Going down in rim size, improve off-road ride?

[Dan G]

I'm spending more and more time off-road with my Expedition. A lot of fire roads/dirt roads with washboard. I currently have 20" rims and was thinking about going to 18" rims with the hope it'll help with off-road ride.

Love to hear people's experience/thoughts?

 

[16plati]

Typically, smaller wheel size will definitely have off-road benefits. 20”+ for pavement. 18”- for offroad

 

[mjp2]

Yep, there's a reason why Raptors come with 17" rims from the factory. More sidewall is a good thing off-road. Gives you plenty of rubber for a huge contact patch when airing down the tires.

I really like the 18s that came on my Expedition. It seems to be the perfect balance between on-road stability and off-road performance and grip.

 

[Aces]

I run 17’s and love the extra tire, especially if I air down some. It’s a much smoother ride m.

 

[lvcjt702]

You'll find a better selection of tires at a cheaper price if you go to 17" rims as well.

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[Black]

You'll find a better selection of tires at a cheaper price if you go to 17" rims as well.

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Not much of a price difference between 17s and 18s until you get above a 35” tire. I was wanting 17s but opted for 18s as price difference was minimal and I could run my stock 18” wheels leaving me cash for other projects.

As for the original question without a doubt you will much prefer 18s to 20s off-road.
18s-17s won’t tell much difference.

You mention fireroads so I am presuming you aren’t rock crawling this thing so 25lbs is likely the lowest pressure you’ll go really so 18s will be plenty of sidewall.
But really can’t go wrong with either.

 

[Dan G]

Great, thanks for everyone's replies. You confirmed my thinking, especially 17's vs 18's. There are some sweet deals for 18's on craigslist right now

 

[Vancouver Bob]

Have you tried airing down your 20's? Makes a big difference.

 

[Traveler]

Was reading in one of the 4-wheeler magazines on this subject earlier (I offroad my Explorer quite a bit). The general rule of thumb they suggest is double tire size to wheel size (at least). IE, 15" wheels/30" or bigger tires, 16" wheels/32" or bigger and so on. Of course they are talking extreme off road. But the point is more sidewall for more "give", softer ride, bigger footprint.

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[Dan G]

Have you tried airing down your 20's? Makes a big difference.

Yeah I've been experimenting on this section of road just outside town. I aired down to 25 PSI last weekend but was underwhelmed in the change. In my old Pathfinder airing down had a much better affect but also much more sidewall with that setup.

There is a smoking deal on Craigslist for 18" rims and tires so I think I'm going to buy a set and then retest. Will update the thread on my subjective testing

 

[mjp2]

Was reading in one of the 4-wheeler magazines on this subject earlier (I offroad my Explorer quite a bit). The general rule of thumb they suggest is double tire size to wheel size (at least). IE, 15" wheels/30" or bigger tires, 16" wheels/32" or bigger and so on. Of course they are talking extreme off road. But the point is more sidewall for more "give", softer ride, bigger footprint.

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I'd be down for some 36" tires

 

[schmaltz]

I'm spending more and more time off-road with my Expedition. A lot of fire roads/dirt roads with washboard. I currently have 20" rims and was thinking about going to 18" rims with the hope it'll help with off-road ride.

Love to hear people's experience/thoughts?

I foolishly upgraded to 20 inch rims when I was city living... now I need to go back. Ugh.

 

[Traveler]

I'm considering "downsizing" from 18" to 17" (when these 18" tires need replacing) just so I can buy a spare to match the other 4 tires. I just dont like the idea of my spare being bigger or smaller than the other tires.

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[Black]

I'm considering "downsizing" from 18" to 17" (when these 18" tires need replacing) just so I can buy a spare to match the other 4 tires. I just dont like the idea of my spare being bigger or smaller than the other tires.

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As long as the overall diameter is close it will not make a difference for short spare distance use.
Just put the spare on the front and don’t run 4x4 and auto.
I went 18s and will go with a matching spare here shortly so I can have the tires the exact same.
Since I off-road if I lose a tire on the trails it can be tough to swap to tires to get the spare to the front and may still need 4x4 to at least get back to pavement.