Sounds like an urban legend.
Every (well, ok, most) offroader knows this. If you increase the weight/size of the wheels, you have to beef up the axles and other driveline parts to handle the strain.
Where the OP falls down, is in assuming that those larger rims increase the overall diameter of the wheel. There are idiots who run cartoonishly-large wheels on passenger cars, and yes, there will be an increased rate of failure in driveline parts as a result, but the number of people who do that is extremely small. If you run correspondingly-lower profile tires so you maintain the same (or very nearly the same) diameter, then the effect is negligible. At worst, you might be increasing rotating mass very slightly, which could add a little strain.
The real killers are deeply-offset wheels (stick way out past the fenders) which destroy wheelbearings, and the ultra-low profile tires which beat up your suspension.
Nonsense. Overall diameter of the tire and wheel is all that matters and there is very little room under the fender well to put anything much bigger.
I would posit that the tire circumference and width have more to do with accelerating mechanical wear than diameter of the rim.
If you reduce the sidewall height on the tire at the same time, the diameter and circumference of the total assembly remains the same.
In some cases, very low profile tires are used to put visual emphasis on the larger wheel, and the total diameter/circumference is actually smaller. This is the equivalent of raising the final gear ratio.
This is basic geometry.
Of course, the sidewall reduction has side effects (no pun intended):
My registered, professional, mechanical engineer husband says this is true. They also destroy the suspension.
OTH, in order to fit on the car, the OD of the tire must stay roughly constant. This means as the wheels get bigger, the volume of air in the tires gets less. It is this volume of air that helps isolate the car from the road. This means that the wheel will experience more contact directly to the tread from pot holes and bumps. This leads to rim damage, and higher impact forces to suspension parts and into the chassis. This can lead to some of the types of damage you listed.
Let the buyer beware. It has nothing to do with the car when you install parts for which the car was never designed.
Also useful in profiling :)
But they look coool.
You mean those big ol’ ethnic wheels ain’t so cool after all?
Another FYI, Memphis has a number of rim shops that actually rent or rent-to-own rims. If you don’t mind 21% interest, with a little down, in five years your metallic candy green ‘86 Delta 88 can have free and clear 24’s.
He used to have some pithy comments on what happened mechanically with different offsets, diameter changes, added unsprung weight and "wrong" cross-sectional tire profiles. In the 1960's, so many of us kids wanted the "drag race" look on our street cars, and he would just shake his head. His general thought on the matter was that if you wanted better wheels and tires on your car than what the factory put on it, get what they were putting on the closest equivalent police or highway patrol "interceptor."
Mr. niteowl77
It depends more on the outside diameter of the tire. Personally, I’m not a fan of the big rim/low sidewall combo.
It’s not the rim size that matters - it’s the overall TIRE diameter that matters.
Increasing the rim size, but decreasing the tire profile so the total outside diameter of the tire is the same does nothing to the gearing ratio.
Obviously, you can go to a rim with an OD bigger than the original tire - and you’re screwed! But putting a bigger tire on a stock rim does the same thing.
It’s the outside diameter of the tire that matters.
I know that 35” tires with a 3” lift really make a Jeeps ball joints happy..
Miss the days of Cragar S/S or aluminum slots and chromed go-faster valve covers that made one happy...
I have had my own tire changing equipment for decades. These days because of legal issues there are many shops that will only put the exact size tire recommended by the manufacturer on a vehicle. I have been running tires a couple sizes larger or smaller if I pleased on vehicles my entire adult life.
It is very common for people with 4 wheel drive vehicles to use oversized tires without very many negative repercussions. Do you need to use a little common sense? Obviously! But what is going to put a larger strain on your running gear, towing an 8000 lb. trailer up a hill or using tires that are a couple inches larger in diameter? Personally the biggest financial hazard for me is remembering to make the mental adjustment to the speedometer which then reads a few miles per hour slower than you are traveling at freeway speeds. Of course you can get a different gear for your speedometer if that becomes a real problem.
In the same vein I had a practically new set of studded snow tires for a Ford Aerostar that I sold. They were slightly smaller in diameter than the tires that came on the Chevy Astrovan that I replaced it with. And I had to buy a set of hub adapters so I could use the Ford wheels on the Chevy. But again, it did not create any problems and saved several hundred dollars compared to buying a new set of studded snow tires.
So this is just to clarify. I realize that what you are talking about are these guys who put gigantic rims on their vehicles. Personally, I think this is stupid and likely to cause issues. This is especially true on a front wheel drive car or van whose transmissions’ are typically lighter duty than a truck or rear wheel drive van. Plus modern cars typically have less tolerance for additional strain than older cars and trucks. They have taken a lot of the beef out of them to make them lighter.
Interesting!