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Sidewall

255/50R20

255 mm across the tread, a sidewall 50% of that — 128 mm — on a 20-inch rim. That puts the whole wheel at 30.0 inches tall.

128 mm sidewall763 mm · 30.0"
Sidewall
5.02"
128 mm
Overall
30.0"
763.0 mm
Circumference
94.4"
2.397 m
Revs per mile
671
per minute at 60 mph

What it needs to sit on

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It mounts on a rim between 7" and 9.5" wide, and the tread follows the rim: roughly 5 mm of section width for every half-inch, so about 243 mm across at the narrow end and 268 mm at the wide one. Written the way lift kits and wheel wells are, it is a 30.0×10.0R20 — tall by wide, in inches.

What goes wrong on this size

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30 drivers have filed a complaint. 0 of them ended in a crash, and nobody was hurt. Nobody died.

16 of them name what let go, and it is most often tread separation. Hankook is named more than any other brand.

What let goComplaints
tread separation12
crack3
out of round1
not stated14

Where the wheel is named, 11 of 13 were on the front — the end that steers.

What fits instead

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Same 20-inch rim, height within 3%. Past that the speedometer starts lying and things begin to rub.


SizeHeightRide heightSpeedo reads 60, you doCompare
235/55R2030.2" +0.5 %+1.8 mm60.3 mphside by side
275/45R2029.7" -1.0 %-3.8 mm59.4 mphside by side
245/50R2029.6" -1.3 %-5.0 mm59.2 mphside by side
265/50R2030.4" +1.3 %+5.0 mm60.8 mphside by side
245/55R2030.6" +1.9 %+7.3 mm61.1 mphside by side
265/45R2029.4" -2.2 %-8.3 mm58.7 mphside by side
235/50R2029.3" -2.6 %-10.0 mm58.4 mphside by side
275/50R2030.8" +2.6 %+10.0 mm61.6 mphside by side

Same height, different rim

Bigger rim, same overall height. Sharper steering, harsher ride, and far less rubber between your wheel and the next pothole.


255/55R19140 mm sidewall — 10% more
255/45R21115 mm sidewall — 10% less
235/60R19141 mm sidewall — 11% more
285/40R21114 mm sidewall — 11% less
285/50R19143 mm sidewall — 12% more
225/50R21113 mm sidewall — 12% less

Tires graded in this size

Longest-lasting tread first. The grade is set by the maker and checked by regulators.


TireTreadwearWet grip
Hankook Dynapro HP2 (OE)820A
BLACKHAWK HISCEND-H HT01700A
Hankook veNtus S1 noble2 (OE)700A
Nexen TOUR CUV A/S700A
HanKOOK iON evo AS SUV (OE)600A
Hankook Dynapro HP2580A
HanKOOK Dynapro HPX (OE)540A
Hankook veNtus S1 evo3 SUV (OE)520A
Hankook veNtus Prime3 (OE)500AA
TOYO Crusade SXT500A
Falken ZIEX CT50 A/S480A
Nexen ROADIAN HP460A

If you fit something taller

A taller tire covers more ground per turn, so the needle reads low and the odometer counts short. Over ten thousand miles on the dial, the last column is what you really drove.


Fitted insteadReads 30Reads 50Reads 70Real miles per 10,000 shown
235/55R2030.1 mph50.2 mph70.3 mph10,046
275/45R2029.7 mph49.5 mph69.3 mph9,902
245/50R2029.6 mph49.3 mph69.1 mph9,869
265/50R2030.4 mph50.7 mph70.9 mph10,131
245/55R2030.6 mph51.0 mph71.3 mph10,190