22" wheels to 20", spare too

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tyun777

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Yup. That's about how much I see them going. I found slightly better prices on discount tire plus$50 coupon but they said wheel is out of stock.


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Mac Attack

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I eneded up purchasing 20x9" Status Mastadon 6 wheels and 275/55/20 Michelin Defender LTX M/S-2 tires. The load rating on the wheels is 2450lbs and the load rating on the tires is around 2540 lbs. The Hankooks are rated at 2600lbs load.

So, the 275 will be smaller width than the 285 Hankooks I currently have, and the overall tire OD is about 0.4" less. I'm OK with that and the slight loss in load rating.

The good thing is that the center bores are identical and no hub rings are required. I hope the rear axles won't require cutting to get the center caps over.

Hopefully it will give my Navigator the smoother ride I'm looking for. There's currently a backup at the CA docks, so it'll probably be 3 weeks before they're mailed to me....
 

Mac Attack

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These just came today from Element Wheels in AZ. Everything's been so delayed lately, but they kept me informed without me prompting for updates. Highly recommend them!

Anyways, I've always liked the style of the 22" Platinum Expedition wheels and wanted something similar but in a 20" wheel size. These were kinda close without spending big $.

Specs are:
20x9, 25mm Status Mastadon 6
275/55/20 Michelin Defender LTX M/S2

I haven't driven on them yet to tell a difference in the ride (I got a break in the rain today to swap them out and didn't want to get my clean car dirty), but I estimate these new ones weigh about 7lbs less overall than the OEMs. Couldn't find a scale to chec. This should help the dampers control rebound a bit more I hope. Hoping that and the extra inch of rubber sidewall cushioning will give me a more comfortable ride.


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Mac Attack

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Took it for a drive today and am very happy. My old OEM Hankook setup only had 6700 miles so the tires were still soft and quiet. The comparison wasn't influenced by just new tires compared to old tires....

With my new setup at 37 psi cold, the ride is much smoother and less jittery. I'll drive it around another week or two, and then put my OEM setup on Ebay.
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hellohithere

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Took it for a drive today and am very happy. My old OEM Hankook setup only had 6700 miles so the tires were still soft and quiet. The comparison wasn't influenced by just new tires compared to old tires....

With my new setup at 37 psi cold, the ride is much smoother and less jittery. I'll drive it around another week or two, and then put my OEM setup on Ebay.
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Do you find the tires to be noticeably softer than factory Hankooks? Does the Expedition bounce less with these Michelins?
 

Mac Attack

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The Hankooks have a higher load rating and that design feature probably plays a big role in how stiff they are compared to these lower load-rated Michelins.

Also, I've found that Michelin, in particular, seems to be softer rubber than others when brand new, but get harder and noisier quicker compared to the Continental, Pirelli, Goodyear, etc I've had in the past for performance or highway tires. In fact, I've had problems in the past with a set of Michelins cracking pretty badly after 5 years (they were at the end of their life).

They're still good tires overall, and the Defenders have good reviews, so we'll see how they do!

So far the ride is noticeably more comfortable with these smaller wheels and Michelin rubber. That's changing two factors at once, so if you're looking for a BIG improvement in comfort, I hesitate to say just swapping from Hankooks to Michelins would do what you want. Just my opinion.
 

kodigray2015

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I just switched from 18” to 20” wheels to stiffen my ride up a little. The 18 were like riding on balloons.4167dfa23a20fac5c3abc42509573c7e.jpg


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spanz

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The diameter of your needs to match the diameter of your tire/wheel combo your putting on.
If you get a flat and you out the spare on and it doesn’t match the others , the AWD will think it’s slipping and could really cause problems.
I did it with an Explorer and a mile down the road it locked up. Had to get it towed. Thankfully I did damage anything

no kidding! at the least, the antilock brakes will flip out on turns.
at worst, you will be grinding gears!
i would make sure the spare is indeed the same size as the four other tires on the car. you might get away with a cheap steel wheel....
 

lobsenza

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The wheel plus tire have to be the same diameter. The diameter of the wheel does not matter as long as the tire height adjusts accordingly.
 
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