First of all, here is my H3.


I am going to be buying new tires with my tax return and I'm on the fence between getting 285's or 315's. I plan on getting my front end leveled, which means I shouldn't have any rubbing issues no matter which size I go with. At this point I don't see myself going off road unless I pull too far forward in my parking lot and get on the grass. This will be purely cosmetic.

I've already decided the tires I'm going to get are the new Wrangler DuraTracs, because they look absolutely amazing. I need to know if there are any downsides to having 35" tires such as increased wear on shocks/axles, voiding of anything with the factory warranty, etc. Another thing is, should I just stick with the 33" tires, since I don't plan on going off-road or do the 35" tires look that much better?

BTW, I've seen all your blacked out trucks and although I like how they look, I like my chrome, it's not going anywhere. lol

 

35x12.50x16 or 315/75/16 are 35's relatively speaking, and they will rub even after oumlevdl your front end when turning the wheel all the way to either side. 33's would be a size 305/70/16 not the 285 and will not rub, plus will help with gas mileage since you don't need the additional ground clearance with your grocery getter than don't go with 35s

 

You need to consider gearing and engine size too.

 

Actually, this is usually determined by the tire manufacturer, since the actual diameter of the tire varies between brands.

However, with this in mind, most tire size calculators you use will tell you that a 285 and a 305 are the same height, 32.8".

32.8" is closer to 33", than it is it 32", which makes it a 33" tire in my book.

 

I went from the 32 stock tires to 33's and they look much better, especially if you have the wranglers. When I bought them I didn't know about these forums so I only got the biggest tires I could find on the trucks on the lot or else I would have gotten 35's. If you search here I think some have had problems with warranties if a tie rod breaks (I'm sure there's more that could go wrong, but I'm no mechanic) and the dealer wants to bust *****, but if you're not offroading at all, I don't know how much damage you'll do.

 

Heres my 2 cents worth. tires are expensive so buy them once! i went with the 315 duratracs. i held out for awhile worrying about the power loss and its not that bad.more evident is the tranny wandering out of overdrive. my commute is short and flat so i really dont notice the power loss. Actually when you switch to 315's your speedo is slow by 3 mph, so i actually find myself driving faster than usuall. the looks i get with the larger duratracs is priceless. if your worried about the powerloss, you can do the airdoc with a PCM tune or the Jet module

 

I read a post somewhere that the dealer can reconfigure your speedometer to adjust for the larger 33" tires, but not the 35" tires. Can anybody confirm or deny this?

I'm not too worried about the power loss, since I know it's a hummer and I don't try to race anybody. The little tidbit about dropping out of overdrive isn't cool, because I have friends I like to visit that are about 3 hours away from me. Is this a common side effect of the bigger tires?

 

Your correct, they cant adjust the speedo larger than the 33's. the tranny wandering is usually on climbing grades or constant on and off the gas pedal.

 

I'm fairly sure that PCMforless can retune your computer to adjust for 35" tires. But I really have to ask, if you are never going offroad are the drawbacks really worth the costs in pep, mileage, and mechanical issues?

I take my H3 offroad regularly, but not on anything hardcore enough to really need the extra ground clearance. I'll stick to the standard Adventure size 285x75's but definitely something a lot better than the OEM tars.

 

to be honest with everyone, the Stance and look of the H3 on 315's alone was worth it to me! and i was one of those against running 35's on an H3 at first. should have done it sooner.