Tech. Tip:“Will this tire fit on this rim?”

BY Jason P. Laskowski
Technical Editor

A very common question I’ve been hearing lately is “Will this tire fit on this rim?” You’d be surprised how many people cannot decipher tire and rim dimensions. I was in a local dealer a few weeks ago looking for a set of sand paddles for my DS and a new set of rims to go with them. Upon asking the salesman what size tire would fit on a set of 10x9 Douglas rims, I could just see the confusion set in.

There can be a lot of misconception when asking about tire & wheel sizes. Just when you thought you’d figured out car tire sizes, now quad tires use a different system all together!

Well hopefully after this brief explanation we’ll set all the confusion aside.

Keep in mind tire dimensions follow this pattern: 22x11x10

(22) = Tire height
(11) = Tire width
(10) = Inner diameter or rim diameter NEEDED (MUST MATCH FIRST # OF RIM SIZE)

Rims or wheels follow a different pattern with opposite meaning: 10x9

(10) = Rim diameter (MUST MATCH LAST # OF TIRE SIZE)
(9) = Rim width (Can be -2 or -3" difference than that of tire width) tire will just bulge a bit.

So, in this case a 22x11x10 tire WILL fit on a 10x9 rim.

Test Question:

18x10x9 Tire
10x9 Rim

Will they fit, yes or no? The answer is NO. Remember the tire’s inner diameter is 9 in this example and our rim diameter is 10.

So there you have it, this mystery is resolved! Just keep in mind the last number of the tire size MUST match the first number of the rim size. Also, try to keep the tire & rim width equal but don’t let the rim be narrower than 3” than that of the tire’s width.

Good luck!