Stability of 15x10 Wheels

[Prizefighter]

Will 15x10 wheels make my Bronco more stable than 15x8s? In theory it should since it's a wider base and it would have to do with the offset of the wheels also right? Just wanted some real world advice from someone who has experienced the difference in driving a Bronco with 15x8, then driven with 15x10 wheels.

My Bronco is lifted and will have some added weight to the top. I wanted a wider wheel to help with that but I also know it will sling water, mud, and rocks on the side. I didn't want that if it's not going to make a difference in the stability. I will have flares and plan to run a 35x12.50x15 tire.

 

[bronconut73]

Will 15x10 wheels make my Bronco more stable than 15x8s? In theory it should since it's a wider base and it would have to do with the offset of the wheels also right? Just wanted some real world advice from someone who has experienced the difference in driving a Bronco with 15x8, then driven with 15x10 wheels.

My Bronco is lifted and will have some added weight to the top. I wanted a wider wheel to help with that but I also know it will sling water, mud, and rocks on the side. I didn't want that if it's not going to make a difference in the stability. I will have flares and plan to run a 35x12.50x15 tire.

Most of the guys running 8's do so because they say it will hold the tire better when aired way down while trail riding and rock crawling.
Some like the bulge of the side wall with 8's.

Me?

I never even considered an 8" wide wheel.
I want the stability. If I need better bead retention I will get bead locks.,..they are kind of cool anyways....lol....


And Frankly IMHO 10's just look better on our old eb's.
Mine don't really mud up the side of my eb much. Good flares help with that.
I am running WH Guerilla War Flares. They seem to stick out just the regular flare amount.

 

[SteveL]

I have both 8s and 10s holding 35x12.5 bfg ats. The 10s do feel more stable on the road. I don't think it's so much the tracking width as the 10s give less sidewall flex.

 

[904Bronco]

Depending on how the wheel is offset, it could contribute to front wheel bearing wear... Which could be offset with wheel bearing packs done more often.

I had a full sized bronco with 10's, without issue...

Sounds like you have already feted out the others issues that come with it... wheel spray, flares, etc.

 

[Apogee]

I've run 8's and 10's on my '77 F150 back to back, both with 35 inch tires, and it certainly felt more sure footed on the road, but I attributed that to less sidewall flex and the increase in track width. Assuming comparable backspacing between the two wheels (i.e. 3.5" or something), a 2" increase in wheel width does not equal a 4" increase in the overall track width, as the tires will only increase a fraction of the difference. With the M/T tires I was running, it was about an inch increase per side.

 

[Rustytruck]

The difference in feel with the 10" is probably more due to the slight increase in tire pressure to keep the center of the tire wearing evenly and will make the side wall a little stiffer. I currently use 8 inch rims at 30-32 psi and when I was running 10 inch rims I was 33-35 psi any less than that I would wear the outside tread and wear less in the center of the tread. I think the 8 inch rim and 10 inch rim is more of a personal choice than a performance one. Going from a stock rim and tire is a huge difference in performance with a 33 x 12.50 I think changing between an 8 inch to a 10 inch rim is very little change at this tire size unless your running sand dunes where the aired down tire will be significantly different. All the new aluminium rims come in 9 inch so a happy medium can be had.

 

[Apogee]

The difference in feel with the 10" is probably more due to the slight increase in tire pressure to keep the center of the tire wearing evenly and will make the side wall a little stiffer.

That's a good point...I did run about 2-3 PSI more pressure on the 10's as I did on the 8's to maintain a flat/even contact patch.

 

[SteveL]

I run em both at 35psi. The 10s definable feel better on the highway. That's with 35x12.5

 

[Buldozer]

If more stability is what is desired you may want to consider wheel spacers in order to for sure achieve the desired result

 

[Prizefighter]

If more stability is what is desired you may want to consider wheel spacers in order to for sure achieve the desired result

I thought about that too on the rear only. I just pulled the trigger on some U.S. Mags 15x10 from Wild Horses. They are running a special right now with free shipping. Impulse buy perhaps...

BTW that frame you sold me many moons ago is getting put to good use. John Dixon has it and it's going to be turned into a sweet crawler! It's been media blasted, primed, Duff full width coil buckets and F250 shock towers welded in place and painted. Body work is next... OCBR 2017?

 

[Broncobowsher]

If more stability is what is desired you may want to consider wheel spacers in order to for sure achieve the desired result

But that doesn't address the tires being puckered from running on a narrow rim. A tire that walks around because it isn't riding evenly on the ground (or has to run lower air pressure to get an even footprint but that allows for more sidewall flex) is going to create stability issues between the tread and the rim. Going wider overall isn't going to do anything about that. More tire pressure will stiffen up the tire and add stability, but you can't run too much tire pressure on a narrow rim or the tire will just pucker and you will be riding on just the center of the tread, which can cause poor wear, poor traction, and instability as all the lateral forces will just be on a few center tread blocks and not all of them.

So all else equal, a wider rim (even without added track width) should be more stable. Due to the ability to run a higher pressure in the tire and keep a flat foot print.