Ride quality of a 20" wheel compared to a 17"?

[rileyb76]

Just bought a '11 SR5 this past weekend. I was thinking about putting the 20" LE wheels on it, or some comparable ones. Can anyone that has gone from 17" to 20" wheels tell me about the ride quality? Notice any difference at all?

This is the wifes ride, so it would not be an off-road vehicle. Probably put some type of Michelin's on it also.

 

[Jono.ful]

The taller sidewalls on a 17" tire are going to provide a softer ride, but that said, the load range is going to have an affect too, with C range being softer than D, or E even. If it's just going to be driven on the street, you'd be hard pressed to notice a huge difference I suspect.

 

[DannyLlama]

I had the stock 20's and went to 18's, not 17, but I can tell you that the 20's are a little bit more nimble and do get a little better gas millage..

Though I do feel more "planted" with the 18's 275.

Your other issue is going to be tire selection, I think there are 4 different tires you can buy Unless you go outside of manufacture recommendations.

 

[Katahdin]

I switched to 17" FJ Cruiser wheels (basically Trail Edition wheels) with OEM Dunlop tires and I didn't notice much difference in handling or gas milage. The TE/FJ wheel & tire combo is actually 5 lbs. lighter per wheel than the 20's and that seems to offset any increase in rolling resistance (in terms of gas mileage). If anything, the handling marginally better with the 17's so I'm happy with the change. I expect I'll notice more of a difference when I get around to buying new tires.

I went with the 17's because of the very limited selection of tires that fit the OEM 20's. The only all-season tires that fit 7" wide 20" rims (according to their manufacturers) are the two 245/60R20 OEM tires (Bridgestone Dueler & Yokohama Geolander), the General Grabber HTS, and the General Grabber UHP. Both Grabbers are 275/55R20 so they're slightly larger than stock. Continental used to list two 275/55R20 tires as fitting 7" rims but they recently changed their spec sheet to 7.5". Bridgestone makes Blizzaks in 245/60R20 but I doubt you'd have much use for those in Alabama...

Anyway, I'd stick with the SR5 wheels and upgrade the tires if you still have stock ones, you'll have way more options and they'll cost less. Plenty of people run 275/55R20 tires specced for 7.5" or larger rims on the stock 20's with "no issues" but I was more comfortable sticking to official manufacturer guidance.

 

[rileyb76]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys!

 

[gwcpa]

My SR5 had a smoother ride, my LE has a much firmer rider, but leans less and handles much better with the X-REAS and 20s. It really rode like crap with 38+- lbs in each tire when I got it.