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All Terrain Tires on 22" Wheels?

Rivian_Hugh_III

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The more I look at the 20" wheels the more I dislike them from an aesthetic perspective. To my eye the traditional set of 20's look like floating staples, the second are too busy, and the black are $3500.

I'm not a fan of the 21" wheels either, for reasons long explained: They are a bizarre size that locks you into this Pirelli tire, and they sort of look weird. One caveat is they may look awesome without the inserts in, but I can't find a photo of the full truck with the inserts out. And then there's the random tire size issue again.

That leaves me with the 22" wheels. Now these I like. Recent photo close-ups of the 22" wheels have me swooning. But I'm aware of the problems with these wheels and the tires that come with them:
  • The wheels are not forged like the 20's so they are less strong (though the process used to create them does provide some extra strength around the rims).
  • Having less sidewall will give you a rougher ride, or ahem, allow you to feel the road beneath you.
  • Having less sidewall means less bending if you hit a pothole or rock with some force, meaning you could not only damage the wheels, but pop the tires.
  • The wheels are grippy rubber, which usually means fewer miles before they wear out.
  • "Performance tires" usually mean garbage traction in snow and ice. I've never had a vehicle where I had "summer tires" and "winter tires," but this is a case where it may be strongly recommended, especially considering I live in Michigan.
  • Bigger wheels mean less range, possibly much less range. Some have wondered whether the wider diameter of the 20" wheel's tires (34") would mean that the 20's get worse range, but spinning a rubber tire is easier than spinning a metal wheel. Bigger wheels in an EV mean less range.
  • On the plus side, the 22's look awesome and are probably the tire that gets you 0-60 in 3.0 seconds (although 3.1 seconds, or 3.2 seconds aren't far off).
Trying to mitigate the negatives of the 22" wheels I'm considering using up the stock tires and then getting a larger "All Terrain" tire as the replacement. I feel like I read some comments about this in another thread, but I can't seem to find it.

For those of you who know wheels and tires well, what do you see as the pros and cons of doing this? For my part, I'm wondering if range might actually improve, since bigger tires would mean the wheels spin slower to achieve similar speeds. I've read that 22" is the standard size of many of GM's larger vehicles, so there should be a nice variety of tires out there, including All-Terrain and All-Season options.

I appreciate any comments!

EDIT: The stock 20’s are growing on me. Gotta see them in person to decide.
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kurtlikevonnegut

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Have you looked to see if those tires even exist? With the 22" wheel and max clearance of 34" you are going to have so little sidewall that I'm not sure an AT tire in that size even exists currently. It very well could but that would be a pretty wonky looking tire.
 

kylealden

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Generally seems like a bad idea.

Range will likely be worse than either the 22" road or 20" ATs - the two biggest factors here are rolling resistance and the weight of the wheel itself. A 22" AT will be the worst of both worlds.

Durability will be significantly compromised - less sidewall = more flats and more likelihood of damaging a rim, and less flexibility with air pressure.

Tire selection will be an added headache - don't forget even if you can find ATs designed for a 22" wheel, the tire diameter also has to fit in the Rivian without rubbing, so the full package has to be pretty close to the OEM 22" road size. (Barring suspension modifications which sound complex and expensive given the Rivian's setup.) Again, now you have sidewalls that mean you're basically offroading in stilettos.

Ultimately you're probably better off looking for an aftermarket 20" wheel design that you like.
 

kurtlikevonnegut

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Ultimately you're probably better off looking for an aftermarket 20" wheel design that you like.
I'd be willing to bet that you could pretty easily find someone (maybe even on this forum!) Who would buy the OEM 20s from you and fully offset the cost of your after market wheel of choice. There are several out there, like myself, who have expressed a desire to have the 20s with a road or all season tire on them who would likely buy them.
 

MT_Tom

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The more I look at the 20" wheels the more I dislike them from an aesthetic perspective. To my eye the traditional set of 20's look like floating staples, the second are too busy, and the black are $3500.

I'm not a fan of the 21" wheels either, for reasons long explained: They are a bizarre size that locks you into this Pirelli tire, and they sort of look weird. One caveat is they may look awesome without the inserts in, but I can't find a photo of the full truck with the inserts out. And then there's the random tire size issue again.

