Today I had a customer pick up a set of FN Wheels Type X 16". As I picked up the wheel box I could not help but notice how light it was! I just had to know for myself so I put it on my scale, wow only 18.6lbs. In comparison to the 17" factory alloy weight of 28.9lbs that is a pretty impressive weight savings!(thanks Tacomaworld for stock wheel info)
Why should I be concerned with this you may ask? By reducing the rotational weight on our vehicles we can improve fuel economy, improve throttle response and reduce wear on powertrain items like brakes.
One other factor more pertinent to us that are building overland vehicles is the weight of our tires. Its very common we choose to oversize our stock tire size to gain more ground clearance. Its also very common to upgrade our vehicles from a "P" or passenger rated tire to an "LT" light truck rated tire. In most cases both of these tire upgrades add more weight.
This became much more intriguing to me as this customer just ordered a set of LT265/75R16 BFG All Terrain TA KO2 tires from us. I had to dig deeper to see what all the numbers had to say.
1. Total weight stock package
Stock 17x7.5" wheel weight 28.9lbs
Stock P265/65R17 tire weight 38lbs
Total stock wheel package weight 66.9lbs
2. Total weight with light weight wheel and oversized LT tire
FN Wheel Type X 16x8" wheel weight 18.6lbs
Oversized LT265/75R16 BFG KO2 weight 53.5lbs
Total FN Wheel/BFG package weight 72.1lbs
3. Total weight with Fuel Boost and oversized LT tire
Fuel Boost 16x8" wheel weight 26lbs
Oversized LT265/75R16 BFG KO2 weight 53.5lbs
Total Fuel Wheel/BFG package weight 79.5lbs
In my personal experience driving experience I noticed a 25-50km fuel range increase when I removed my LT275/70R18 Duratracs with Fuel Boost wheels and replaced with a set of lighter P275/70R18 Cooper AT3 tires and FN Wheels BFD wheels.
In summary don't discount the weight factor when shopping for a new set of wheels for your truck build.
