These Are The Largest Tires Ever Produced

It wasn't too long ago that cars with 15- to 17-inch wheels and tires were considered substantial, sporty, and even luxurious for some brands. Now, the electric Rolls-Royce Spectre Primavera has custom 23-inch wheels, and you'll be rolling on 24-inch rims on board a Cadillac Escalade V. However, even the tires made to fit those wheels are nowhere near the gargantuan proportions of the largest tires ever produced. Airplane tires are even larger, with the Boeing 747-8 featuring tires measuring 52 inches in diameter and 21 inches wide, while the Airbus A380 has tires that measure 55 inches in diameter.

Of course, jumbo jets need jumbo-size tires, but they aren't the biggest to ever grace the tarmac. Some monster trucks have 66-inch BKT tires that are 43 inches wide. Newer variants of BKT Tires for Monster Jam are almost two meters high (about 78.7 inches), 41 inches wide, weigh over 440 pounds each, and are inflated at 23 psi (1.6 bar). The tires are big and heavy enough to crush a car, and they need to be so that Grave Digger, Megalodon, and El Toro Loco can do their thing.

By almost any measure, then, monster truck tires are massive. But in the world of commercial mining loaders and ultra-class load trucks, even monster truck tires are nowhere near big enough for the task at hand. The previous record holder of the world's largest tires was the Bridgestone 59/80R63 V-Steel E-Lug S that the tiremaker released in 2001 for mining applications. It's over 133 feet tall, more than four feet wide, and each purportedly weighs 10,200 lbs. (5.1 tons).

But while the Bridgestone tire weighing 5.1 tons is undoubtedly huge, it still isn't big enough for the LeTourneau L-2350, now referred to as the Komatsu WE2350. It's the largest wheel loader in the world, and it has tires that would put Bridgestone to shame. Or at least it would, were the tires in question not made by Bridgestone-owned brand Firestone, which means Bridgestone has essentially outdone itself. We're talking about the Firestone SRG DT LD 2 70/70-57, which measures 70 inches wide (5.8 feet) and weighs 15,000 lbs. per tire.

And while those Firestones are the biggest in the business, there's a chasing pack of rubber that's almost as enormous. In 2008, from American off-road wheel and tire maker Titan International debuted the Titan 63. A tire for giant earth movers and mining equipment, the Titan measures 14 feet tall and tips the scales at 12,500 lbs. That's 6.25 tons of rubber. Just a couple of years later, Goodyear got in on the act. It launched the RH-4A+ OTR (Off-The-Road) earth mover tire in 2010, specifically the 59/80R63 haulage tire for 63-inch rims. It stands 13.2 feet (158.4 inches) tall and is 4.9 feet wide (58.9 inches). In 2021, it expanded the RH-4A+ lineup with a 40.00R57 tire. It's not as gigantic as the 59/80R63, but it's still pretty huge.

While it's definitely big, we wouldn't classify the gigantic Uniroyal tire in Allen Park, Detroit, as a tire. Despite appearances, it's not even made of rubber. Instead, it's made of steel, fiberglass, and polyester resins, and it began life as a colossal 80-foot Ferris wheel for the 1964 to 1965 New York World's Fair. The structure was designed by the same firm that created the Empire State Building.

After a career wowing visitors, celebrities, and heads of state, 1966 saw it find a new home near the U.S. Rubber office along I-94. It measures 80 feet in height and weighs 24,000 pounds (12 tons), officially making it the biggest tire model (as opposed to the largest tire) built and an iconic landmark in the Motor City. It also happens to be the longest-lasting tire, having managed to ward off tire dry rot for the past 62 years and counting. Although the lack of rubber in its construction may have had something to do with that. As a result, Bridgestone, Titan, and Firestone can officially call themselves makers of the world's largest tires, but the giant Uniroyal beats them all in celebrity status.