions and on the valuation that depends on the tire size. Generally, the tire size determines how far the car has traveled because the revolutions made by a car are the equivalent of steps made by a person when walking.
Naturally, the larger the steps you make, the bigger the distance you cover. This is the same principle that applies to vehicles with larger tires because they cover more ground with each revolution made.
Therefore, when you change your tire size to larger ones, the car will have a mileage that ticks faster because the vehicle is covering more distance with each revolution. With that in mind, odometers on vehicles with large tires are supposed to tick faster due to their size.
While this seems spectacular, it has its setbacks. For instance, the odometer comes calibrated to the size of the vehicle’s stock tires. This means that changing the tire size will not automatically change the calibration of your odometer. Such cases could result in inaccurate readings that could hinder operations.
The vehicle’s odometer will continue counting the distance traveled using the original calibration. This could land you in trouble because your vehicle will not be showing the actual mileage.
When you adjust the vehicle’s tires to larger ones, you should have the odometer recalibrated so that it can show the distance traveled based on the readjusted tire size. By doing so, you ensure your vehicle’s odometer is showing the actual mileage, preventing unnecessary problems from the authorities.
In a similar manner, smaller tires can also impact odometer readings just like large tires do. However, this is done in the opposite manner. When you change the size of your car tires and install smaller ones, you cause inaccurate odometer readings. This means that when you have smaller tires installed on your vehicle, you should also have your odometer recalibrated.
Ensure it is recalibrated to fit the new changes in tire size. The key here is always ensuring that you don’t use your car before the recalibration process because it might end up counting inaccurate miles. This could land you in trouble, especially if you plan to sell your car.
In addition, the speedometer relies on the number of revolutions made by car tires. Therefore, the size of the tire will also affect the readings of the speedometer. From that point, it becomes easier to know that changing tire sizes also means you have to get the speedometer recalibrated. This goes a long way in helping get accurate speed limits.
When you get larger tires, you directly affect the vehicle’s overall speed. After all, a larger diameter makes the wheel turn slower. In that sense, the speedometer should now indicate relatively slower speeds that are accurate. To achieve that, you must get your speedometer recalibrated after getting new tire sizes.
Can You Get Bigger Tires on Stock Rims?
Tires play a crucial role in controlling the speed and general movement of a vehicle. With low-profile tires lacking functionality, changing to bigger tires has become an easy way to update your vehicle’s functioning. However, this has attracted criticism from some quarters, with drivers wondering whether you can get bigger tires on stock rims.
It is possible to get bigger tires on stock rims; however, you must keep the speedometer and suspension functioning correctly. To do so, you should get both the stock width and diameter maintained on a regular basis. Generally, it is safe to fit a tire up to 20 millimeters wider than the original stock size.
Switching to a bigger wheel is ideal because it opens up a wider selection of compatible tires. In particular, it affects performance models more than regular models. While this sounds ideal, there are some tradeoffs.
For instance, tires are lighter than wheels, meaning that when wheel size increases, its weight also goes up. This is costly because it negatively impacts fuel economy, makes the steering heavier, and affects acceleration. In addition, a tire with a shorter sidewall has an uncomfortable drive since it has less cushioning.
If the new tires and wheels are bigger than the previous ones, the tires might rub against the fender well when making tight turns. This is also the case when the vehicle’s suspension burns out. Speedometers calculate your vehicle’s speed by determining the distance traveled for every wheel rotation.
Therefore, a change in tire size can significantly affect the readings. Moving to a different rim can get even more complex since tire sizes are based on different percentage measurements and metrics. On the other hand, wheel sizes are a combination of imperial measurements.
In simpler terms, when the tire is large, it makes your vehicle have more grip on the road. Besides, as the width of the tire increases, it covers more surface area on the road. This is beneficial because the increase in contact with the pavement gives your vehicle more surface to hold onto. Therefore, there will be increased ability to maneuver and better handling. These factors reduce the risk of accidents and ensure safe driving.
It is vital to note that tires and wheels are not interchangeable words. This is because tires are part of a wheel setup. For example, as long as your car has a set size of rims, you can buy different sizes of tires to fit the rims.
This is as long as the middle of the tires is the correct size — always ensure that the tire has an appropriate size to avoid misfits. Having said that, a vehicle with bigger rims can always fit large tires than standard vehicles. It is essential to know this because of making any changes to your tire sizes.
Once you choose a tire size for your car, you might prefer sticking with that size when you buy replacements. The reason for that is tires of different sizes can confuse the speedometer and result in inaccurate readings.
It might also cause damage to the vehicle’s anti-lock braking systems and stability calibrations. The same effect can apply when switching to both larger and smaller tires. When you switch to larger tires with an improper sidewall, you can cause significant damage to your vehicle’s wheels and suspension system.
You might also affect the tires themselves. In the end, there will be incorrect speedometer readings that could result in accidents or speed tickets. This will result in unnecessary financial constraints.
How Big Tires Can You Fit on 4runner?
Mostly, factory tires have been more on-road biased. However, for serious off-roaders or those who intend on getting into overlanding or wheeling, a decent rubber-set is an ideal upgrade. For that reason, most off-roaders wonder which is the biggest tire you can fit on a 4runner.
The largest tire you can fit on a 4runner is 275/70/17. You can fit this tire size without any modifications to fender liners, panels, and mudflaps. However, the largest tire you can fit with minimal modification to a front fender liner is a 33-inch 285/70/17. This model comes with excellent modifications that make it easy to fit on a sizable tire.
The 275/70/17 is an excellent middle ground tire upgrade that makes it easy to fix on mid-level wheels. They are slightly bigger than the stock rubber and have an excellent sidewall for off-road use.
Besides, the taller sidewall is essential when you air down for rock or sand crawling. Taller tires are vital when driving off-road tracks because they give you more ground clearance. This means you will be clearing obstacles with less effort and so much ease. It is vital to note that you don’t need a body mount chop with the 275 profile on a 17-inch rim.
While the 275/70/17 tire is ideal for this purpose, it is not as wide as 285 profile tires. However, the risk of body scrub is significantly reduced. This means that the tire will last longer, especially if you take good care of it. Keep in mind that the first three digits show the width of the tire.
The second two numbers show the sidewall height profiles. For example, 85 is the height profile of 285. On the other hand, the last two numbers are the wheel diameter. Therefore, a 275 width tire should be a straight bolt-on upgrade, even on stock rims. The rim offset won’t be problematic, and there is no need for spacers to increase backspacing.
If you opt for a nice-aggressive-looking MT or AT tire, you will get a smooth upgrade in the aesthetics department. It is crucial to remember that in most cases, the most robust and aggressive tread patterns result in more noise on the road. Therefore, you need to be careful when making such decisions.
Wrap Up
Odometers play a very important role in a vehicle. They indicate the vehicle’s mileage, making it easy to determine how long it has been in use. Odometers give a reading based on each revolution of a tire.
This means that bigger tires can affect the accuracy of an odometer. Bigger tires cause this condition because they make the vehicle cover a long distance within a short time. As a result, the odometer reading will increase faster.
If you want to get bigger tires, you should have your odometer recalibrated. This will help give accurate readings based on the new tire sizes. It is possible to get bigger tires on stock rims. However, experts advise that you have the odometer and speedometer recalibrated to avoid inaccurate readings.
