Does an extra inch make a difference

[jim midd]

So I was bored today so took a ride to my favorite local pick-n-pull. There was an'06 Navi there with (IMO) ugly 18" OEM wheels (ok, they weren't horrible, just really shiny ) with newish tires. My 2003 Expy has 17" stock wheels and decent tires. It's a beach vehicle mainly, so I'm not worried about mileage or performance, but I care about not getting stuck and ground clearance ( which are related when it comes to driving on the beach) I'm wondering if it's worth the money to grab these . I assume it will cost me about $200. Do you think I will see a noticible difference when I air down to about 20psi? is it worth it to be able to get wider tires later?

On a side note, the black leather interior and black trim was GORGEOUS . If my truck was a DD I'd be asking about swapping more than tires

 

[fordexpylvr]

Talk about ugly wheels have you seen the 2018 Exp wheels on the XLT

 

[Prince_Polaris]

Talk about ugly wheels have you seen the 2018 Exp wheels on the XLT

These?

 

[fordexpylvr]

not those. those are awesome!

 

[GAINMOB]

18s vs 17s won't make a difference cuz overall tire height is the same due to lower profile tires

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk

 

[Vancouver Bob]

I did pretty much the same thing... except I was in the market for new tires and came across a new set off of a navigator the shop had from someone wjp upgraded their wheels/tires. They were the chrome clad type wheels, 18 vs my 17. Guy said he'd make me a good deal on them. Got them cheaper than a new set of tires. Like Gain-Mod said, the tire diameter is the same so no diff in mileage and ground clearance will be the same. I ran them in deep sand without airing down with no problem. You probably won't be able to air them down quite as far and/or the affect may be a bit less since you have a little less side wall but 17 to 18 isn't a huge difference. I liked them and ran them for many years... they said Navigator on the hub caps but you could only see that up close .

 

[jim midd]

thanks Bob, these sound like similiar wheels to what you had. I think I'm going to leave my 17's on. I like being able to air down and get a wide footprint when the weather has been dry and sand is extra soft

 

[pdqcarrera]

Jim, I'm sure you're definitely better off with the taller aspect ratio 17" tires for the sand.

Not for a slalom course run though. LOL ;-)

 

[jim midd]

Jim, I'm sure you're definitely better off with the taller aspect ratio 17" tires for the sand.

Not for a slalom course run though. LOL ;-)

I appreciate you confirming what I thought