{"id":321,"date":"2016-02-25T22:44:27","date_gmt":"2016-02-26T03:44:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sprinter-camper.com\/?p=321"},"modified":"2021-02-19T16:46:27","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T16:46:27","slug":"sprinter-with-bigger-tires-21585r16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sprinter-camper.com\/sprinter-with-bigger-tires-21585r16\/","title":{"rendered":"T1N Sprinter 3500 with bigger tires: 215\/85R16"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\r\n\t\t \r\n\t\t \r\n\t\t<\/div>\n

One thing that I never liked with the Sprinter 3500 were the tiny 15 inch factory wheels. I have no idea why they used these\u00a0small wheels in these wheel arches that can house much bigger wheels.\u00a0To fix this, there are basically two alternatives: stick with the original 15″ wheels and put some bigger tires on them or go with larger 16″ wheels from the newer generation Sprinters (2007+). If you go the first route with the original wheels, your choice of tires is limited – there’s not even a large selection for the standard 195\/70R15 tires.<\/p>\n

So my choice was going with the larger wheels. Finding the wheels is no problem – there are plenty of companies that sell barely used wheels from RV conversions for about $50 a piece plus shipping (Eurocampers<\/a>, for example). I got really lucky and found a seller on eBay<\/a> that accepted my offer of $40 per wheel, shipping included! The 16″ wheels have the same bolt pattern as the 15″ from the first generation Sprinters but you’ll need new lug nuts. The Part Number for the nuts is\u00a0 68013445AA (Dodge\/Mopar Part Number) and you’ll need 24 of them.<\/p>\n

Going with the larger wheels has another upside: There’s plenty of tires with the correct load rating to select from. I didn’t go with the cheapest tire but opted for a house brand from NTB:\u00a0Mesa A\/P II LT215\/85R16. I can’t speak to the quality of the tire yet since I’ve only driven about 50 miles so far. First impression is better than the older tires but I’m going to update this post after the first longer road trip<\/del>. and here’s the results after driving the larger\u00a0wheels for a while<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Sprinter<\/a>
Side by Side Comparison: 15″ wheel with 195\/70R15 in front and the 16″ wheel with 215\/85R16 in the back<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The new wheel\/tire combination lifted the van about two inches and I had to cut a little bit from the front wheel splash guard to avoid having the front tires rubbing against it when turning.<\/p>\n

\"sprinter
Plenty of space between the dually tires in the back with the 215\/85R16 tires<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The picture above shows that there’s more than enough space between the duallys in the back. You could\u00a0also go with a bit smaller but wider tires and chose\u00a0 LT225\/75R16 tires.<\/p>\n

\"old
Another side by side – original 15 inch wheels installed and the new 16″ wheels next to them<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One negative\u00a0of going with bigger tires is that your spare tire won’t fit in original location anymore. I saw a\u00a0post on Expeditionportal<\/a> with a picture of a\u00a0215\/85R16 in the stock location but since this was about a Sprinter 2500 I assume that the wheel\u00a0carrier\u00a0in the 3500’s are probably smaller. If you could swap out the carriers from a 2500 to a 3500 this would solve the problem but I haven’t looked into that.\u00a0I’m going with a spare wheel carrier that is bolted to the rear door.<\/p>\n

When researching tires I found a good amount of information and pictures how the new setup would look like but what I haven’t found was a lot of side by side comparisons. I hope the pictures and especially the comparison slider on top of this post are helpful for someone to get an idea how your Sprinter\u00a0would look like with bigger tires.<\/p>\n

Affiliate disclosure:<\/b> This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Replacing the tiny 15″ wheels that the first gen Sprinters came with from the factory will improve the look of your van. Another nice side effect is a little better fuel economy and that the speedometer now shows the real speed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[62,63,68],"yoast_head":"\nT1N Sprinter 3500 with bigger tires: 215\/85R16 - Sprinter Camper<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The first generation of Sprinter 3500 came with small 15 inch wheels which look ridiculous. 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