18's or 20's

[General_Patton]

I have 2014 f150 screw 6.5 foot bed 6.2L max tow, off road package 3.73 gears. I am thinking 4-6" lift and 35" tires would 18" rims or 20" rims be better for towing and or hauling will be pulling 8000-9000 lb TT. Won't be towing far 30 minutes to local parks occasionally a 3-4 hour run but few and far between. Thanks for the input

[MM49]

General Patton wrote:
I have 2014 f150 screw 6.5 foot bed 6.2L max tow, off road package 3.73 gears. I am thinking 4-6" lift and 35" tires would 18" rims or 20" rims be better for towing and or hauling will be pulling 8000-9000 lb TT. Won't be towing far 30 minutes to local parks occasionally a 3-4 hour run but few and far between. Thanks for the input

I have 20"s on a 2014 RAM 2500. I consider it to be one of the best towing trucks on the market. The tires are Firestone Transforce 285/60 R20 E Load range 3640.
MM49

[MackinawMan]

kaydeejay wrote:

MackinawMan wrote:
No advice to offer on the rims, but I will say that if you buy another TT and load it to 9500 lbs. I find it hard to believe that the 1/2 ton truck will be able to handle it suspension-wise.

My guess is you're going to be a good deal over the GVWR of your truck.

I want to see this 9000# TT with a 650# tongue weight!!
I suspect it will be close to double that and that will use up most of the payload of MOST F150s.

Good catch on the tongue weight, I hadn't even thought of that. Our Jayco Eagle weighs in at almost 9000 lbs. when fully loaded for a trip and the tongue weight with that according to our Sherline scale is 1250 lbs. That's 14% of our overall TT weight.

[MitchF150]

Your original Q was about going with 18 or 20 inch wheels with a 35" tall tire.. As has been said, 35" is 35".. They make 35" tall tires for 16" wheels too.. 😉

How much sidewall you have seems to make the biggest difference that I've found towing with my stock 20" wheels.. Compared to the same height 16" wheels I had on my old truck, I like the P rated 20" tires better than the E rated 16's... 😉

As to the effective gear ratio change by going to taller tires, that is true and you will have to re calibrate your speedo/odo if you want accurate readings... Your trans shift patterns will also change and you will be like driving with a 3.42 gear ratio with stock height tires, so if you've been running taller tires than stock for over 20 years, you should already know this???

Anyway, it sounds like you know what you want, so go for it... 🙂

Mitch

[kaydeejay]

General Patton wrote:
Truck is rated for 11100 current TT is 8300 lbs loaded and wet so I see no problem. Of the new TT's we are looking at 9000-9500 wet and loaded is the heaviest we will get. And further more we are talking less than 1000 miles a year towing camper. So there again don't see the issue. Have all of you who are so against a mildly lifted truck towing,have you ever had one and or towed with it?? Because I have! Just because you have the tool in the shed doesn't mean you know how to use it

Again, while it may be able to PULL 11,100# have you checked to see what that would mean in terms of tongue weight?
Sorry, but I'm not buying your 650# estimate. If that was true all the anti-sway in the world won't help you, and with the higher CG of a lifted truck I'm afraid you are a good candidate for on your side in the median!
Sorry you're not getting the answers you were looking for but you ARE getting the truth!

[kaydeejay]

MackinawMan wrote:
No advice to offer on the rims, but I will say that if you buy another TT and load it to 9500 lbs. I find it hard to believe that the 1/2 ton truck will be able to handle it suspension-wise.

My guess is you're going to be a good deal over the GVWR of your truck.

I want to see this 9000# TT with a 650# tongue weight!!
I suspect it will be close to double that and that will use up most of the payload of MOST F150s.

[Golden_HVAC]

Hi,

I was recently looking up a tow package weight rating for a 2008 F-150 truck.

