GMC Terrain, Equinox, and SRX Forum banner

Larger Tires for 2018 Diesel

23K views 33 replies 12 participants last post by  g00fy 
#1 ·
Well, my wife just signed the papers on a brand new Satin Steel Diesel LT last night, so with winter just a couple months away I'm officially on the hunt for a spare set of wheels & Tires and I was hoping someone else already has some experience going with bigger more aggressive tires on the the latest generation Equinox. My wife and i live in northern NJ, and she commutes an Hour to work at a hospital every day, last year they implemented a policy where regardless of weather conditions, if you call in, it's a mark on your record. So last year we had a pretty bad blizzard and of course she ended up getting caught driving right in the peak of it.

She currently has a 2012 Outback that i put slightly over sized General Grabber AT2's on for winter, they got her home through that storm last year thank god, but even with that setup, she said she was genuinely concerned at a few spots where the snow had gotten deep and the car started to high center & float a little bit.

So anyone who's done this before, what tire did you go with? What size did you go with? I liked the Grabber AT2's they were a good all around tire if we had a mild winter, they were still good on dry pavement and rain,

Bonus question: What's the bolt pattern on the wheels? I was trying to research it last night, it looks like it was originally 5x115, then it switched to 5x120, but now I think i read somewhere they switched back to 5x115?

Thanks.
 
See less See more
#3 ·
I don't have the VIN on me at the moment, but I was able to find a solid answer on bolt pattern, they did go back to a 5x115 (5x4.5") on the 18's. I think what might even be better to know is if 16" wheels will clear the brakes or 17" is the minimum sized wheel for this vehicle.
 
#7 ·
Very interesting information. You actually have mounted 16s with those tires and there was no problems ? I know that you said they "will" fit because the spare is a 16", but I am a Doubting Thomas !
 
#13 ·
Interesting.


I want to put a set of LT tires (6ply) on our 18 LT 2.0T. I drive many miles on dirt roads. In some cases 50-100 mile stretches.



I was wondering if 16" wheels would fit. If so where can you get them. Also will the computer have to be flashed because of any dia. differences.

Thanks.
 
#14 ·
The computer should only have to be reflashed if you change the tire size to something with a dramatically different diameter from stock. I plan on going up 3/4" if they'll fit. It might make a noticeable change in the speedometer making it read a little lower at highway speeds, but not enough to go crazy looking for a way to recalibrate everything.
 
#17 ·
Why not just put on a set of 225/65/17 all terrain tires? There are at least 3 good options available (BFG All-Terrain KO2, Yokohama Geolandar AT, Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus). That why you get the all terrain performance in the stock size for a guaranteed fit.
 
#18 ·
So another member confirmed 1st gen equinox wheels will not clear the brake calipers on our 2018's. I do see though that the 2016 - 2018 Malibu takes the same spare tire as our equinox. Going to see if i can get my hands on a set of 16" malibu wheels and test fit them.
 
#19 ·
the spare wheel has some extreme offset, i’m guessing that it will sit out far enough to clear the brakes when mounted, i honestly don’t see a normal 16” wheel fitting, especially on the 2.0 with bigger front brakes....a couple members have noted that some 17” wheels won’t fit the 2.0t due to the bigger brakes, i’ve been following and commenting on posts for the past year and still nobody has a definitive answer on what will work...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#20 ·
Installed today, 225/ 60R18, have an inch clearance to brakes, 17" will have 1/2", so you decide.
 

Attachments

#21 ·
So i went on Discounttiredirect.com and was looking for wheels again and noticed they listed 16" wheels as an option for the 2018 equinox. I was suspicious of this so i called them and spoke to them about whether or not they would actually fit, they guaranteed they would fit and said if they didn't fit they would pay for return shipping and give me a full refund. So I pulled the trigger on these MB wheels: https://www.discounttiredirect.com/buy-wheels/mb-wheels-14/p/75920

They arrived yesterday, and I test fitted them and they fit great, plenty of clearance around the brakes and all. That being said I'm waiting for some TPMS sensors to arrive and the programming tool, once I have them I'll be having a local tire shop install a set of 225/75R16 General Grabber AT/X tires. I'll post pictures when everything is installed.
 
