18 inch wheel/tires handle better?

I've read that statement a few times in various threads but nobody can ever expand on why. I'm looking at new wheel/tire setups. I've gone back and forth from sticking with stock size and just getting new wheels to getting new wheels and pizza cutter/skinnies to going with 18's which is where I'm at now. An 18 inch wheel with a 265/60R18 is basically identical diameter to my current stock 245/75R16 just obviously wider. I'm on pavement 95% of the time and my truck is my daily driver. So if I went with 18s would I actually notice better handling as some have suggested? And if so, what does that actually entail? Also, will the wider rims impact MPGs any noticeable amount? The new wheels and tires will more than likely be lighter or near identical in weight to stock tires and steel wheels.

 

You will have a wider contact patch and less sidewall to flex during your turns. You should, in theory, have more grip and better response on the street.

 

That makes sense.

 

^. This.


Although my $.02 is that you most likely won’t notice it because the suspension on these trucks isn’t known for their handling characteristics. You’d have very little improved handling my getting a shorter tire compared to putting together a suspension package meant to handle.

 

More grip would be welcomed. Had a guy cut me off this morning and had to get on my brakes pretty hard and it felt like I was skidding! One thing I did like more about my F150 was the brakes and ride quality.

 

18's themselves aren't going to specifically handle better than 16" wheels for the same size tire, but they might. You'll have a little wider tire with your example which could(and likely would) increase cornering ability. Going from something like a mud tire to a street performance tire design+compound is going to make the largest single difference of anything you can do. Handling performance goes roughly in order of effect: tire compound/design, unsprung weight, spring/shock selection, suspension geometry(or lack of it), other smaller factors like alignment and weight distribution. That leaves you pretty much with tire construction/compound, wheel weight, and spring/shock selection as the practical items you can change easily.

Me... I'd find a relatively soft compound rain tire I like first(e.g. something you'd see on a performance SUV like a Cayenne), then find a light wheel to fit that tire, then a decent shock/spring setup.

245 vs 265 in the same tire design are going to be pretty close MPG wise if the wheel/tire combo weights exactly the same. the skinner tire would in theory have a slight advantage, but it might not even be noticeable. Where you really start to see noticeable differences is if one or the other is significantly lighter than the other. Or the tire design itself is quite different. I've had 235, 255, 265 and 31x10.5 tires on my truck and they all ended up being roughly the same fuel mileage(within 1MPG on average) because they were all relatively tall AT tires within a few pounds of each other.

 

It's a pickup truck. You want better handling it needs to be lowered and multi stage shocks and huge sway bars put on. New wheels and tires won't make any noticeable difference.Except for a rougher ride. If you want better handling just keep the stock wheels and tires and put on the biggest sway bars you can find and stiffer shocks.

 

According to tirerack.com the stock tire (Hankook Dynapro HT 109S 245/75R16 30.5 diameter) is 32 pounds. The lightest 265/60R18 tire I could find was the Goodyear Wrangler SR-A at 33 pounds. I don't recall how much the OEM 16 inch steelies weigh but I want to say it was 30 something. I'm looking at some simple Method 316 18x9 wheels which I believer are 24 pounds each.

 

Thats not going to handle any better, having a huge sidewall introduces more sway and body roll. you want to handle get low pros.

 

Even though the overall diameter is the same you have a lot less rubber between the road and bottom of the wheel with 18" wheels vs 16" wheels. That means that when cornering aggressively the tires have less room to flex. In theory at least you have a bit more control. But it's still a truck with a truck suspension. On a sports car low profile wheels and tires make more sense.

The downsides are a firmer ride with 18" wheels vs 16" Having more rubber between the road and wheel with 16" wheels gives more cushion when driving over bumps in the road. When driving off road the 16" wheels keep the wheels farther from the road, rocks and other obstacles.

 

That won't help either. Low pros will just make a rougher ride. The truck is too top heavy.

 

A a reference point an X runner came with 255/45-18 tires if I recall and for sure it handled better(arguably I suppose) than a run of the mill Tacoma. The X-runner did have other special bits about the suspension/frame, but I'll submit those had more to do with managing a different tire package than any outright direct contribution themselves. i.e. If you put a 'normal' tacoma tire package on an xrunner it'll be different than either, but it'll feel a whole lot more like a normal tacoma than it will an xrunner.

 

If I were to go with an 18x9 what offset would be best? I think Method offers them with a +18mm.

 

My thought is that, regardless of what surface you drive your truck on, you might degrading it’s utility by putting lower profile tires on it. The ride quality will decrease, it’s toughness will decrease, and it’s ability to tow and carry loads might be compromised. In exchange you get different aesthetics. Handle better? I’m skeptical, but can’t give you first hans experience. What do you use your truck for?

 

Don’t haul or carry big loads other than some mountain bikes. It’s my daily driver to and from work. It occasionally goes “off road” through some cow pastures during deer season but 99% of its life is mall crawling.

 

Even when mall crawling I still like to be able to drive over a curb without worrying about wrecking my wheel. I laughed at my buddy when he brushed the curb while parallel parking his Honda Pilot (which he refers to as his “truck”) and put a gouge in his fancy 18” wheel.