Tire size & calculator question....fitment

I have purchased a set of 17" (15mm offset, 7.5" width) rims from a 2007 FJ Cruiser (there's a thread about them also with pics).

I'm looking at tire fitment now. Biggest thing for me, is ride comfort. I drive 124 miles/day, 3-4 times a week. I'm static dropped, 3" in back, torsions in front, and will probably stay that way. Don't need to tuck, but want to fill the wheel well and have a bit of travel. I may drop it a bit more after getting some tires, but that's not the biggest concern for me.

I found this tire calculator:



It's saying that with the stock tire size, 205/75/15, there's an almost perfect match (side and footprint profile) in using a 215/60/17. Speedometer will only be off .2% also, so gas mileage will also probably stay pretty near where it is (I hope). This size tire is a bit easier to find, and a few less $ than some of the low profile, high performance sizes (like 205/40/17, 215/40/17, 205/45/17, 215/45/17, etc., etc. that some are running).

So, on 17s, has anyone used that size (tucked or not)? Just wondering before I go out searching for them.

Thanks for any input!

are you sure your stock wheels are 15s? Not many were 15s unless they were 4x4s.

205/50/17 is about the proper side you want for an approximate 26" overall diameter,keeping you near stock.

I drove my truck with 205/50/17s and it was great. I then went down to 40s and it was lower,but it rode pretty hard.

Yup. Got the stock size wrong. Thanks for catching that!

The calculator now is showing that 215/55/17 is a close match (.8% off original size).

nah,that's still too big of a sidewall especially if you're going low. I found a 50 profile to be too big for my liking. Drove like a stock tire,had too much of a floaty feeling still and didn't let the truck sit the way I wanted it to.

Here's the difference:

Stock wheels,3" blocks,monoleafs


205/50/17,3" blocks,monoleafs. This is pretty much the closest you'll get to the stock overall diameter.


205/40/17,3" blocks,monoleafs. Big difference in ride height. Much lower,and threw my speedo off by about 10kmh. When I was doing 90kmh it would be reading about 100kmh. These looked about 'right'.

I think the 50 series is more like what he's looking for in ride quality though mikey. Actually, a 225/50 (25.9) is just a hair under a stock 207/75/14 (26.1) Dunno.... Guess it depends on how low you're gonna go with it

Ummmmm...one issue you might have...the Mazda I will be buying this weekend has FJ Cruiser wheels, 17"s and the guy that built the truck had to go with a narrower than stock rear end. My new truck has a 74 Courior rear end....because the stock Mazda rear end had the FJ wheels hanging wayyyyy out past the bedsides. Anyway...this is just what I was told

use this. Put in stock size on one side, and size u want on the other.

Thanks for all the replies!

I am trying to maintain ride comfort (remember that 124 miles per day, 3-4 times a week), and have to maintain being able to carry loads of 500lbs some 35-40 weekends a year (a four wheeler). With these two requirements, I'll probably never drop the truck to a point of being able to tuck the wheels. I also want to keep the stock diameter as close as possible for mileage and correct speedo. I still use the truck as a truck.

My goal is to make the truck look a bit better with bigger rims/tires, and drop as much as I can, within the above requirements.

ALL the calculators are showing that a 215/55/17 is within 1% of being the right diameter, but 10mm wider (than stock sizing/diameter/footprint). Maybe they are wrong. I'll know in a few days, as I have tires this size on the way.

Obviously it might not be the size for those who want to tuck the tires, have the truck slammed, bd'd, and/or have the high performance low profile look.

But, there's a LOT of experience in these forums, and I'm just trying to see what people have done. I can't be the first with trying this size tire and rim setup (size/offset/etc. dimensions). These trucks are 16+ years old.

I'll post up some pics once it's all together. If it turns out to be a non working or crappy looking setup, there's always craigslist and eBay--how I got all this stuff to begin with.

Pic of the install:



I don't think any tire size combo on the FJ Cruiser rims will tuck (maybe with 4wd metal). The outer lip of the rim is even with the small fender flare on my truck, and the tire is just a bit outside of that.

Looks good!