#22 ·
So i went on Discounttiredirect.com and was looking for wheels again and noticed they listed 16" wheels as an option for the 2018 equinox. I was suspicious of this so i called them and spoke to them about whether or not they would actually fit, they guaranteed they would fit and said if they didn't fit they would pay for return shipping and give me a full refund. So I pulled the trigger on these MB wheels: https://www.discounttiredirect.com/buy-wheels/mb-wheels-14/p/75920

They arrived yesterday, and I test fitted them and they fit great, plenty of clearance around the brakes and all. That being said I'm waiting for some TPMS sensors to arrive and the programming tool, once I have them I'll be having a local tire shop install a set of 225/75R16 General Grabber AT/X tires. I'll post pictures when everything is installed.



The center bore is a little off, did they include a set of centering rings? The 2018 Equinox is 70.3, these wheels are 73. So a centering ring will be needed for them to fit correctly.
 
#27 ·
Can't really comment on that yet, my wife had the previous generation Grabber AT/2's on her old subaru, and those were several years old but had no problem getting her home from work (normally 1 hour on a good day) in the middle of a good sized blizzard we had last year. Now these Grabber AT/X are brand new, and this newer generation got the certification for being severe snow rated, which the AT/2's were not severe snow rated. So i expect these will be excellent in the snow as her old ones were.

Very retro. I haven't seen Raised White Letter tires in a long time. Are you starting a trend, or have I missed something ?
I've always liked the raised white lettering, which is weird cause I hate the tires my stepmom had on her Chevy celebrity back in the 80's with the white band around the tire.

But anyway, I always thought the white lettering looked sporty and I think it helps break up the black since I went with black rims. Also with the white letters out it gives me the option if i want to do them up in red, like the General Grabber MT's



The manager at the tire shop had painted his Grabber AT/X lettering in red and it looked pretty sharp to me.

 
#29 ·
SEMA 2018 had a vendor booth where they cut out vinyl letters in colors according to what make / model of tires you had.

then they mail you the kit , cant think of their name .....

And they were supposed to stay on the tire with all of the sidewall flexing ?
 
#30 ·
Those look pretty bad-ass. Does it affect your speedometer at all? Are you able to give a height measurement on the stock tires and the new ones? By the looks of it, the extra 25% ratio gets you really close to the same diameter.

I'd love to have snow tires or ATs for the winter, but I have no place to store rims/tires. I have a pretty small garage and I've about maxed out my space. One word of caution though. I know you've have ATs in the past, but those look like rock throwers. Get some bolt-on mud flaps to protect your lower doors and rocker panels. People could save (delay really) so many rust rockers with mud flaps. I had the Husky ones on my last Equinox and was very happy. You need to either own a right-angle screw driver, or remove the wheels, but they use factory holes and don't require any drilling. My new Equinox has factory mud flaps and they seem to work just as well. The dealer installed them as a trade off because I wanted to change my Husky ones over from the old car to the new one. So I can't say how easy or hard it is to install the GM mud flaps.
 
#31 ·
The difference in diameter, on paper is 3/4" but when i had the tires side by size it seemed like maybe a 1/2" difference, and even if it is actually a 3/4" difference, the speedo only reads 2mph slower at 80mph.

Good call on the mudflaps, didn't even think of that, these grabber AT/X's are pretty aggressive and i can totally see them grabbing and throwing rocks.
 
#33 ·
For those curious about snow performance, I should have an answer tomorrow, depending on what time a storm is supposed to hit tomorrow, my wife maybe commuting home in the middle of it.

Some other things of note, these tires are very aggressive, and they sound like it, they have a noticeable hum in the cab, nothing overwhelming, but you know they're AT's. Also they put the hurt on fuel economy, I'll have a better idea next week after she uses the first full tank of fuel with these tires, but the dashboard is showing 37 - 38mpg, where she used to get 41-43.
 
#34 ·
Got a better picture of the Dnox with the new wheel and tire setup, car is still filthy from winter grime but still better then the night time garage pics:



Still haven't really been able to put the tires to the test as far as snow goes, don't know if we will the way this winter here in NJ is going.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top