howdy folks,

i am working to build my 2001 screw into
a hearty offroad rig. i still have the stock
rims at 17", but as you know, there arent
a lot of off road tires in that size.

i understand that 16" has lots of rubber
choices, but are too small to fit over my rotors.

so, if i cant go smaller, what impact of going higher? that is, what problems might i have if
i goto 18" wheels for offroad usage?

certainly tire mfg is an issue there too, but
can i get taller rims without negative offroad effects?

thx,jackc...

 

Well going to larger wheels and tires is going to be ALOT more expensive. 18" wheels are usually $200-250ea and the tires will run you about the same for a 35/12.5/18. There are more companys making them, but they're at a premium. Now if you have the stock brakes then 16s will fit on your truck. There was no change on the brakes on the F150s.

 

hi powerstroke,

thx for your reply. i had heard that as my 2001 had disc brakes all round that 16's wouldnt fit.

maybe its the 2004 that have larger brakes and the 16's dont fit the 2004's? is that my confusion?

16's would make life easier as i have yet to pass the spousal purchace order approval...

thx! jackc...

 

The 16's will fit for sure. They were a stock size, my '01 4x4 had 16's from the factory. On my '03 I went with 16's to replace the 17's. The reason.....$$$$ I looked at 16's, 17's and 18's. I wanted a 33" tire so as you may already know, there are only like 2 or 3 companys that make 33" 17's and 18's. The price goes up greatly with tire size. The 18's that I liked were like $120 less than the 16's I bought, but with tires the 18's were like $350 more. That was the deciding factor. Also the larger the rim the heaver it will be. This will hurt your acceleration and braking, just something to consider.

Joe

 

Your confusion is coming in that in 04 16" wheels are not possible due to the brakes. 16 and 17" wheels were both stock in 97-03. 16s will fit with no problems as the rear disks on your truck aren't really any bigger than my rear drums.

 

Stick with the 17" rims you have and go out and get a set of BFG AT's or MT's.

 

their are several probelms w/ going w/ the bigger wheel - they are easier to warp, harder to balance, and more expensive. Also, the bigger wheel you have, the smaller the sidewall will be for the same overall tire size. When offroading, this means a greater chance in damaging the wheel.

 

what tire size do you plan to run? i run 18 by 10 but i run a 38" by 14" and i subject those tires to the extrem only poped a bead once aired down and hit a rut wrong before those i had 16" rims they will fit your truck unless you changed the roter hope some of this helps in some way