18" vs 20" Ride Quality

Mountain Man

Tremor Fiend
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Location
Santa Cruz Mountains
Current Ride
2020 F250 Tremor
I plan on getting new wheels for my Tremor and running 35 x 12.5 x 18 or 20 Nitto Ridge Grapplers. It makes sense that 18's will ride a little softer and that 20's will handle a little better but may feel more of the road bumps. Can anyone comment on their experience with ride quality & handling with 18's vs 20's? Is it negligible or is there a more significant difference in either category?
 
What is your reason for larger tires, be honest, Looks cool or you are an off roading beast?
If you want the look and only occasionally off road go 20s,

If you are a true off roader and most of your miles are on the dirt go 18s

the Nitto ridge grappler is my favorite Nitto tire, very universal, the next steps up you sacrifice things.

As far as ride, it is going to depend on air pressure. Yes more sidewall on the 18s but with proper tire pressure the 20s should be good. use FORScan to lower the pressure range. Make sure you get proper load range on the tires.
 
I can’t comment more than what you said. I would be interested in buying one or two Tremor tire/wheels for spares to rotate tires with.
 
This truck will be 90% bad ass looking commuter and 10% of roader. How's that for honesty? The 20's would be for looks, possibly a bit better handling, and because certain wheels I'm interested in aren't available in 18".
 
I have found there is a limited selection of good off-road 18" tires. That’s my reason for going for 20" wheels. Just be sure to get an E rated tire and with proper tire pressures you can have a good all around setup.
 
Personally, I like how the 18" tires look. I think the extra sidewall looks good. Might be showing my age though. I've not heard anyone say the 20's handle better than 18's. I'm not saying that's true or not, just that it's the first I've heard of it. 18's definitely ride better than 20's. That's universally accepted.

I'll second the Ridge Grapplers. I've had several sets in a row now. They look great. Honestly, badass looking 90/10 truck should have RG's on them. I would give them a rating of badass 80/20. commuter/offroader. They aren't nearly as good offroad as they look like they would be and they are much better on the road than they look like they would be. Quiet with good wear and F load rated, great looking sidewalls and an aggressive looking tread. What's not to like?
 
I’ve had 20’s on both of my old trucks . I’ve always ran 65psi to avoid the tons coming on. The 20s seam to ride a smidge rougher, but we’re better handling.
My current 18s have 65psi and yesterday getting on and off some highway ramp I noticed a little roll. It could be the softer suspension in the Tremor? I think these ride better, but again I came out of a 15 with an older suspension.
20s will cost more than 18s and to be honest, I like both of the looks.

Tire wise, I had only one set of RG’s and while they were quite and nice looking, wore well, they were meh! I have had 4 sets of Trail grapplers and while not as quite as Rg they handle out dirt roads waaay better! This is just my opinion plus the wider tire also pulled you from side to side, so this time I will probably stick with the 285/75/18 size instead of the 295s or 35’s.

Good luck in what you chose and post some pics!
 
I like to drive fast and have as "sporty" of an 8,000 truck as possible. I also like a comfortable ride on the highway. These two criteria have me over analyzing the 18 vs 20 choice.

Another factor is tire load range. I've always run "E" rated tires on my other 3/4 and 1/2 ton trucks. The Ridge Grapplers in both 18 & 20 seem to only be available in "F" rating. That might make the 20's even stiffer and rougher riding. I suppose I'm leaning in the direction of the 35x12.5x18's... For now!
 
I have 35x12x20 Ridge Grappler on this truck as well as my previous truck. I cant compare to 18's because I have not had them, but I like the handling of the 20's and don't feel they are rough at all. As others have said, definitely lower the tire pressures to at least 60psi. 80 is way to rough.
 
To me the wheel arches are so big on these trucks that 20" rims look like 17's did on my 2001 dodge ram. IMHO 20's look about right on these trucks. But 18's with some big meats on them look good too.
 
This is probably one of those things where there isn't a wrong answer. Especially on a truck that's going to see very little actual offroading. Go with what you think looks best. It's a SD, you aren't getting a great ride no matter what the sidewall height is. If I had thought 20's looked better, I'd have gone with them regardless of the (probably slight) difference in ride quality.
 
The stock Tremor wheel looks great, however, I might eventually upgrade to 20s with a wider 35" or 37" tire. I'll probably wear out the stock tires first though.
 
Like I have said before, I liked the look of my 20’s I have had in the past. With that said I will be sticking with my 18’s.

I have also had the 295s and 12.50 widths as well. I’m thinking I will now stick with the narrower tire. Less pulling from ruts or mud covered roads! I also think( no scientific proof) that the narrower has gotten me better mileage ( not that we bought a super duty for gas mpg) than a wider tire with more road contact.

This is just my thoughts, I think when I had 295’s, I got 1 mpg better than 12.50’s. This was on more than one truck that I’ve had in the past!
 
Rule of thumb for OFF ROAD is wheel size is 1/2 the diameter of the tire for proper deflation without chancing damaging the rim and tire. Since you're not really going off road much (guessing not much more than the unimproved contruction lot) then go 20's.

I'll be going 18" myself. Check out load limits 20" vs 18", the higher limits (even though many will be close) will be with the 18's if that's important to you.
 
Like I have said before, I liked the look of my 20’s I have had in the past. With that said I will be sticking with my 18’s.

I have also had the 295s and 12.50 widths as well. I’m thinking I will now stick with the narrower tire. Less pulling from ruts or mud covered roads! I also think( no scientific proof) that the narrower has gotten me better mileage ( not that we bought a super duty for gas mpg) than a wider tire with more road contact.

This is just my thoughts, I think when I had 295’s, I got 1 mpg better than 12.50’s. This was on more than one truck that I’ve had in the past!
There's a lot of rolling resistance with big tires, the contact patch, aggressive lugs and the unsprung weight. That costs in fuel for sure.
 
I would definitely take a look at the cost difference for the tires you choose.
Have seen the same tire cost $ 200 more to go on the 20” wheels. That made up my mind
 
I have been running 20inch tires off road for many years (over half a million miles on 20's). Never had an issue plus more sizes and better handling on road by far. Even had them on my Gen I Raptor and the TRX RAM.
 
I’m a big fan of 20’s been running them for years on all my trucks I’m not a “hard core” off roader but get into some nasty rutted dirt trails during hunting season. Make sure you’re using proper load rated tires E’s or F’s
 
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