18" vs 20" tires for towing on truck

I just put Michelin Defender LTX M&S e rated tires on my ford in 265/60/20
Max load rating 3195 at 80psi. Got em at Fountain Tire.Gonna run em at 65 loaded and 45 empty on the recommendation of both Fountain and Michelin customer service

I went from a 20 to an 18 with taller sidewalls. Much happier when towing... My 20's were 55 aspect ratio, so they rode hard, and didn't protect the rims on dirt roads at all...

jus2shy wrote:

ktmrfs wrote:


I'd readily pay the extra $100 for the improved handling with the 20". That's peanuts in the big picture of camping expenses.

Now, the BIG drawback IMHO with 18" and 20" is the VERY limited availability of studddless winter tires. I could find no true studdless LRE winter tires in 18" or 20" and NO studable 20" in my size. Some 18" studdables, and Lots of studdless or studable winter tires in 17".

Normally I get an extra set of wheels with winter tires on them. for my 2015, I'm looking for some 17" wheels so I can get studdless winter tires.

KTMRFS, have you looked at the BF Goodrich T/A KO2 or the Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs or All-Terrain Adventures? All 3 of these tires are branded with the "Mountain Snowflake" symbol, meeting the traction requirements of a winter tire. They are not the typical M+S rating which is pure garbage and just about all modern all-season tires meet that rating. I'm personally looking at getting some KO2's in the spring when my current transfroces are worn-out. I just want a single tire that I don't have to worry about chaining up for in the winter. There's also another the Kumho Venture AT51 and the General Grabber AT 2 that is branded with the mountain snowflake symbol,

thanks for the suggestions. I did a website look and goodrich doesn't make any LRE tires in 265/60-20 according to the website, and goodyear only lists two 265/60-20 tires, neither of which is a winter tire. One is the OEM tire on the truck. Kumhu doesn't list a 265/60-20 tire. Couldn't find any suitable ones on the general site either. 20" LRE in my size are pretty scarce!!

I suspect by next year there will be a bigger selection. Michelin has announced a tire in this size, hopefully by next year either michelin will have a studdless, or bridgestone will have a blizzak that will fit.

ktmrfs wrote:


I'd readily pay the extra $100 for the improved handling with the 20". That's peanuts in the big picture of camping expenses.

Now, the BIG drawback IMHO with 18" and 20" is the VERY limited availability of studddless winter tires. I could find no true studdless LRE winter tires in 18" or 20" and NO studable 20" in my size. Some 18" studdables, and Lots of studdless or studable winter tires in 17".

Normally I get an extra set of wheels with winter tires on them. for my 2015, I'm looking for some 17" wheels so I can get studdless winter tires.

KTMRFS, have you looked at the BF Goodrich T/A KO2 or the Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs or All-Terrain Adventures? All 3 of these tires are branded with the "Mountain Snowflake" symbol, meeting the traction requirements of a winter tire. They are not the typical M+S rating which is pure garbage and just about all modern all-season tires meet that rating. I'm personally looking at getting some KO2's in the spring when my current transfroces are worn-out. I just want a single tire that I don't have to worry about chaining up for in the winter. There's also another the Kumho Venture AT51 and the General Grabber AT 2 that is branded with the mountain snowflake symbol,

ktmrfs wrote:

Golden_HVAC wrote:
The 18" rims should be able to support a heavy duty tire, while the 20" 'Bling' rims are not real truck tires, and nobody makes a LT Light Truck tire for them.



Good luck,

Fred.

Pure BS!!!! I have 20" on my 2500 duramax. the 20" tires have a HIGHER load rating than the 18".

While the new '15 HD's may be different, for the HD's up to '14, the 18" tires actually had about 300lbs higher payload than the 20". Not that 300lbs is a huge difference... This was the reason the 20's were not available on the 3500HD SRW.

I have considered switching to the 18's for the tire selection, BUT.... the 20" tire options ARE getting better!!! Part of the issue is the GMT 900 is not the best for allowing slightly bigger tires without a lift.

goducks10 wrote:

SprinklerMan wrote:
See how much replacements cost .

At Tirerack.com
Firestone TransForce AT
275/70/18 3640lbs 33.2 dia $213.41
285/60/20 3640lbs 33.4 dia $237.28
$23.87x4=$95.48

I'd readily pay the extra $100 for the improved handling with the 20". That's peanuts in the big picture of camping expenses.

Now, the BIG drawback IMHO with 18" and 20" is the VERY limited availability of studddless winter tires. I could find no true studdless LRE winter tires in 18" or 20" and NO studable 20" in my size. Some 18" studdables, and Lots of studdless or studable winter tires in 17".

Normally I get an extra set of wheels with winter tires on them. for my 2015, I'm looking for some 17" wheels so I can get studdless winter tires.

It's all smoke and mirrors.

I did a lot of towing at one time with 15 inch on a 1/2 ton, or on a 3/4 ton 16 inch or 16.5 inch wheels. The bigger wheels are mostly just for styling.

But, that being said, you can get a bigger brake disk under a bigger wheel. That makes for more stopping power. I certainly would not want a 3/4 ton pickup pulling a heavy load with a 15 inch wheel.

Just another way to make things more difficult so you can't interchange wheels anymore. There was a time when you could take a wheel from any pickup manufacture and put in on any other pickup manufactures truck. Those days are, sadly, past.

SprinklerMan wrote:
See how much replacements cost .

At Tirerack.com
Firestone TransForce AT
275/70/18 3640lbs 33.2 dia $213.41
285/60/20 3640lbs 33.4 dia $237.28
$23.87x4=$95.48

Golden_HVAC wrote:
The 18" rims should be able to support a heavy duty tire, while the 20" 'Bling' rims are not real truck tires, and nobody makes a LT Light Truck tire for them.



Good luck,

Fred.

Pure BS!!!! I have 20" on my 2500 duramax. the 20" tires have a HIGHER load rating than the 18" . And while there aren't a great deal of mfg there are PLENTY of mfg with a 20" LRE tire with 3,000+ lb load rating.

As for my experience, the 20" give better handling than the previous truck with 16". less sidewall flex and more responsive and so far towing, I'd say they are equal to small rims.

My 2012 2500HD started with 18" and I needed some bling..my American racing wheels 20x9 are rated at 3600 lbs ea. and my Toyo Open country 295/60/20 AT are E rated and tows are 30' Outback bumper pull without any issues. Sometimes with a Harley in the bed. I have used my sons 2014 HD twice and he has factory tire setup currently and can tell little to no difference in ride or towing ability.