So every time it snows it takes several hours for my ass to unpucker because the stock Bridgestone R265's on my Silverado suck at everything but keeping my rims off the ground. So getting tired of drifting through the turns in any sort of moisture and my reluctance at letting friends drive on road trips for such, I'm debating what tires to get next (285's if a 16in. rim or 305's if a 20in. and no I don't want to start another tire discussion, I've pretty much got my choices lined up). But since I'll be throwing down coin I might as well replace the steel rims too and make my truck look halfway presentable, but do I choose a 16in. rim or a 20in. rim?
A nice 16in. for ease of finding sizes at any mom and pop shop, load capacity, and general good mannered tow rig nature. If I go this way I'll set my truck up for full reliability and function.
However, I'm really wanting to set my 2500 up like a 1500SS. Slightly lowered stance, good handling and a tune for performance. I won't be towing that often and when I do it will be about 7k combined (Jeep and Trailer) so not that big, I'd rather have a little form over function as it is a DD. Plus I'll ensure everything I do is up to the loads the truck will be incurring when considering a modification. It will basically be a safer version of said truck to handle the larger loads. That said I'm concerned about going to a 20in. rim. I love the looks and the improved handling it will give me, but the lack of readily available sizes in the boonies, the stories of guys on here with Weld rims cracking and failing under load and the slightly reduced load capacity in available tires (on a size per size basis, though I will still be above stock tires either way) keeps me from going this route. If I go this way I'll be going with a set of KMC Backseat B's:
http://www.1stoprimshop.com/images/wheels/kmc/kmc_backseat_b_chrome_sm.jpg
As you can see there isn't a whole lot of material supporting the rim shell. So what say you oh PBB, what have you experienced first hand and is there anything else I should be looking at/for.

can you get load range E tires for a 20" rim? That would be the killer for me, if not. I went from p245/75/17 tires and highway sway to LT265/70/17 load range E tires and absolutely zero highway sway. I will never have anything other than a load range E again, even on my half-ton, FWIW.

check the weight rating of the rims. The manufacturer should have that information.

20x10 on 36x15.50 mickey thompson ATZ E rated. it pulls fine. I think that u will find that most tires for 20s are E rated

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u81/hurricaneoffroad/l_e6bb4d6c9580dd5dcfb3bba1f5628c29.jpg

Check the wheels too! Many (most?) bling-bling 20's are not rated to carry much weight at all.

EDIT: IMO go by the actual weight rating in pounds or kgs - not just the D, E, etc. The scales go by the numbers, not the letters.

I ran 20's and 305's on my 05ctd for two years, and loved the way it looked, and handled, the Toyo's were rated at more than 3K lbs per tire, and never let me down, but you have to make sure the wheel can hold the wieght... In theory, if you are buying 8 kug wheels, they will have the wieght rating you need..

FYI, I took the 20's off, and am now running the stock 17's with 315's cause I only got 25K miles out of the Toyo's, and they run $366 each:(

In theory, if you are buying 8 lug wheels, they will have the wieght rating you need..

*most* 8x6.5" pattern wheels are only rated for 2200-3045# or so. Not saying better ratings don't exist, but you need to look for them.

I run 20's on mine and they perform fine towing. I can't tell any difference between this and my stock tires/wheels besides less power. (programming fixes that :grinpimp:) My 35x12.50 Toyo's are load range E and have a weight rating of 3400 lbs/each. My 20x10 Ultra Predator 8's are rated at 3050 lbs/each. Gotta post a poser pic: :D

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=54006&d=1200325679

The stock 20's on the Ford F-250/350 are rated for 3415#'s for the 275-65-20 E rated tyre and the wheels are rated for 3525#'s.

So every time it snows it takes several hours for my ass to unpucker because the stock Bridgestone R265's on my Silverado suck at everything but keeping my rims off the ground. So getting tired of drifting through the turns in any sort of moisture and my reluctance at letting friends drive on road trips for such,.

Change from the stock tires to something.. anything. But understand that a wider tire won't work as well in the rain and slush as a narrower tire.

My 2500HD came with 265 Kuhmo A/T's that the previous owner put on it, and even with the 8.1L, it takes some work to break 'em free. I'm very pleased with them, especially since they're not a "premium" tire.

Change from the stock tires to something.. anything. But understand that a wider tire won't work as well in the rain and slush as a narrower tire.

How tires break out is more a function of weight and pressure. You'd be a fool to run at max pressure while running empty. I run 27-30# in the back empty and even with 550 horse on straight diesel, it's still tough to break them loose. Aired up to full pressure, even with a cord of wood, I can still roast them in the summer.

I went with 17's. The rims are tall enough to notice the difference and the tires still have enough sidewall for "off road" (fire wood, quadding, exploring forest service roads) I went with 305/whatever/17, got the tires 4 for the price of 3 and paid 200 bucks for these KMC baja wheels. (threw out the beadlook rings) 3200lb rating I think?

I don't like 20's because the sidewalls don't have enough give for what I do. I could've got 18's, but tires were more expensive.

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/4859/1000214xg8.jpg


This is with 40# in the back and 45# in the front. 1500 lbs for sure in the bed (700 quad, 350 deck, wood, fuel, tools and parts) and still lots of room for more judging by the sidewalls.