Will a larger wheel get me better gas mileage?
 

I am guessing yes.
The tire I am comparing is a 265/70/17 vs 265/75/16

a thick rubber tire has more weight to it than a wheel.
If I increase the wheel circumference from a 16" to a 17" and decrease the tire diameter but still
have near the same overall tire circumference then there is less mass
that needs to be moved so I should get better gas mileage...

right?

Does anybody have 17" wheels on a 89-98 Silverado?
notice any mpg impovements?
can you post a pic so I can see how it looks?

I am overdue for 4 new tires so I am concidering getting new 17" wheels
If my theory is correct.

I see it as a minimum gain...you're not cuttin out a whole lot of tire there...but it also depends on what tires you get..tread aggressiveness and the ply of the tire affect it. bigger ply tire means heavier

A larger wheel will gain you gas mileage only if you drive it in a very specific way. That would essentially mean a constant speed on a flat road at around 50 mph. Since you can't do that you will possibly get worse mileage because in essence you are just gearing your pickup higher. This could mean you will use more gas accelerating to speed evertime you stop, go up a hill or speed up.
Now if you bought a lower geared truck you will be changing it to a higher gear ratio and it will lose power for towing. Anyway, it's all so complicated and physics are involved.

i went from a 265/75 to a 285/75 m/t and i lost MPG. i dont' know about the rim size, but it sounds like it makes good sense. but he is right....if you go with a aggressive tread, kiss about 2 mpg goodbye. but you get a SWEET sound! lol good shoppin to ya man

me personally, not to promote here, but the toyo open country m/t are a ba tire. but you're going to pay a little bit of money for them.

As Country stated, I think your gain would be veerrryyy minimum, if any. It's a pretty big v8 and quite powerful, so I think the few pounds you might shave off would not make much of a difference to her.

So maybe good in theory, but not practice.
sounds good. thanks

Well it depends. If you are one of the "hyper-milers" that try to do every single thing possible to get the max fuel efficiency, then it would be a good investment I think. Besides, wheels can make your ride look nice, if they're not too flashy (17"s good... 26"s... not so much).
Even if you are not a hyper-miler, I assume you're going to driving your truck a looong time, and so just think of it as a long-term investment that will eventually pay for itself, same as your CAI, shift kit, and exhaust system.

I feel like a wheel/tire shop might judge you for asking to weigh the combination you're looking at, but I think it would probably be good to keep in mind the materials used to make the wheel... if it's real chrome you're getting or something like that versus the stock wheels I see in your pic, I'm pretty sure it would end up weighing more than the current setup.

Hello Mille Racer 69!
Well, for fuel economy you have to consider the frontal area of your vehicle. So, the wider the tire means the worst economy. From 16" to 17" inches you won't have that difference if the thread is the same.
Anyway, consider the thread for your problem and you'll be fine.
I would suggest other things you could do to have a better fuel economy, like spoilers, a taller air dam (making it closer to the floor), etc.
Hope that helps.
Ed.

A larger wheel is unsprung weight and so will not increase MPGs . The newer ultra high mileage cars use ultra hard compound tires and higher psi thus reducing rolling resistance.They also use small diameter wheels and tires
Most hybrid vehicles are equipped with low-rolling resistance tires.<SUP style="WHITE-SPACE: nowrap" class=Template-Fact title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from June 2007">[citation needed]</SUP>
Auto manufacturers in the United States typically equip new vehicles with tires that have lower rolling resistance than their average after-market replacements, in order to meet Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards.<SUP id=cite_ref-8 class=reference>[9]</SUP>

It will not save you any gas mileage. Just assume it would save you 1mpg, which it will not. How long would it take to pay for the wheels on the fuel savings?