That leaves me with the 22" wheels. Now these I like. Recent photo close-ups of the 22" wheels have me swooning. But I'm aware of the problems with these wheels and the tires that come with them:
  • The wheels are not forged like the 20's so they are less strong (though the process used to create them does provide some extra strength around the rims).
  • Having less sidewall will give you a rougher ride, or ahem, allow you to feel the road beneath you.
  • Having less sidewall means less bending if you hit a pothole or rock with some force, meaning you could not only damage the wheels, but pop the tires.
  • The wheels are grippy rubber, which usually means fewer miles before they wear out.
  • "Performance tires" usually mean garbage traction in snow and ice. I've never had a vehicle where I had "summer tires" and "winter tires," but this is a case where it may be strongly recommended, especially considering I live in Michigan.
  • Bigger wheels mean less range, possibly much less range. Some have wondered whether the wider diameter of the 20" wheel's tires (34") would mean that the 20's get worse range, but spinning a rubber tire is easier than spinning a metal wheel. Bigger wheels in an EV mean less range.
  • On the plus side, the 22's look awesome and are probably the tire that gets you 0-60 in 3.0 seconds (although 3.1 seconds, or 3.2 seconds aren't far off).
Trying to mitigate the negatives of the 22" wheels I'm considering using up the stock tires and then getting a larger "All Terrain" tire as the replacement. I feel like I read some comments about this in another thread, but I can't seem to find it.

For those of you who know wheels and tires well, what do you see as the pros and cons of doing this? For my part, I'm wondering if range might actually improve, since bigger tires would mean the wheels spin slower to achieve similar speeds. I've read that 22" is the standard size of many of GM's larger vehicles, so there should be a nice variety of tires out there, including All-Terrain and All-Season options.

I appreciate any comments!
Wife likes the 22's and thats what we have ordered. Will use stock tires till they wear out or aren't any good in the winter. Most driving is short town commutes and to the ski hill. Will likely put on Michelin Defender LTX which come in 22's and she currently has on her SUV. They're decent in the winter, but not as good true winter tires like Blizzaks (which you can't get in 22s). Still have to drive for the road conditions, which a lot of people forget about come the first snow.
 

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Zoidz

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How about these? Very similar diameter to the OEM 20's. Slightly wider/taller but most likely it would fit. I'm sure they would kill your range - they look much more aggressive than the OEM AT option.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Yokohama&tireModel=Geolandar+M/T+G003&partnum=855QR2G003&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes
He mentioned he's in Michigan and needs snow/ice capability. That tire says
"While Off-Road Maximum Traction tires are branded with the M+S symbol and able to churn through deep snow, their typical oversize applications and the limited number of snow-biting sipes in their large lugs can challenge their on-road wintertime traction on packed snow and icy surfaces."
 

sub

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He mentioned he's in Michigan and needs snow/ice capability. That tire says
"While Off-Road Maximum Traction tires are branded with the M+S symbol and able to churn through deep snow, their typical oversize applications and the limited number of snow-biting sipes in their large lugs can challenge their on-road wintertime traction on packed snow and icy surfaces."
Ok - then perhaps these three-peak mountain/snowflake-certified 22" AT tires. https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/toyo-tire-open-country-a-t-iii/p/89569
 

electruck

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Ok - then perhaps these three-peak mountain/snowflake-certified 22" AT tires. https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/toyo-tire-open-country-a-t-iii/p/89569
It is not at all safe to assume that a 285 with a slightly larger diameter "would most likely fit". We've been told there is very little room for larger tires on the R1. It would be highly advisable for most people to stick with stock sizes until some brave adventurers with money to burn decide to pony up and "take one for the team" to see what kind of rubbing issues we run into with alternate sizes.
 

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It is not at all safe to assume that a 285 with a slightly larger diameter "would most likely fit". We've been told there is very little room for larger tires on the R1. It would be highly advisable for most people to stick with stock sizes until some brave adventurers with money to burn decide to pony up and "take one for the team" to see what kind of rubbing issues we run into with alternate sizes.
By slightly larger diameter, the difference in radius is only 0.1 inch. I agree there is no guarantee that it will fit but I think the odds of the OEM tire having less than 0.1" of clearance is pretty small.

In any case I am sure that someone will measure the clearances long before the vast majority of us get our vehicles.
 

electruck

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By slightly larger diameter, the difference in radius is only 0.1 inch. I agree there is no guarantee that it will fit but I think the odds of the OEM tire having less than 0.1" of clearance is pretty small.
And 0.4 inches wider. It might work, it might not. It might require a slightly different wheel offset, or it might not. It might work some or most of the time but not under the full range of wheel travel (this is where you typically run into problems).

We've already seen fender liners ripped out during the 2020 Rebelle with the stock ATs (although at least one side was likely the result of a bent suspension component).
 

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This was on a thread somewhere……

Rivian R1T R1S All Terrain Tires on 22" Wheels? FC54F7EF-E0FE-4FA0-A14A-9AC288EC0110
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