Tire opinions: White Letter or all Black?

[sb69chevy]

So what do you all think? Which should I go w/? I have all black right now, but thinking of going w/ white lettered ones. Of course, pics are always good.

[shifty]

Depends on the wheel. If you're sticking with those wheels, they're pretty plain, I would say lettered....

[ghackett1]

I have factory rallys and the white letter look great.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Depends on rim/tire and truck.

I like rally's with white letters out. They're dirty, but you get the idea.

[powell72]

Black wall out with rallys..........or any other wheel for that matter.

[dirtball]

Any time I have had white lettered tires, they were facing IN. I think they look best that way, no matter what wheel or vehicle I have had them on. JMHO

[SactoJim]

Though I prefer blackwalls, I think white letters work with rallys just fine and look best with a popular name brand tire....BFG, Goodyear, etc....

[sb69chevy]

Well, I like both looks. Will be staying w/ ralleys for awhile, so I'm thinking heavily about going from the black 235/75/15s to the BFG TA Radial white letter 275/60/15s.

[GREASEMONKEY72]

i like the black out and the white out equally, but if you have the black out now why not go white out on the new ones and change it up a bit

[GREASEMONKEY72]

heres some pictures

[sb69chevy]

I think you're right, GMonkey. Think that size would be the right one, and how would it affect the speedo?

[GREASEMONKEY72]

i dont know the stock tire size but my tires are 31's according to the side wall theyre actually like 29-30in but my speedo reads 5mph under, as in if my speedo says 50 im actually doing 55mph, 235's might read over

[sb69chevy]

my speedo w/ 235s is fast, but if I figured it right the 275/60s are a little shorter but wider. Just not knowledgable about how the tires affect the readout. do both width and height factor? I would think that height would affect the speedo the most.

[GREASEMONKEY72]

only height will change the speedo, the width of the tire affects your traction and mpg to believe it or not

275 will be taller than 235, which IIRR the stock tires were 275 or 285, something like that

[sb69chevy]

I was reading on tire tech that the 235 and 275 is actually width from outer wall to outer wall in mm. Then the height (from rim to outer edge) is a percentage of the width (e.g. 235/75 , height is 75% of 235mm)... That is IF I read the article right.

so..235/75 = 235mm/25.4 mm/in = 9.25" wide and 9.25in x .75 =6.94" tall
.....275/60 = 275mm/25.4 mm/in = 10.83" wide and 10.83in x .6 =6.5" tall

Again, this is probably wrong...

[sb69chevy]

So as the tire gets wider, the mpg gets smaller?

[GREASEMONKEY72]

the tire sizes confuse me with that but i just found a calculator and according to it the 275/60/15 is actually smaller than the 235/75/15, so i would say go with a 275/65/15 and youll have a 29in tire which might read right but im not 100% sure

[GREASEMONKEY72]

Originally Posted by sb69chevy

So as the tire gets wider, the mpg gets smaller?

yes, more tire touching means more drag means less mpg

[GREASEMONKEY72]

oh heres the calculator i found, im sure theres better but its the first one i clicked on and it works

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
the black ring is the colum on the left and the black wall is the colum on the right

[brak]

Personally i think it depends on the tire.

Some tires have UGLY lettering.

[GREASEMONKEY72]

Originally Posted by brak

Personally i think it depends on the tire.

Some tires have UGLY lettering.

very true

[WinDancer]

I think you should...............
.......................................
do whatever looks best to YOU. It's your truck, make it yours

[brak]

tirerack,.com has an explanation that's actually easy to follow...

Section Width
Following the letter(s) that identify the type of vehicle and/or type of service for which the tire was designed, the three-digit numeric portion identifies the tire's "Section Width" (cross section) in millimeters.

P225/50R16 91S

The 225 indicates this tire is 225 millimeters across from the widest point of its outer sidewall to the widest point of its inner sidewall when mounted and measured on a specified width wheel. This measurement is also referred to as the tire's section width. Because many people think of measurements in inches, the 225mm can be converted to inches by dividing the section width in millimeters by 25.4 (the number of millimeters per inch).

225mm / 25.4 = 8.86"

Sidewall Aspect Ratio

Typically following the three digits identifying the tire's Section Width in millimeters is a two-digit number that identifies the tire's profile or aspect ratio.

P225/50R16 91S

The 50 indicates that this tire size's sidewall height (from rim to tread) is 50% of its section width. The measurement is the tire's section height, and also referred to as the tire's series, profile or aspect ratio. The higher the number, the taller the sidewall; the lower the number, the lower the sidewall. We know that this tire size's section width is 225mm and that its section height is 50% of 225mm. By converting the 225mm to inches (225 / 25.4 = 8.86") and multiplying it by 50% (.50) we confirm that this tire size results in a tire section height of 4.43". If this tire were a P225/70R16 size, our calculation would confirm that the size would result in a section height of 6.20", approximately a 1.8-inch taller sidewall.

[LUV2XCLR8]

I personally like Black out on low pro's, white out's on 4wd's

[special-K]

I always turn white in.I like attention to go elsewhere.I forgot to tell the tire guy to mount the letters in on my`92 GMCwork truck which is totally stock and it sets it off.I`d never turn any letters out unless they were a good name tire.It`s all preference,but as a rule I`d say two-tones and trimmed out trucks look best with blackwalls and letters are ok on solid paint plain Janes.