18"vs 20" wheel ride quality

[RocketFistMooga]

Hello friends. Is there a discernable difference between 18" and 20" wheels in relation to ride quality? I just recently had my dealer update my order to include the 20" six spoke dark alloy wheels and I am starting to wonder if I could be sacrificing ride quality. The truck will rarely see anything other than pavement. Thank you for your help and input!

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[Graygoose2021]

If pavement princess, the 20's will look better IMHO, I think you will be fine. My 2021 STX 20's rides amazing.

 

[tony72cutlass's']

i know it's not what you're asking, but my 17's are like riding on a cloud

 

[RLTW175]

Hello friends. Is there a discernable difference between 18" and 20" wheels in relation to ride quality? I just recently had my dealer update my order to include the 20" six spoke dark alloy wheels and I am starting to wonder if I could be sacrificing ride quality. The truck will rarely see anything other than pavement. Thank you for your help and input!

20" wheels mean a shorter sidewall on the tires, which means a little more firmness in ride than over a taller sidewall. But its unlikely you will notice a difference. I've had 20" wheels on the last 5 trucks/suvs I've owned and they are very comfortable. The only significant difference is if you're doing serious offroading, in which case a taller sidewall will allow you to airdown the tires.

 

[Pedaldude]

Some of the 20" options have a tiny bit more diameter than the 18" tires but you still lose up to 4" of sidewall. That being said, there's still plenty of sidewall and suspension on pavement that most people would not even notice.

Everything else being equal, you are going to notice a more significant difference between tires than the wheel diameter.

I just picked up a second set of OEM 18" wheels identical to the ones that came on my truck. The difference is my truck came with C rated General Grabber tires and the the other set has Michelin Primacy eco tires mounted that are a tiny bit smaller in diameter and nearly 10lbs lighter per tire. I recently mounted the Michelin tires to see if they could get me better MPG.

The ride from the stock Generals is incredibly stiff and you can feel every road imperfection, driving over road sealer joints shakes the whole truck. With the Michelin tires, I knew that there would be a difference in ride quality but I wasn't prepared for it. The Michelin tires, even with the same 45PSI tire pressure that I had in the Generals, make it drive like a completely different truck! I don't feel road sealer joints at all, the truck is quieter and big bumps seem to be reduced by half. I always tell people that the biggest change you can make on your car is changing the tires but this was night and day. The only thing that didn't change is my mileage! I am still getting around the same MPG as the heavier General tires.

Good luck with your new truck!

 

[Polo08816]

I think the real harshness comes into play if someone upsizes from a 20" wheel.

 

[Zengineer]

Some of the 20" options have a tiny bit more diameter than the 18" tires but you still lose up to 4" of sidewall. That being said, there's still plenty of sidewall and suspension on pavement that most people would not even notice.

Everything else being equal, you are going to notice a more significant difference between tires than the wheel diameter.

I just picked up a second set of OEM 18" wheels identical to the ones that came on my truck. The difference is my truck came with C rated General Grabber tires and the the other set has Michelin Primacy eco tires mounted that are a tiny bit smaller in diameter and nearly 10lbs lighter per tire. I recently mounted the Michelin tires to see if they could get me better MPG.

The ride from the stock Generals is incredibly stiff and you can feel every road imperfection, driving over road sealer joints shakes the whole truck. With the Michelin tires, I knew that there would be a difference in ride quality but I wasn't prepared for it. The Michelin tires, even with the same 45PSI tire pressure that I had in the Generals, make it drive like a completely different truck! I don't feel road sealer joints at all, the truck is quieter and big bumps seem to be reduced by half. I always tell people that the biggest change you can make on your car is changing the tires but this was night and day. The only thing that didn't change is my mileage! I am still getting around the same MPG as the heavier General tires.

Good luck with your new truck!

I know this is a very old thread but the comment about 4" makes no sense.

Regardless of wheel diameter, the overall tire diameter is likely the same. A 20" diameter wheel is a 10" radius. An 18" wheel is a 9" radius. A 20" wheel only takes away 1" of tire sidewall....and with tires this big you still have a ton of tire between the road and the wheel. A 20" wheel on these trucks still has over 6" of tire between the wheel and the road and is not an extreme set-up for a vehicle that is primarily a street driven truck. What you may give up in rough road ride comfort you gain in cornering and stability if you tow.

 

[DBL R]

I have stock 20’s. They are very comfortable on the road without being too squishy. They look better than the 18’s. I also overland frequently, and as long as you aren’t planning on doing intense rock crawling the 20’s do just fine off pavement.

 

[Pedaldude]

I know this is a very old thread but the comment about 4" makes no sense.

Probably because I multiplied instead of divided

So with the equipped tires/wheels, going from 18” to 20” wheels, you lose up to an inch of sidewall in contact with the ground.

Though looking at what’s available now, it’s not even the case. Depending on your truck, some of the 20” tire options actually have more sidewall than the 18” tires because they increased the diameter so much between the two.

https://tiresize.com/tires/Ford/F150/2021/XLT-4wd/

https://tiresize.com/tires/Ford/F150/2021/XLT-2wd/

Either way, it’s still mostly down to the individual tires more than a small change in diameter or sidewall height.

 

[Zengineer]

Probably because I multiplied instead of divided

So with the equipped tires/wheels, going from 18” to 20” wheels, you lose up to an inch of sidewall in contact with the ground.

Though looking at what’s available now, it’s not even the case. Depending on your truck, some of the 20” tire options actually have more sidewall than the 18” tires because they increased the diameter so much between the two.

https://tiresize.com/tires/Ford/F150/2021/XLT-4wd/

https://tiresize.com/tires/Ford/F150/2021/XLT-2wd/

Either way, it’s still mostly down to the individual tires more than a small change in diameter or sidewall height.

Agreed. My summer car is by no means extreme with 255/35/19's on the rear which gives you about half the sidewall height as my truck. So it's hard for me to think of 6.5 inches of rubber as low profile...as long as I don't leave them at the 52psi my dealer decided to put (or leave) in 3 of the 4 at delivery. The 3rd was only 42. They should be 35 or so.

 

[Rockman5159]

Hello friends. Is there a discernable difference between 18" and 20" wheels in relation to ride quality? I just recently had my dealer update my order to include the 20" six spoke dark alloy wheels and I am starting to wonder if I could be sacrificing ride quality. The truck will rarely see anything other than pavement. Thank you for your help and input!

My FX4 came with 18"s and I switched to the 20"s. There's not alot of difference in the ride quality.The sidewalls on 18"s are taller so naturally has a little more cushion from the road. Very little difference that Ive noticed

 

[nvabill]

My truck came with 18 inch Michelins and I switched to the OEM 20 inch wheels with Pirelli tires, no difference in the ride quality whatsoever.

 

[3DogKnight]

I have 20's on my current F150 and it rides very smoothly. I don't have anything to compare ride to except the 3/4 ton I traded for the F150. I'm thinking the F150 could have solid steel tires and still ride better than my old 3/4 ton.

 

[guppydriver]

Would it be fair to say that 20's are more susceptible to bumper rash than 18's? Or is this not the case in a truck where a 20 inch wheel and OEM tire still gives you 6.5 inches of sidewall?

We have some pretty tricky drive thrus where I live and I don't want to bugger up my wheels if I get 20's.

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