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MPG improvements with different tires?

mikelabranche

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Personally i'm a Pirelli guy.
I lucked out and my Limited came with the same Pirelli's I had on my last truck as funny as that was.
It's crazy how bad some tires are that OEMs choose to put on vehicles to save a few bucks resulting in poor handling of an otherwise expensive new car\truck.
Which Pirellis do you have?
 

Trooper4

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The bigger the contact patch on the road, the more rolling resistance there is. You want better milage, get skinny tires and inflate to max air pressures. And, stay away from tall tires.
 

edgarrian

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This has been discussed a few times here. Changing tires won't give you any significant advantage in mpg. Proper air pressure is a must.
 

Trooper4

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This has been discussed a few times here. Changing tires won't give you any significant advantage in mpg. Proper air pressure is a must.
Beg to differ. I have personal experience of what wider tires can do to horsepower and mpg. Bigger tire patch, more resistance. Bigger contact patch means better traction/ stopping power.
 

edgarrian

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Beg to differ. I have personal experience of what wider tires can do to horsepower and mpg. Bigger tire patch, more resistance. Bigger contact patch means better traction/ stopping power.
Signifcant to me would be (5mpg or more) more than the stock duratracs. Thats not happening with a tire swap. Even what you are suggesting id be surprised if it was a gain of 3mpg. Thats not significant. Guys that have changed out stock tires on the rebel have not experienced any significant gain.
 

drumexpert

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For what it's worth, I have a 2019 Rebel with close to 50,000 miles on the odometer. At around 40,000 miles I could not stand the road noise of Stock Duratrac tires. I came across a sale at the local Costco and pulled the trigger on a set of BFG KO2s. The KO2 solved the road noise issue, though the KO2 made the Rebel ride a bit bumpier (I have the coil suspension), but were also sturdier at highway speed than the floaty feel of the duratracs.

To my surprise, the gas mileage got worse. The truck went from 17-17.5 MPG to 15.5-16 MPG. The Rebel is all stock with stock-sized tires. I initially thought it would get better over time as the KO2 wore in, but with around 10K on the tires, MPG is still in the 15.5-16 MPG range. I realize now that the added weight of the KO2 at each corner compared to the lighter weight of the duratracs that comes stock on the truck is likely the culprit.
 

edgarrian

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For what it's worth, I have a 2019 Rebel with close to 50,000 miles on the odometer. At around 40,000 miles I could not stand the road noise of Stock Duratrac tires. I came across a sale at the local Costco and pulled the trigger on a set of BFG KO2s. The KO2 solved the road noise issue, though the KO2 made the Rebel ride a bit bumpier (I have the coil suspension), but were also sturdier at highway speed than the floaty feel of the duratracs.

To my surprise, the gas mileage got worse. The truck went from 17-17.5 MPG to 15.5-16 MPG. The Rebel is all stock with stock-sized tires. I initially thought it would get better over time as the KO2 wore in, but with around 10K on the tires, MPG is still in the 15.5-16 MPG range. I realize now that the added weight of the KO2 at each corner compared to the lighter weight of the duratracs that comes stock on the truck is likely the culprit.
I took my truck on a long distance haul from North Dakota to indiana. I was coming back from the oil fields for good. As I was making my way home I took some side tours to check out some sights. My intention was to get the best MPG I could get. So I stuck to the speed limit. I used the onboard computer to track mpg and I hand calculated it. Interesting enough my truck said i was getting 19 but my hand calculation was at 17. I often wonder at times if this is on purpose to appease government regulations.
 

carmcanc

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I switched from the OEM Duratracs with 45k miles because they were getting too noisy to same size Cooper Discoverer AT3 XLT and my mileage has definitely decreased. On my first 60 mile trip I averaged 13 mpg and I used to average 15-16 between that and the return trip. Even daily driving is always below 13 and was never before unless I had a really heavy foot.
 

Darksteel165

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I switched from the OEM Duratracs with 45k miles because they were getting too noisy to same size Cooper Discoverer AT3 XLT and my mileage has definitely decreased. On my first 60 mile trip I averaged 13 mpg and I used to average 15-16 between that and the return trip. Even daily driving is always below 13 and was never before unless I had a really heavy foot.
Whats your tire pressure on the coopers?
 

carmcanc

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What is stated on the door jamb 55 and 45 I think. Same as I ran on the Duratracs. Should it be different?
 

Darksteel165

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What is stated on the door jamb 55 and 45 I think. Same as I ran on the Duratracs. Should it be different?
That seems really high. Is your truck an 1500 Rebel?
I'm running 36 psi.
You could do the chalk test to verify, but that seems high.
I thought higher psi should increase mpg though.

Same size tire? If not did you adjust your speedometer? Also is this hand calc or the lie-o-meter you are going by?
 

carmcanc

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Yes, Rebel 1500, same tire size.
 

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