what is the best tire size for towing? is smaller better? or stick with stock?

 

I think you should stick with stock, specially while towing. Smaller diameter tires not only may not have the proper load rating needed; but increase the revolutions per minute that the entire drive train has to accomplish thus increasing wear on the engine. :o

 

Changing tire size would have the same effect as chaning the rear gear. Smaller gears can help, but the load ratings should be considered. Do you have any problems now with stock size? What size do you have?

 

I thought larger tires meant lower ratio, which translates into more power. Do I have it backwards?

 

Yes, that's why you see people talking about putting in new gears when they put big tires on. If you have a 3.55 gear and put 40" tires on you're engine rpms drop signifigantly for each gear v. the speed you travel. They'll put in something like a 4.30 gear to compensate. Putting on a smaller tire will have the opposite effect. You'd probably be better off putting in a different gear set than a smaller tire unless you're already running oversized tires.

 

well i want to know how much it will effect my towing if i were to put larger tires on my truck.

 

It will affect your perceived power by the percentage that you change the tire size. If you go from a 30" tire to a 33" tire, that's about 9% different (plus the weight penalty of the larger tire).

Again I ask, what size do you have now? And what size are you considering changing to?

 

Let's make ourselves the engine shall we?

We have at our disposal two bicycles, both of them only have one gear, one crank which is exactly the same size.

The only difference between the two bicycles is:
one is a road bike with 27" wheels
one is a BMX bike with 20" wheels

We also have a little red wagon filled with 80lb bags of cement, maybe 5 bags.
There is a rope tied to the handle which we will tie to the seatpost of the bike.

Which bike do you want to pedal (remember, you are the engine)?

If you ever get the road bike going, it will go faster than the BMX bike.
However, is the ability to go extra fast really important when you have a wagon with 400 lbs of cement right behind you?

Wouldn't your little red wagon pullin' life be a lot easier pedaling the BMX bike even though you lose the ability to go faster than you need?