Are any parts the same as Suzuki cars? I see a lot of wide heavy wheels being put on the Suzk. Does that not wear out your steering components/ball joints etc? seems to me that is a huge amount of weight and friction being added to the vehicle.
Can't see it being any worse than adding these aftermarket parts to ATV's or UTV's. When you add the big tires, you lose the gearing, and therefore the speed. Most of these aren't going to be high-speed, on-road vehicles anymore anyways, I think any wear that is caused is just part of the accepted consequences.
The wider wheels that are offset to the outside of the vehicle do put a little more stress on the steering and suspension components due to the greater overhung load. But it is probably negligable considering the way most of the trucks are being used. It would be more of an issue if the truck was a daily driver on the road. Not sure what you mean by friction, the rolling resistance should be the same even with the wider tires, unless the lower pressure tires cause an increased coefficient of friction. But, like speedy said, it's the larger diameter tires that really sap the power.
Wide tires and low pressure do indeed increase the rolling friction. Just look at the high mileage, human-powered and solar 'cars' that the university teams build, there's a method to the madness of the narrow high-pressure tires. Even the purpose-built 10 speeds of yesteryear, with their narrow tires - they are tall for the gearing and stability that is contributed by the centrifugal force they generate.. Sub-compact, non-performance oriented cars have narrow tires to reduce rolling resistance. I haven't driven a minitruck with ATV tires (8 - 12 psi) on it, just with all-trails (26 psi). I can only imagine what they eat in horsepower. (LOTS)
Speedy, You are correct, contact area and air pressure do indeed affect the rolling resistance of tires. The low pressure is a major contributor to a higher coefficient of rolling resistance. I was not completely taking into account that rolling resistance is a little different than ordinary or sliding friction which is a unitless ratio between frictional resistance and normal load. Surface area is not even a part of an ordinary friction calculation!
I think you are right James. Rolling tire resistance and air friction are huge gas guzzlers and component wear factores. Its why all modern cars are sleek like airplanes. If you take any new car into the dealer and request bigger wider tires they will say"Go for it" but any warranty is nil and void because of excess wear on front end components. (due to friction) Thus my original post: if you drive these trucks on paved roads with these big tires the front ends will be toast in no time IMHO...and gas mileage will be terrible.
