hard to find 20's
 

how come in my home town its so hard to find 20" tires. I've called probally a dozen or so places within an hour from me and nobody keeps 20's in stock. i picked out three to get prices on and when they called me back i can only get the one and it will take like a week to get. Can any body give me any ideas on a good semi aggressive tread for my truck? 275/55/20. maybe some pics too. Also can i go a little bigger than stock with no lift?

I went with Michelin AT2's 275/60/20, they are fantastic. A little bigger sidewall than the stock tires and my wife says she can notice a difference, still drives like a truck to me.

Pricey though, $1100 installed for all 4.

TireRack.com

Same thing here in Montana....most 20" tires are "order" items, and they are PRICEY! I'm planning on ordering a new F150 in early spring, and have decided that I'll stick with 17" no matter what. They are fairly easy to find, and when it comes time to replace tires, are about $800 for a set of 4 versus $1,100-$1,200 for 20" tires.

17" rims only exist on the raptor and XL's. in 2010 when they upgraded the brakes the minimum rim size became 18"

I don't think that's correct. If you look at the order guide for the 2011s, 17" is the "base" wheel size. 18, 20, or 22" are all options....at least I'm sure of that on the XLT....as much as I've studied the order guide, I can pretty much recite it in my sleep.

My 2010 XLT came stock with 17's

My 2010 XLT also came with 17's.... wrong dude.

I need to clarify what I said earlier.... 17" wheels/tires are standard on the XL, SXT, and XLT series trucks, once you go beyond the XLT, then the standard wheels/tires, become 18s, 20s, or 22s. One of the first things I noticed when I started looking at the 2011 models was the wheel/tires size. At first I thought it would be nice to have 18 or 20" wheels/tires...but then got to looking at/thinking about the 18+" wheels/tires. If you look closely, as the diameter increases, the sidewall generally decreases. In my situation, that is not a good thing...to explain: I live/drive in Montana, and around the Northwest. Because there are more gravel/dirt roads than paved, it's desirable to have a fairly tall sidewall on a tire, with a width that protrudes a bit past the width of the wheels. Why? It saves wheels from getting wrecked. Most of our local tire dealers try to discourage folks from going with "low profile" tires on trucks, because historically those who do, generally come in trying to trade those wheel/tire combos in once the destroy a rim. Another "stay away from" item around here is cast wheels, unless you want to replace a lot of them. They are just not as durable in this type of country as "machined" or steel wheels. To that end, I will be going with the standard wheels when I order my new rig in the spring.....17" tires with machined wheels. The tallest sidewall tire comes with the "Off Road" package, which also gives you skid plates....both good reasons for me to opt for that option package. Once the factory tires are worn out, I will be looking to upgrade to the tallest sidewall/tire width combo that is practical.

I have another thread where i will post pics - 09 platinum, time for some updates. i believe thats it. anyway. i put goodyear wrangler silentaromors on my platium.
285.60.20 i too had to order them. they are the prograde 10ply version. which i have had on my previous 99 f150 xlt 4x4. they were a great tire. and road noise and wear were awesome.

they are pricy, but with this being labeled a 50K tread life. ill hopefully get about 65-70 like my previous sets.

no rub excet where a bunch of frozen stuff behind my no drill mud flaps up front cause a piece on the drivers side to stick out. its a nonfunctional piece in my opinion where its behind the wheelwell. so a little trim wont leave the truck unprotected.

everyone have a great week.

Check out the Cooper Zeon LTZ's i had them on my last truck in 275/55/20 and liked them very much. They rode excellent and were quiet and have a sweet tread pattern. I bought them from Discount Tire Direct online for $189ea came out to $756 for a set of 4 shipping is free. Just looked at their site and they also have 275/60/20 for $190ea. 275/55/20 is 32'' tire and the 275/60/20 is a 33'' tire. The 33'' will fit no problem, but would look awesome with a front leveling kit to really set it off.

I stand corrected, time for a new information source