The worst situation for wheel bearings caused by wider tires is that the wider tires are often offset outward to avoid interference with suspension or body pieces. This adds a bending moment for the bearings to absorb as well as the vertical load they were designed to carry. The effect adds load to the outer bearing and initially reduces the load carried by the inner bearing. Extreme offsets can end up with more load on the inner bearing than it was designed for (and in the opposite direction) and a load on the outer bearing several times larger than it was designed for. The bending moment also increases the loads in the steering spindle and the steering pivots and to a lesser degree in the axle.
If the wider wheels can be kept to the same offset as the original wheels the increased loads are minimized although the extra width can still add some extra loads.
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31-08-10, 20:49
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