35x11.50R17 — matching a metric width but not its height

Nothing in the vehicle records here lists 35x11.50R17. It is the narrow member of the 35-inch group on a 17-inch wheel, and it exists for arches that will take the height but not the full 12.50 in.

Width matched, height not

	35x11.50R17	295/70R17
Section width	11.50 in	11.61 in
Overall diameter	35.00 in	33.26 in
Sidewall	9.00 in	8.13 in
Revolutions per mile	576.2	606.4

Eleven hundredths of an inch of width and 1.74 in of height. From directly in front of the vehicle these two tires present almost identically; on the road one turns thirty times more per mile than the other.

That pairing is a useful corrective to judging a fitment by appearance. Section width is what the eye reads and overall diameter is what every instrument reads, and the two are set independently by different numbers in the code.

The case where both do line up is worth naming too. 295/65R20 measures 35.10 in on 11.61 in — a tenth of an inch taller than this size and eleven hundredths wider — on a wheel three inches larger. Those two are as close to the same tire as any cross-notation pair here, and the difference is almost entirely casing depth: 9.00 in here against 7.55 in there.

The other 35 on this wheel

35x12.50R17 stands the same 35.00 in on 12.50 in of section — 1.00 in wider, and indistinguishable from this size to anything that counts wheel revolutions. Both roll 110.0 in per turn and 576.2 turns per mile. The two are set against each other in a direct comparison.

Choosing between them is a pure width decision with nothing else attached, which is rarer than it sounds: almost every other pair of sizes in this catalogue moves at least two dimensions at once.

Coming up from the 33s and the 34

• 33x10.50R17 — 33.00 in, 2.00 in below, 1.00 in narrower
• 33x12.50R17 — 33.00 in, 2.00 in below, 1.00 in wider
• 34x10.50R17 — 34.00 in, 1.00 in below, 1.00 in narrower
• 315/70R17 — 34.36 in, 0.64 in below, 0.90 in wider

The last row is the closest approach in height and it goes the other way on width, which is the recurring shape of the 17-inch band: nothing gets nearer than about half an inch without also changing stance. This size is also compared with the widest metric alternative in the 305/70R17 pairing.