20" Tires for Towing???

[DHerod]

I talked to a salesman last Friday and he said he didn't recommend 20" tires for towing because their sidewall had too much height. But, if I go to the Ford website and try to custom build an F150, every interior color I select aside from black forces me to convert from 18" to 20". Any thoughts? I tow a 6,000 empty weight 29' travel trailer and am focusing on the 3.5 EB with Max Tow Package. My current vehicle is an '04 GMC Yukon with 17" tires and it tows great, although I am clearly very near the top end of it's 8,000 max towing capacity. Thanks in advance for any input.

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[Ford4Ever]

I talked to a salesman last Friday and he said he didn't recommend 20" tires for towing because their sidewall had too much height. But, if I go to the Ford website and try to custom build an F150, every interior color I select aside from black forces me to convert from 18" to 20". Any thoughts? I tow a 6,000 empty weight 29' travel trailer and am focusing on the 3.5 EB with Max Tow Package. My current vehicle is an '04 GMC Yukon with 17" tires and it tows great, although I am clearly very near the top end of it's 8,000 max towing capacity. Thanks in advance for any input.

Not much to go on here, but 18s have more sidewall than 20s.

 

[DHerod]

Not much to go on here, but 18s have more sidewall than 20s.

Thank you! That's exactly what the salesman said and it makes sense to me. I appreciate it.

 

[Sundancer330]

Sounds like another salesman that doesn't know what he is talking about. If the load rating on the tire is good for the trailer weight you are good. I pull several different trailers and have had 20 inch wheels on the past F150s and had no problems

 

[jeffcrum]

Thank you! That's exactly what the salesman said and it makes sense to me. I appreciate it.

No. This sounds the opposite of what was originally posted.

What did I miss?

 

[DHerod]

No. This sounds the opposite of what was originally posted.

What did I miss?

There have been two different opinions posted today. One said 18's have thicker sidewalls. The other said he's towed with 20's with no problems

 

[jeffcrum]

There have been two different opinions posted today. One said 18's have thicker sidewalls. The other said he's towed with 20's with no problems

18s do have higher sidewalls
20s do tow just fine

I agree with both.

 

[diesel97]

There have been two different opinions posted today. One said 18's have thicker sidewalls. The other said he's towed with 20's with no problems

18' have TALLER sidewalls not thicker.

 

[DHerod]

18' have TALLER sidewalls not thicker.

@diesel97 It sounds like you know a lot more about tires than I do (which is basically nothing haha). I thought the sidewall was from the tread to the tire bead. If 20" tires have a 2" greater radius than 18's, wouldn't the 20's have a taller sidewall? Thanks in advance for clearing this up for me.

 

[Ford4Ever]

18' have TALLER sidewalls not thicker.

That is what I was saying. From wheel to tread, OEM 18 inch has more sidewall than 20. Never said anything about wall thickness. Load rating goes with the type of tier you use and the load index.

 

[diesel97]

@diesel97 It sounds like you know a lot more about tires than I do (which is basically nothing haha). I thought the sidewall was from the tread to the tire bead. If 20" tires have a 2" greater radius than 18's, wouldn't the 20's have a taller sidewall? Thanks in advance for clearing this up for me.

tires can be the same height with an 18" rim or 20" rim, so 20" can have 2" fewer sidewall. Tires come in many sizes so my statement is just general for easy numbers.

 

[Stubblejumper]

@diesel97 It sounds like you know a lot more about tires than I do (which is basically nothing haha). I thought the sidewall was from the tread to the tire bead. If 20" tires have a 2" greater radius than 18's, wouldn't the 20's have a taller sidewall? Thanks in advance for clearing this up for me.

The 20" tires are 33" in diameter, while the 18" tires are 32" in diameter. So the 20" tires have 6-1/2" of sidewall, while the 18" tires have 7" of sidewall. The sidewall is half of the difference between the tire diameter and the rim diameter.

 

[DHerod]

The 20" tires are 33" in diameter, while the 18" tires are 32" in diameter. So the 20" tires have 6-1/2" of sidewall, while the 18" tires have 7" of sidewall. The sidewall is half of the difference between the tire diameter and the rim diameter.

@Stubblejumper Wow. Thank you very much for that clarification.

 

[BLoflin]

So the 18" and the 20" refer to the wheel diameter (wheel is the metal part, some call them rims).

You could put a really "tall" tire on an 18" and a really short one on the 20" (and vice versa).

In general there is a certain total diameter of the wheel plus tire (tire is the rubber part). And that size has to fit into the truck's wheel well without touching (rubbing) especially on front tires that turn with steering.

Some people like bigger wheels (rims) and like that massive metal look. They would get a bigger wheel (rim) like a 20" or 22", but with a shorter tire.

Other people like the big beefy look of lots of tire (rubber) especially on a lifted truck. They would tend to get a smaller wheel (rim) and put a tall (lots of rubber) tire on it.

 

[cghall77]

MaxTow package forces the 20" wheels.

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