16.5 tires unsafe?

[thecantaloupeman]

I don't know if this was a coincidence or not, but my mom got a flat and while I was waiting in line for her at discount tire I read that 16.5" tires are unsafe.

Completely coincidentally, I met a guy with a squarebody, and we talked about our trucks and the 16.5" tires came up without me asking. He said they weren't very safe because they were meant to be tubetype tires. Mine are tubeless. He said the bead is different or something like that. He said if I hit a curb the tire could come off. I think he even said it happened to him.

Is there any truth to this? I couldn't really find any good explanations on this on the internet.





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[ali_c20]

Only when you drive it in a low pressure situation like offroading. 16.5" rims don't have the safety bead like the other wheels. In the 70ies most 16" rims were split rims and the 16.5" where standard tubeless. A.f.a.i.k they where introduced on the 3/4 and 1 ton trucks because of the larger brake components and to avoid that you could mount none heavy duty tires on vehicles with a high load capacity. The cucv k20 and k30 also had 16.5" wheels.

 

[Craig 85]

On 16.5" wheels they have a tapered bead. See the right side of the photo. Most wheels have square sides with a safety bead to retain the tire. When tires pressures get low on a 16.5" wheel, the tire can easily slide off.

To give an example, I had a set on my last truck. I had a valve stem crack and cause a leak as I sat parked. In the short time I was unloading my truck, the tire deflated and the outer bead actual pulled away from the rim as I sat parked. Luckily I was not moving at the time.

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[Arkansas_V8]

One set of my wheels is 16.5". They will pop a bead when aired down on a side load real easy. Although the military tires make this much harder with the super stiff sidewall.

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I have the 12.5" wide on like a 6.75" wide rim from 78 I believe. I run like 30psi normally for a good contact patch. I can air down to about 10-12 psi, after that I pop the bead much easier in the rocks.

 

[Frankenchevy]

Only when you drive it in a low pressure situation like offroading. 16.5" rims don't have the safety bead like the other wheels. In the 70ies most 16" rims were split rims and the 16.5" where standard tubeless. A.f.a.i.k they where introduced on the 3/4 and 1 ton trucks because of the larger brake components and to avoid that you could mount none heavy duty tires on vehicles with a high load capacity. The cucv k20 and k30 also had 16.5" wheels.

Didn’t know there were k20 cucvs, but the standard 1-1/4 ton cucvs come with 16” wheels.

 

[Arkansas_V8]

Didn’t know there were k20 cucvs, but the standard 1-1/4 ton cucvs come with 16” wheels.

Didn't know if he knew something I didn't. But you confirmed my thoughts.

 

[Frankenchevy]

Not sure what the 6 lug wheels were on the cucv blazers, but I think they were 15”

 

[thecantaloupeman]

On 16.5" wheels they have a tapered bead. See the right side of the photo. Most wheels have square sides with a safety bead to retain the tire. When tires pressures get low on a 16.5" wheel, the tire can easily slide off.

To give an example, I had a set on my last truck. I had a valve stem crack and cause a leak as I sat parked. In the short time I was unloading my truck, the tire deflated and the outer bead actual pulled away from the rim as I sat parked. Luckily I was not moving at the time.

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So in other words I shouldn't need to worry about it until I get new tires again? I was thinking I'd have to replace them all with 16s or something right this moment.

 

[DoubleDingo]

Just keep the correct pressure and you'll be fine. I never knew about all of this stuff until this year, and man the things I did in trucks with 16.5 tubeless tires back in the day without any issues whatsoever.

 

[nvrenuf]

IF the tires meet typical good standards of any tire (dry rot, tread depth, etc) then run them, they're safe. Plenty of companies are still producing 16.5's, if they weren't safe companies wouldn't want the liability.

 

[omillan99]

I still have a set of 16.5 BFG AT, i wish they would make them in the AT2 but its getting a little harder to find in experience.

 

[Colin]

I thought it was the split rims that were dangerous when not handled carefully,
and not so much the tire size.

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[nvrenuf]

I thought it was the split rims that were dangerous when not handled carefully,
and not so much the tire size.

You are correct, the only time a 16.5 is dangerous to work on is when knuckleheads used to try to mount them on a 16” wheel. Other than that it’s just the bead being easy to unseat from low pressure.

Also, I believe that video is demonstrating the dangers of split rims.

 

[RecklessWOT]

If ANY tire is run that low on air it is dangerous. It is a little more dangerous if your tire is more likely to pull off the bead than a regular wheel, but realistically if you don't have ****** flat tires you are in no more of a dangerous situation than any other normal wheel/tire combo. Make sure your tires have the proper air pressure in them and aren't dry rotted and you should be fine. If you're not comfortable making sure your tires have the correct pressure in them and you're the sure of person who would rather neglect your vehicle then yes please buy new rims.

 

[jtridgley79]

Tractor trailers and dump trucks have the same style bead. No worries.

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