Pro wheels on a Platinum

[bigjusee]

I know that due to weight of the Lightning, you have to be careful what wheels you put on the truck. I was wondering if it would be a problem swapping out my Platinum wheels for the 18 inch Pro wheels? I’d like to get better mileage and a smoother ride.

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[Zaptor]

Should not be an issue. As far as I am aware, all trim levels have the same brakes, same suspension, hubs, offset etc so the Pro 18s should bolt right on. The ride on my OEM Lariat 20s was fine, even off road, so might consider those as well (Lariat has the same range rating as the Pro) as there seem to be plenty out there. Since the ride was fine on the stock 20s, but I wanted a different look, I replaced them with 20" Racelines and Mickey Thompsons.

 

[Henry Ford]

I have 22" Platinum wheels with all season tires and 20" Lariat wheels with all terrain tires. I can't tell the difference in ride or range. Your mileage may vary.

I've thought about this a lot and I believe the EPA range difference between the Platinum and the rest of the ER trucks has to do with the second cooling loop that is standard on Platinums but optional on other trims with the Max Tow Package. The EPA range is a calculated number. It is not based on real world performance and is not recalculated with different options. I've come to this belief after many conversations with my buddy who works for EPA and is an EV enthusiast. He doesn't work directly with EV range calculations though.

I say if you want to put different wheels and tires on your truck go for it, but if you expect a big change in ride or range you will probably be disappointed.

 

[GoodSam]

I keep hearing lowering wheel/tire weight increases range. Also, some say smaller wheels make for taller sidewalls on the tires and that increases range. Here is a YouTube video for a 2023 XLT SR w 18" wheels where he (LightSpeedEV) is averaging up to 2.5miles/kWh going 70 mph. My XLT w/ 20" wheels is hard pressed to get 2.0miles/kWh. Anyone know if the weight of the 18" wheel/tire combo is that much lighter than the 20" and 22" combo? Or is it the tire sidewall that makes the difference?

 

[XLT Jeffy]

I went with Platinum 22's for summer and 20's with Blizzaks for winter.

 

[tls]

What are you paying for the 18" Pro wheels? I wanted to buy a set with my Lariat ER, for winter use, back in June last year, and they weren't even in the dealer's parts database but he was verbally told nearly $1000 *per wheel* when he called Michigan to ask.

I ended up finding a set of 18" HDPP wheels (the "64H" wheels) on eBay - these are the only other 18" wheels rated for the weight of the ER Lightnings.

 

[bigjusee]

What are you paying for the 18" Pro wheels? I wanted to buy a set with my Lariat ER, for winter use, back in June last year, and they weren't even in the dealer's parts database but he was verbally told nearly $1000 *per wheel* when he called Michigan to ask.

I ended up finding a set of 18" HDPP wheels (the "64H" wheels) on eBay - these are the only other 18" wheels rated for the weight of the ER Lightnings.

I’m upgrading to a Platinum from a Pro. I had my Pro 18s powder coated gloss black.

 

[Henry Ford]

I keep hearing lowering wheel/tire weight increases range. Also, some say smaller wheels make for taller sidewalls on the tires and that increases range. Here is a YouTube video for a 2023 XLT SR w 18" wheels where he (LightSpeedEV) is averaging up to 2.5miles/kWh going 70 mph. My XLT w/ 20" wheels is hard pressed to get 2.0miles/kWh. Anyone know if the weight of the 18" wheel/tire combo is that much lighter than the 20" and 22" combo? Or is it the tire sidewall that makes the difference?

I think aero is probably more important than weight. Lighter weight wheels and tires would improve acceleration and handling but any affect on range would be somewhere between nil and marginal.

Lightning wheels seem to be more closed than ICE F150 wheels. In other words, smaller holes for air to go through and cause drag. An ideal aero wheel would be a disc air would go around rather than through. Even better would be fender skirts but brake cooling is a consideration and Ford actually wants to sell these things so they make them look good. So for Lightning we get a wheel that's "aero" enough and nice enough to look at.

That said, my guess is Ford told it's wheel designers, "make a wheel that has a drag coefficient of [some number] that we can sell," and that all wheel/tire combinations are close enough in efficiency as not to matter in range calculations.

If you like a particular set of wheels and tires I say go for it - I have a set of Lariat and Platinum wheels - but if you are expecting a significant range improvement you will probably be disappointed.

 

[Jlarbeypro]

I’m upgrading to a Platinum from a Pro. I had my Pro 18s powder coated gloss black.

Picture of that?

 

[bigjusee]

Picture of that?

 

[Jlarbeypro]

Thanks! That’s a must for my pro

 

[drewfaulk]

This looks amazing. Do you happen to have a picture in the daytime (possibly with more of the truck)? How much did this cost?

 

[256fail]

I keep hearing lowering wheel/tire weight increases range. Also, some say smaller wheels make for taller sidewalls on the tires and that increases range. Here is a YouTube video for a 2023 XLT SR w 18" wheels where he (LightSpeedEV) is averaging up to 2.5miles/kWh going 70 mph. My XLT w/ 20" wheels is hard pressed to get 2.0miles/kWh. Anyone know if the weight of the 18" wheel/tire combo is that much lighter than the 20" and 22" combo? Or is it the tire sidewall that makes the difference?

Thanks for the plug! That is me. I'm very happy I typically get anywhere from 2.3-2.5 on the highway. 2.3 typically going 75mpg or so. 80 was giving me around 1.9-2.0

I need to check the weight, but the 18 is a few pounds lighter on the setup vs the 20s.

 

[256fail]

I’m upgrading to a Platinum from a Pro. I had my Pro 18s powder coated gloss black.

That looks nice! Any pics of the whole side of the truck with the wheels? Thanks.

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