Currently have an 05 F150 CC. We bought a 30 travel trailer this summer and I going to upgrade to a new truck to better handle the camper. I have some questions and need some help.

I can't decide between 18" wheels with the Continental tires or the 20" wheels with the Goodyear tires. I found a 06 with 20" that I love that my dealer will trade for and it's located about 2 hours from my house. Really wanting to take advantage of the 0%. I went and drove it yesterday and it had a terrible vibration at 70 mph. They had another exactly like it with 3,000 miles and it wasn't as bad, it drove better on the interstate. I drove another truck (just to drive) that had the 18" with Continental tires and it drove much better and felt like it had more power. Something else, the truck I went to drive and like was built in 1/06. Should it be a concern that it has been on the lot for so long? Could that have caused some flat spot on the tires from sitting and would it drive better with some miles? It only had 29 miles on it.

What are everyone's experiences with the 18" and the 20"? I really like the look of both wheels and tires, but like the 20" better. I have read many bad stories about the Continental tires. I have the Goodyear's on my current truck. They are wearing good, but have a slight vibration, that the dealer can fix, they say the tires are in spec. I test drove a used 06 PSD with 20" Goodyear's, with 17,000 and they were pretty much wore out. Would there be any major MPG between the two sizes? Any other issues to worry about with either size?

Need some advice. Any help would be great. I'm going to buy as soon as I find an 06 close enough for my dealer to get.

Thanks!

 

well my dad has an 06 Sper Duty crew cab long bed with the 18" wheels and it rides great at any speed, he had some aftermarlet 22" wheels on it and it road like crap, and lost mpg and power plus not as good for towing cause there was less tire, he had the continetals on his 18"s and they were really good tires for him they even lasted really long considering he has the banks 6gun on and smoked em up every now and again personally i would get the 18"s and and if you dont like the continetalsput some 33"tires on them and be done and a leveling kit

 

I recently traded an '06 F-150 for my current '06 F-250, both were/are FX4 Crew Cabs. The F-150 had really sharp looking 20's and the ride was terrible. I have 17's on the F-250 and these give a better ride (even with the heavy duty suspension) than the F-150 that had the 20's. In he future if I want bigger tires, I'll keep my 17's and put more rubber around them. The 20's came with the Pirelli Scorpion low profile tires so there was very little tire side wall.

 

More rubber (to a point, no boggers or somethin) = better towing.

 

The Contis are 33" tires, perhaps you meant 35"s?

 

You will have to be trying real hard to notice any difference in ride quality between 18 and 20's on these trucks, and if you could, I wouldn't believe you anyways. The tires on the factory 20's measure 34.5" (or very close to it), its not like they are 30 series low profiles.
Go ahead and get the 20's, they are a much nicer wheel IMO, you won't regret it until you need to buy new tires, that will be where you will see some difference in price compared to 18's, not huge though. My good years with 15000 miles are still like new but now that I'm lifted, they don't look right, so I'm working on wearing them out a little faster

 

Update. I'll soon be the PROUD owner of a new 06 F250 Crew Cab PSD. I hated to miss the cash back and 0% along with my A-Plan discount. There weren't many left so I ended up the the Dark Satin Green over Arizona Beige. I also got the 20" inch wheels. I haven't seen many of the Dark Satin Green around, but I think I'm really going to be happy with it. What does everyone think of the color? I can't wait to get past the 500 break in and pull my 30ft camper. Thanks for everyone's advice. This will be my first 250 and first diesel.

Thanks!

 

Sounds like a very nice truck, and the dark green is beautiful (but not quite as nice as my dark copper ). You are gonna love that towing power.

Welcome to the 'diesel' world ... they are a blast to drive.

 

That green is nice...it is very similar to the Dark Copper...in different light it will change colors on you. At night it will look almost black or deep gray....

welcome to PSD's...I too am a recent F150 owner but I bought a 27 ft TT and I was getting tried of being last to the camp sites. Now we have no fear. As far as 20's go, you'll get million different opinions on them. But I am sticking with my KR 18's. I had 20's on my F150.

 

RollingRock,

I have the exact same camper as yours. How does the PSD do with the camper? Is it a big difference? I pulled my camper to the Smokey Mtns with my 05 F150 and got about 9 MPG. The camper is the reason I'm getting a new truck.

Thanks!

 

FX4Crew, cool....the reason I am driving the F250 PSD is because of our camper. Kind of Cart in front the horse thing I guess. If you were getting 9 mpg pulling your Jayco over MTS, you must have been easy on the pedal.

Is there a difference? Um...yeah. Where to start with all the differences.

1. Just dropping the tongue on the hitch, you will see a difference. Only squats my new truck about an inch or less.
2. Tow Command is AWESOME
3. The Torque-Shif Transmission is my favorite part. You won't need brakes when exiting the freeways, just let the engine do it.
4. POWER BABY.
5. POWER BABY. And them some more power.
6. Control while towing is incredible. We hardly feel 18 Wheelers anymore when we used to get blown all over the place.

That is my observation. When you first tow with your new F250 you will probably have a very similar smile on your face as I did. When I bought the truck, I went straight out to our storage location, hooked it up and got on the highway for about 10 miles just to see. I was laughing out-loud. SOOO easy for it. Our last trip, we only pulled about 65 miles. I had a very strong head wind and still got 13.7 mph towing and I wasn't driving smart. I was trying to see what it would do on the hills. Speed isn't a problem either but safety should still be in your mind. I don't pull over 70 mph but you sure can.

If I had to sum it up how it pulls....."it pulls our Jayco like a shadow"

The ride will soften up as you tow too....if you don't use the WD Hitch, you'll get a nice smooth ride. When using the WD Hitch, you feel the trailer a lot more only b.c you are using its suspension rather than letting the leaf's on the 250 do their job.

You'll love it and you'll think to yourself, why didn't we do this sooner.

Hope that helps....

One last thing. My wife really likes the fact that I don't white knuckle drive anymore....she feels more at ease when pulling that I am more at ease if that makes sense. Its just safer in my opinion.

JP

 

I have been looking at the 06 250 I have 03 F150 5.4 now .. I am sure I will have one by Christmas … a few months ago we were towing the pontoon to the river (Parker, AZ) and I was doing the white knuckle thing, strong head winds … a pontoon tow’s like a brick wall … a guy with a 250 and about a 30ft trailer passes us and the wife looks at me and say’s .. Have you ever thought about a F250 diesel?

Now I am looking at the ends of year sales … I hear the 06 motor is better... Any truth?