17" vs 20" wheels and tires

[Elevated 2013]

Hey all!

I'm in the process of wanting to buy new rims and tires. I've got a 4" Rough Country Lift and I currently have Mayhem 17" Wheels with 35x12.5x17 BF Goodrich AT KO2 tires. The question isn't really which wheel and tire combination to go with. My question is, is there a noticeable difference in the handling/cornering between a 35x12.5x17 tire and a 35x12.5x20 tire? I know the sidewalls are bigger on the 17" tire and that does cause the handling to be a little worse in theory. But for those of you that have had both on a 1500 Crew Cab, have you noticed a difference?? I'm just wondering if it's worth a few extra dollars to upgrade to a 20" combination to get a little better cornering? I'm not expecting to corner like a Challenger or a F1 car, but i'm wondering if it's worth the change. Thanks in advance for your opinions.

 

[Kapt]

Go for the compromise. Run an 18" wheel. You'll have more choices for tires than the 20" and it will ride just a little better. Unless of course you're trying to talk yourself into 20's then by all means. Go for it. I have 20's on my truck with a 33/12.50/20 tire. I had my factory wheels painted and put on some 17's while that was being done. It didn't handle any different noticeably at all

 

[Jhuss96]

I used to run 35x12.5x20 on my old truck and I didn't notice a tremendous handling difference between my 17in wheels before. Granted the tires were much larger, but other than that there wasn't a noticeable difference for me

 

[hodge-xj]

I went from 315 70 17s to 275 60 20s this week. Aside from the obvious power difference the truck handles a bit better on turns etc. Larger bumps are a tiny bit harsher per se with less sidewall but honestly nobody but myself would notice. I do like how much better a narrower tire handles and tracks on the highway. Feels a bit crisper where the 315s liked to push in turns.

I did it for commuting purposes, went from duratracs to highway tires, so it's drastic in all other regards, but ride wise, its not as dramatic as you'd imagine.

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[Elevated 2013]

Thanks everyone for chiming in. I appreciate all of the input. I’ve driven a Ram 1500 with a 6” lift of a different brand than mine with 20” wheels and big tires (I forget the size) when I was looking at the truck I bought and the handling seemed so much better and like it had more power. I’m just not a fan of bigger wheels to be honest. I can stand the look of lifted trucks with huge rims and rubber bands for tires. It just doesn’t look right to me. Sorry if I’m offending anyone as I’m not trying to. To each their own. I just thought the ride was so much better but I’m struggling with what I should do in the end.


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[hodge-xj]

Thanks everyone for chiming in. I appreciate all of the input. I’ve driven a Ram 1500 with a 6” lift of a different brand than mine with 20” wheels and big tires (I forget the size) when I was looking at the truck I bought and the handling seemed so much better and like it had more power. I’m just not a fan of bigger wheels to be honest. I can stand the look of lifted trucks with huge rims and rubber bands for tires. It just doesn’t look right to me. Sorry if I’m offending anyone as I’m not trying to. To each their own. I just thought the ride was so much better but I’m struggling with what I should do in the end.


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Offroad, aired down, my 315s were pillows. That's where the difference really comes into play. My 2500 had 37s on 17s, at 30 psi that truck rode awesome. But the difference is minimal to be honest in smaller similarly built trucks. I agree about the big rims looking funny, I'm not liking the look of them on my truck, but man it drives so nice lol. Not to mention I have the ecodiesel and it's not huge on power, so I went back to 33s. I will say road handling all around seems a bit nicer, it's crisper with better steering feel. Not exactly apples to apples with highway tires compared to basically mud tires but you get the idea. I drive too much, 600+ a week so I wanted better road manners at the expense of coolness. Otherwise I'd have some big ol meats on it again.

Run what you like, damn everyone else. It's YOUR truck. If you want 17s, than dammit get 17s, so long as they clear the knuckles on your lift kit. Either way it'll end up nice.

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[Elevated 2013]

I have 17s now. And I like the look of them. I also have a 4” lift and the 35s fit beautifully in the wheel wells and fit within the fender flares. I just feel like I need a little better handling/cornering in the turns than what I have now as I feel like I almost have to stop in order to make a right turn when I am coming to a green light. I’m not expecting to handle like a car. I’m an ex truck driver and mechanic. I know I’m in a truck and expect it to behave like one. I guess I’m looking for a little compromise somehow without loosing the looks.


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[gdawg55]

I'm getting ready to go from my stock 20's to 17's. I had 17's on my previous truck and to be honest, I can't tell much difference between the two. Maybe the 20's corner a bit better, but they ride a little harsh. I also like the look of a bit more sidewall on the tire....this is the main reason I'm switching to 17's. Going to go with a 305/70r17 which is a 34" tire. I only have bils at 2.1 and a 1.5" body lift so I think the 34" tire will be just about right.