truck tire help

[russellsroost31]

hey guys i have a 95 gmc 3500 pick up and my grandpa gave me these aluminium rims for it and they are 16.5 rims but they need new tires. now the tires on it say 9.50x16.5 now does anyone know the modern day a/t tire that will fit please help

[CJM]

In all honesty your gonna be SOL with that wheel size. 16.5 is no longer used for anything. you can still find them and that is the tire size.

Few companies still makes that size. BF goodrich, coopers and swampers maybe a few others. The BFG is like 200/tire. Edit: Almost forgot, the military used those sizes so you might be able to find some used/new in that size but you need a source.

Sell them for 16" wheels, you can find a good but cheap set on craigslist from all the idiots upgrading to 22's.

[russellsroost31]

it has 16s on the truck but they ugly

[CJM]

Originally posted by russellsroost31
it has 16s on the truck but they ugly

Sell/trade the 16.5's for better 16's then.

[beastlywarrior]

We had 16.5's on a mud truck and we found the 36" goodyear wrangles made for military hummers are 16.5. We found some for a good price at a military surplus

[Tommy Warren]

just did a quick search and you'll be hard pressed to find anything under 35" for a 16.5 rim....I have a nice set of 54's that will fit though....only $3500 plus shipping

[russellsroost31]

like this is my first truck and i really dont want to get crazy in lifting it and all that cause i still got to pay for gas and racing
and i figured id sell these rims and buy a new set of tires for the current rims and then when i get the money buy a neew set of 16s from a 99 or newer chevy

[CJM]

Not sure how much cash ya got, but for 500 bucks you could probably find someoens take offs with tires for cheap.

A junkyard is also a goldmine withthis type of stuff. I once got an entire set of wheels and tires for 200 bucks.

[russellsroost31]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=All-Terrain+T%2FA+KO&partnum=525R65ATAKORWLV2&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

[russellsroost31]

i can get oem chevy rims for under 200 for all 4 of them

[CJM]

Thats gonna cost you ALOT of money for 4 tires.

You can buy the 16's and tires for them for about the same and then sell the 16.5's.

btw, BFG at are the single worst at tires I have ever run and I aint the only one who feels that way I know for sure. maybe 20 years ago they were the cats meow..not anymore tho.

[wilkin250r]

Originally posted by Tommy Warren
just did a quick search and you'll be hard pressed to find anything under 35" for a 16.5 rim....

Holy crap, Tommy just posted a piece of actual, useful information!!! :eek2:

He's right, the 16.5 is still semi-popular with the big-tire crowd. There are a variety of options over 36 inches tall, but not too much under that, especially in the cheaper tire brands that are most common with passenger cars and trucks like BFG, Firestone, Cooper, Goodyear, ect.

To your original question, the 9.50x16.5 is about 30.5 inches tall and 9.5 inches wide. You can still buy them, but you'll be limited in your options, and they'll be more expensive simply because they're not made in volume. Tirerack.com isn't the only game it town, but it IS a good indication of what's commonly available. They only have one listing for a 9.5x16.5 at $177, but they have 84 listings for a 245/75-16 (the equivalent size in a 16 inch rim), well over half of them are cheaper than $177.

[russellsroost31]

i think ima just save my money give the truck a 6inch lift and new tire and rims all around prob in 17inch rims

[bbender85]

def send the 16.5's down the road. not only are tires tough to find, they don't have the safety bead on them. if you ever air down for off-road (since you're talking about lifts), you'll hate life lol.

[russellsroost31]

i think then ima just scrap them then get some 16s with a bigger tire than normal