20 inch wheels pros and cons?

[Roam_CO85]

View attachment 68989So on my half ton Ram it came with factory 20in wheels. I know there are a pile of cons to them on an off road rig. But does anyone air them down? I havent. I am going to 17 inch wheels after the first of the year. That short side wall isnt very fun

 

[SubeeBen]

Just my 2 cents like you said airing down with shallow sidewalls is a gamble. Not to mention 20” tires to fit are expensive as heck. My thoughts on 17” is a good thought

 

[HEYElliott]

On road feel is nice with 20" because theyll feel more firm; however the 17" wheel profile will be more forgiving off road and like Ben mentioned above the 17" options will be much cheaper and likely have more options for tires.

 

[Roam_CO85]

Just my 2 cents like you said airing down with shallow sidewalls is a gamble. Not to mention 20” tires to fit are expensive as heck. My thoughts on 17” is a good thought

Yeah ive seen some reviews where people say dont air the down. Popping a bead or damaging side wall and seen some say they so it all the time.. from my experience with off roading the side wall on the 20s suck. My 08 hemi I had before this one. I swapped the 20s for 17s and was a good switch. And yes the 17 inch tires are WAY cheaper. I know alot of jeeps and even the ram rebel have the 18in wheels. The 17s ive always had good luck with

On road feel is nice with 20" because theyll feel more firm; however the 17" wheel profile will be more forgiving off road and like Ben mentioned above the 17" options will be much cheaper and likely have more options for tires.

Yeah there isnt much for a good tire in a 20 inch.

 

[BWSracing]

I run 20” wheels on my 3500 ram, but that is with a 37” tire so I still have quite a bit of side wall. I also have no issues airing down, I only go down to 20psi because it’s nearly 12,000lb truck loaded.View attachment 69165

 

[Roam_CO85]

Yeah thats a pretty stout tire! Mine just has the 285 60s. Thought about doing the 295s but didnt want rub issues but that was before the lift. Glad I run a ram instead of chevy

 

[Renegade]

Yeah there isnt much for a good tire in a 20 inch.

WUT?

Almost every good/popular tire is available in a 20 inch version, BFG, Cooper, Goodyear, Toyo, etc.

 

[Coolhand]

I run a 295/65r20 Toyo AT2 extreme with leveling links on stock rims. Good compromise for a 20" rim. Expensive though.

 

[Roam_CO85]

WUT?

Almost every good/popular tire is available in a 20 inch version, BFG, Cooper, Goodyear, Toyo, etc.[/QUOTE

Yes you can get into any tire for a 20 wheel. But you have to be picky about size. 35. 11.5 20. Is hard to come by unless you go with nittos. I dont like the wide 12.5 tires. But if you get into weird tire sizes twentys arent the way togo

 

[Roam_CO85]

I run a 295/65r20 Toyo AT2 extreme with leveling links on stock rims. Good compromise for a 20" rim. Expensive though.

Thats a 36 inch tire right?

 

[Renegade]

Just my 2 cents like you said airing down with shallow sidewalls is a gamble.

That is an aspect ratio issue, not a wheel size issue. Running a 20 inch wheel with a 45% aspect ratio is just as silly as running a 15 inch wheel with a 45% aspect ratio wrt to off-roading.

 

[Coolhand]

35.4 or so

 

[Renegade]

But if you get into weird tire sizes twentys arent the way togo

Ok, that I agree with. Popular sizes are there, but the lesser sizes are not.

 

[Roam_CO85]

35.4 or so

Thats the size i am thinking about running on my ram if I keep the twentys. that is leveled up with 5100 bilstiens and a one inch spacer in the back. Brings the front up 2.8 inches ans the back up one. At the time the 285s were just fitting with stock coil overs

 

[chithead]

Interesting read. Our Grand Cherokee Overland has the 20" wheels, and surprisingly, tires for it are cheaper than for an 18" wheel. One of the tire shop guys said though, it all comes down to popularity/availability. The size I am looking it is larger than factory, but still a size that comes stock on a lot of pickup trucks (275/55R20) which explains the lower price.

 

[Roam_CO85]

Interesting read. Our Grand Cherokee Overland has the 20" wheels, and surprisingly, tires for it are cheaper than for an 18" wheel. One of the tire shop guys said though, it all comes down to popularity/availability. The size I am looking it is larger than factory, but still a size that comes stock on a lot of pickup trucks (275/55R20) which explains the lower price.

Do you have todo any suspension tweeks to get the bigger tire on GC? Saw a Cherokee the other day that looked pretty sweet.

 

[chithead]

No tweaks at all. The stock tire size is 265/50R20, but a lot of guys are swapping to 275/55R20 because they fit perfect. Anything wider or taller, nope. Not with the air suspension on the Overland. And having the Hemi plus tow package means HD brakes, which rules out fitting a 17" wheel. Would have loved to grab a set of used Wrangler Rubicon wheels and the stock 32" BFG mud terrains that come on them, but they won't clear the brake calipers!

 

[Roam_CO85]

No tweaks at all. The stock tire size is 265/50R20, but a lot of guys are swapping to 275/55R20 because they fit perfect. Anything wider or taller, nope. Not with the air suspension on the Overland. And having the Hemi plus tow package means HD brakes, which rules out fitting a 17" wheel. Would have loved to grab a set of used Wrangler Rubicon wheels and the stock 32" BFG mud terrains that come on them, but they won't clear the brake calipers!

Bet that sucker will scream down the road!

 

[Lindenwood]

I am going with 17s mounted in 37s for my F250. This is mostly for ride comfort across the board, but also for better aired-down traction.

However, 20s with a 34" tire is still the same amount of sidewall as the 17s and 31s that are used on plenty of very-capable offroad vehicles.

To be fair, wheel width plays a large role in how readily the tires can resist losing the bead or allowing the wheel to scrape. 20x10s are going to have a lot more risk than a 20x8, which is going to have the same risk as a 17x8 if the sidewall height is the same.

 

[Horse Soldier]

When you change your wheel size take a look at the load rating. The only thing I know is the smaller the sidewall the higher the price. I went from 15" wheel to 16" wheels because of the load rating.