riarcher

Wonder,,, why do some Expys come with 17" and others with 16"?
My '99 EB came with 17".
Maybe I'm not looking in the right place or something,, but I see limited offers in the 17".
My Expy is destined to become a beach buggy in the Atlantic Northeast.
Wider is better for the sand.
I'm thinking of swapping to the 16's for a more available wider profile tire like the 33's (doubt the 35's would fit).
Any pro's or con's to this idea?
Would steel vs. aluminum make any difference?
Thanks,
Gary

oklahomamedic

It seems like the Eddie Bauer's came with 17'' wheels, and the regular Expy's came with 16'' wheels. I have a 2000 EB with 17'' wheels.

riarcher

Thanks.
Wondering,,,,
Seems like the 17's came with higher gear ratios.
If so, were the tire diameters making both ratios about the same in the final drive?

Reason I'm asking, I have the EB too w/ 17's
Switching to a wider 16 but slightly smaller diameter (than the 17's) combo would give it a tad more response while still having a bigger footprint for the beach sand.... (maybe?).

However, after spending a couple days toying on the beach, I may not even need too. Thing is like a tank! I tried, couldn't stop it without getting really stupid.
Gotta say though, the 4AWD in mine is next to useless. 4HI /LO is completely a different story though.

Ron Dwain

Hi,
It won't do anything to your car the only wheels that do damage are those stupid chrome low profile wheels that are like 19 to 22 inches that look really gay. With the wheel size you stated your car will have a smoother ride to it but why such a high side wall? a 65 side wall is like what you would put on a Lincoln Town Car. It won't look right the wheels will be to big for the wheel wells it won't rub or anything but it just won't look right. Why don't you go for some 16 or 17 inch low pro file wheels?. The 205/65/15's will not do much for handling or braking and they will affect your cars acceleration because its a taller wheel so what it will do is make the cars gear ratios taller. Its like going from a 3.73 rear end to 3.10 rear end.Thanks.