Lifts and tires are the most common upgrade people ask me about, and the place where people most often buy the wrong thing. Here is how it actually works.
Reading a tire size
There are two ways golf cart tires get written and they mean different things.
Standard, like 20x10-10. First number is the overall height in inches. Second is the width. Third is the wheel diameter. So 20x10-10 is a 20 inch tall tire, 10 inches wide, on a 10 inch wheel. Easy.
Low profile, like 215/35-12. This is the automotive style. First number is the section width in millimeters. Second is the aspect ratio, meaning the sidewall height as a percentage of that width. Third is the wheel diameter in inches.
To get the overall height on a low profile tire you have to do the math: sidewall height is 215 times 0.35, which is about 75mm, or roughly 3 inches. Two sidewalls plus a 12 inch wheel gives you about 17.9 inches overall.
That is the part that catches people. A 215/35-12 sounds bigger than an 18x8.50-8 because the numbers are bigger, but it is actually slightly shorter.
I put a calculator on the site that does this for you.
What lift you need
Stock carts run an 18 inch tire on an 8 inch wheel and there is not much room around it. The general fitment guide:
- No lift: up to about a 20 inch tire, and that is the ceiling
- 3 inch lift: 20 to 20.5 inches
- 4 inch lift: 22 inches
- 6 inch lift: 23 inches
- 8 inch lift or more: 24 inches and up
These are starting points, not guarantees. Wheel offset, tire width, the brand of the body and whether you have a rear flip seat all move the real number. A tire that fits one 4 inch lifted cart can rub on another.
What a bigger tire actually does
A golf cart has fixed gearing. That means tire diameter directly changes your road speed.
Go from an 18 inch tire to a 23 inch tire and you have increased rolling diameter by about 28 percent. Your top speed goes up by roughly the same amount, and your torque at the wheel goes down by the same amount.
That sounds like free speed. It is not. You have effectively regeared the cart taller, so it will be slower off the line, work harder on hills, and put more strain on the motor and controller. On an electric cart, a big tire jump is when people start needing to talk about motors and controllers rather than just tires.
If your cart has a speedometer, it will now read low, because it was calibrated for the stock tire.
What I would actually recommend
For most people around the valley, a 4 inch lift on a 22 inch all terrain tire is the sweet spot. It clears gravel driveways and pasture, it looks right, and it does not change the driving character enough to cause problems.
Six inches and up starts to be a real build. Higher center of gravity, more strain on the drivetrain, more things that need addressing to do it properly.
Before you order
Use the calculator on the site to check your combination, then call me before you buy. Returning a set of wheels and tires that do not fit is a bad afternoon.
406.270.9346.