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Sidewall

255/65R16

255 mm across the tread, a sidewall 65% of that — 166 mm — on a 16-inch rim. That puts the whole wheel at 29.1 inches tall.

166 mm sidewall738 mm · 29.1"
Sidewall
6.53"
166 mm
Overall
29.1"
737.9 mm
Circumference
91.3"
2.318 m
Revs per mile
694
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 29.1×10.0R16 — tall by wide, in inches.

What goes wrong on this size

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14 drivers have filed a complaint. 1 of them ended in a crash, hurting 1 person. Nobody died.

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

What let goComplaints
tread separation5
crack2
blister2
out of round1
road hazard1
blowout1
not stated2

Where the wheel is named, 6 of 12 were on the front — the end that steers.

What fits instead

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


SizeHeightRide heightSpeedo reads 60, you doCompare
275/60R1629.0" -0.2 %-0.8 mm59.9 mphside by side
235/70R1629.0" -0.3 %-1.3 mm59.8 mphside by side
245/70R1629.5" +1.6 %+5.8 mm60.9 mphside by side
245/65R1628.5" -1.8 %-6.5 mm58.9 mphside by side
265/65R1629.6" +1.8 %+6.5 mm61.1 mphside by side
265/60R1628.5" -1.8 %-6.8 mm58.9 mphside by side
235/75R1629.9" +2.8 %+10.5 mm61.7 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.


255/60R17153 mm sidewall — 8% less
255/70R15179 mm sidewall — 8% more
235/65R17153 mm sidewall — 8% less
275/65R15179 mm sidewall — 8% more
225/80R15180 mm sidewall — 9% more
275/55R17151 mm sidewall — 9% less

Tires graded in this size

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


TireTreadwearWet grip
Comanche RADIAL H/T500A
Nexen ROADIAN AT500A
Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S500A
Yokohama Geolandar H/T-S500A

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
275/60R1629.9 mph49.9 mph69.9 mph9,980
235/70R1629.9 mph49.8 mph69.8 mph9,966
245/70R1630.5 mph50.8 mph71.1 mph10,156
245/65R1629.5 mph49.1 mph68.8 mph9,824
265/65R1630.5 mph50.9 mph71.2 mph10,176