The weight rating was reduced for several reasons, including the 18" or 20" rims. Looking at the 2014 the tow guide did not mention de-rating due to rim diameter. Prior years did de-rate the Raptor package, so you probably need to carefully read the towing guide for the current information.

this is from the 2008 towing guide.

"Quote

(1) Reduce GCWR and Maximum Trailer Weight by 500 lbs. on models with 18" or 20" wheels. (2) Optional Ford Harley-Davidson™ Package and Lariat Limited.
(3) Requires Heavy Duty Payload Package. (4) Available with XLT Trim and LT245/75R17E A/T BSW tires only. (5) Available with XL Trim and LT245/70R17E A/T BSW tires only.

End Quote"

You can look up all the Ford towing guides here.

http://www.fleet.ford.com/towing-guides/

The interesting part is you can now look up the new 2015 trucks and replacement full size Transit van. Full details of the 2015 towing will not be published until September 2014 though.

Fred.

[MackinawMan]

Double post, sorry

[MackinawMan]

No advice to offer on the rims, but I will say that if you buy another TT and load it to 9500 lbs. I find it hard to believe that the 1/2 ton truck will be able to handle it suspension-wise.

My guess is you're going to be a good deal over the GVWR of your truck.

[mudfuel07]

Double post.

[mudfuel07]

Put the lift on and get a quality drop hitch. The lift will make your truck handle differently, but you'll get used to it. I've towed with a 8" lift and 37's on a Tundra. Every vehicle I have owned so far has been lifted and I've towed thousands of miles without an issue. Sway bar will be mandatory and using common sense. One major downfall, the fuel mileage will suck! As to your original question, I like the looks of the 20's, but the 18's will probably give you a better ride. Also look at a Rough Country lift, I love their lifts.

[gmcsmoke]

You would think he's trying to tow with Bigfoot. The f-150 comes optional with a 20" wheel on a 32" tire so you're telling me adding a inch and a half will cause his truck to blow over and lower his tow rating a ton. :r:

[catfishmontana]

I would see what the load ratings are for the tires you like in 18's and 20's. I think I would lean towards the 20 myself for a less squishy sidewall. I've towed a lot with lifted trucks in the past, and although it wasn't always as comfy as stock, I never felt on the verge of wrecking. LOL another thing to consider however, is that those really long drop shank hitches can add a lot of stress to your receiver hitch.

[Terryallan]

General Patton wrote:
Show me the math that a 35" tire will reduce the max tow to 9000. Anyone can pull numbers out of the air to defend their argument against a lifted truck towing a camper a few hundred miles to the absolute max of a 1000 miles in a year I've done it for 16 years. How many lifted trucks have you towed with? My guess is 0 so your experience after all of my calculations brings me right back to oh yeah ZERO

Thing is, all you have is a guess. Look it up. When you change the size of the tires. You change the rear gear ratio. The 3.73 rear you love so much is calculated with factory stock size tires. Change that, and you change the ratio.

Case in point. My truck with stock tires can tow 8000lb per the owner's manual. With one size smaller / shorter tires, it can tow 8500lbs per the owner's manual. Go taller, and the opposite is true. It will tow less. The law of physics over rides your wants.

Just because you don't like the correct answers, does not mean they are wrong. Don't really know why you ask. You already made up your mind. So go do it. But you will be over loaded. Like as not.

And it really does not matter how far, or how many times. It only takes once, and one mile to mess up everything.

BTW. I don't need the math. I have the Ford towing guide, and it tells the tow capacity of every rear gear Ford puts in. I just know how to read.

[jus2shy]

Well General, to answer your original query, it isn't the rim size that matters. What matters in the end is the tire you want to mount. Looks like you're going for 35" tires. If you're looking at overall price, go with 18" tires, they're generally cheaper. 20" rims are a bit costlier to outfit, but have that bling factor if you like it. Here's a good link to compare comparable sizes and you can check out the capacities for tires around 35" Tire Size Comparison Chart