35x12.50R16 — the top of a wheel nobody upgrades any more
A size at the top of its wheel's range with nothing recorded underneath it.
Flotation (imperial) notation · Flotation (imperial)
- Overall diameter
- 35.00 in
- 889 mm
- Section width
- 12.50 in
- 318 mm
- Sidewall height
- 9.50 in
- 241 mm
- Aspect ratio
- 76.0%
- sidewall as a share of width
- Wheel diameter
- 16 in
- the hole in the middle
- Circumference
- 110.0 in
- 2793 mm
- Revolutions per mile
- 576.2
- geometric, not measured
- Revolutions per km
- 358.1
- geometric, not measured
- Typical load index
- 108–128
- 2205–3968 lb per tire
Flotation sizes are almost always LT construction, so they share the light-truck band. Speed symbols run low because the aggressive tread patterns these sizes are sold in are rated against heat build-up, not against sustained high speed.
The load-index range shown is the band this CLASS of size is typically produced in — not a list of what is in stock for this exact size today. Load index and speed symbol are printed on the sidewall of the specific tire you are holding, and the required minimum is on the placard of the specific vehicle you are fitting. Read both.
Nearest real sizes in metric notation, same wheel
- 285/75R1632.83 in tall-2.17 in
- 235/85R1631.73 in tall-3.27 in
- 265/75R1631.65 in tall-3.35 in
Compare any two sizes, including ones this site has no page for, in the comparison tool.
Not one of the vehicles in this catalogue names 35x12.50R16 as a factory size or an upgrade — the only 35 in the imperial range of which that is true. Every other one appears on at least one option list.
The wheel it sits on stopped being specified
Its 9.50 in of sidewall is the second deepest in the catalogue for a 35 and its 12.50 in of tread is standard for the family, so nothing about the tire explains the absence. The wheel does.
The vehicles that ran 16-inch wheels and wanted 35-inch tires were second-generation mid-size pickups and older full-size trucks, and those platforms had moved to 17s and 18s by the time the aftermarket started fitting tires this size in volume. The 16-inch wheel kept its light-truck range — three imperial codes here — and stopped attracting anything new.
Its two companions on the same wheel
| Size | Diameter | Sidewall | Against 35x12.50R16 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31x10.50R16 | 31.00 in | 7.50 in | −4.00 in (11.43%) |
| 33x12.50R16 | 33.00 in | 8.50 in | −2.00 in (5.71%) |
| 35x12.50R16 | 35.00 in | 9.50 in | — |
The steps are even and the width stops moving after the middle row, which is the same pattern the 15-inch wheel shows one size lower down. What the 16 does not have is anything between 31 in and 33 in, so a truck on this wheel choosing an upgrade is choosing between two-inch jumps.
What the metric range on this wheel tops out at
285/75R16 is the tallest 16-inch metric code catalogued, at 32.83 in. This size is 2.17 in above it and 1.28 in wider, so reaching 35 in on a 16-inch wheel means imperial notation or nothing.
That is not a quirk of this catalogue. To get 35.00 in out of a metric code on a 16-inch wheel a casing would need 9.50 in of sidewall, and at any width the market actually builds, the aspect ratio required sits above where truck tires are produced. The metric versus imperial reference covers where each notation runs out.
Related
Class: Flotation (imperial). Every figure above is computed from the size code, not stored — see how these numbers are calculated.