255/55R16

255 mm across the tread, a sidewall 55% of that — 140 mm — on a 16-inch rim. That puts the whole wheel at 27.0 inches tall.

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 27.0×10.0R16 — tall by wide, in inches.

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

4 of them name what let go, and it is most often out of round. Bridgestone is named more than any other brand.

Where the wheel is named, 4 of 4 were on the rear, and 0 on the front.

Same 16-inch rim, height within 3%. Past that the speedometer starts lying and things begin to rub.

Same height, different rim

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

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.