Are your 20" wheels TOO big?

[tmorgan4]

Unfortunately wheel sizes jump from 17s to 20s. We all know 17s work great, but sometimes brake clearance is an issue and it seems like a lot of tires are going towards 20" wheels.

In just the last few years everything has jumped from 15s to 17s....so what will be next? The sidewall on a 42" with a 20" wheel looks awfully small. Haven't heard much on how 20" inner beads are holding, either.

Looking at 41-43" tires. Iroks are available in a 20" already. SX and SXIIs are available in 20s. The new 42" Krawlers are ONLY available for a 20" wheel. Maxxis doesn't seem to have moved to 20s yet however I don't know what their plans are.

Those of you that have 20s...do you love or hate them?

[sweet peter the chea]

I have been running 20's for a long time on various buggies and really like them. There seems to be a lot less sidewall roll at high speeds and handle really well. The only down side is until recently , you couldn't find a tire that had enough sidewall flex to really contour to rocks when aired down and crawling. Now there are a ton of tires available that work great in the rocks and at speeds with a little air adjustment !! I cought a ton of flak for running 20"'s back in the day and now with everyone wanting to go faster and faster their starting to catch on ! I predict a large number of rigs on 20's next season for ultra 4 events !!

[STUPIDFACE]

I wouldnt use 20s unless i had at least 40" tires.

corey d

[freerider15]

Originally Posted by tmorgan4

Unfortunately wheel sizes jump from 17s to 20s. We all know 17s work great, but sometimes brake clearance is an issue and it seems like a lot of tires are going towards 20" wheels.

In just the last few years everything has jumped from 15s to 17s....so what will be next? The sidewall on a 42" with a 20" wheel looks awfully small. Haven't heard much on how 20" inner beads are holding, either.

Looking at 41-43" tires. Iroks are available in a 20" already. SX and SXIIs are available in 20s. The new 42" Krawlers are ONLY available for a 20" wheel. Maxxis doesn't seem to have moved to 20s yet however I don't know what their plans are.

Those of you that have 20s...do you love or hate them?

Don't lie, you just want to be ballin' on some 20's and want an excuse so people don't give ya shit

[RedBullJeep]

They bend more due to the rim edge itself not only being closer to the ground, but the radius is larger, therefore weaker. Some situtions they will perform better with a given tire size, in other situations they would perform worse...there realy is no "magic" size that fits every situation. As mentioned above, anything less than a 40 and you're going to be sad. You will lose performance due to sidewall and really pushing the damage issue.

FYI, softer tires on larger rims have more "pinch cuts" as well. There is not enough rubber to dissipate the tire being pinched between the ground and the rim edge in certain tire loading moments so the tire gets cut from the pinch.

[sweet peter the chea]

I have not had any failures in the 8 years I have been using the 20" Trailready beedlocks. However , I have always run them on 40" plus sizes.
I have run them on 2 seaters , 4-seater and even a couple bodied rigs. These rigs have been wheeled hard and even competed in. it would make sense that the larger diameter would be weaker , but i haven't had any problems with it !
Maybe a plus for the wheel manufacturer !!

[laproscopic]

If ultra 4 is to be a reference point:

then the argument that a smaller sidewall offers better handling may be legit BUT would this benefit be negated by the extra weight of the 20 inch wheel?

How much heavier is a 20 inch locked wheel vs a 17 incher? (and how many more bolts?)

[StinkBug]

The wheel may be heavier, but the tire has less rubber, so it's lighter. I think it's gonna vary a lot with wheel and tire brands, but overall the weight is not gonna be a huge difference.

[RedBullJeep]

Originally Posted by StinkBug

The wheel may be heavier, but the tire has less rubber, so it's lighter. I think it's gonna vary a lot with wheel and tire brands, but overall the weight is not gonna be a huge difference.

Just don't go this way if you're worried about weight!



DAYUM those were HEAVY! 1/2 thick beadlock rings that could absolutly take a beating.

Oh yeah, that reminds me...the wheel opening is larger so you get hung up a bit more often on things that may slip into the rim...hence the photo above with the wide rings to counter that.

[laproscopic]

Originally Posted by StinkBug

The wheel may be heavier, but the tire has less rubber, so it's lighter. I think it's gonna vary a lot with wheel and tire brands, but overall the weight is not gonna be a huge difference.

not much diff but surprisingly the larger wheel opening in the tires dont save much weight vs the smaller wheel opening. the lip must be heavier on the larger wheeled tire

from the interco websight:

a 41/14.5/17 radial irok weighes 101lbs

a 41/14.5/20 radial irok weighes 99lbs

I run low profile tires on me porsche and they hold the road tight but love having a big ballooning sidewall on the crawler

[Travis Waldher]

1/2" thick beadlock rings?

Holy crap, each ring must weigh in at near 40lbs alone.

[chris demartini]

Originally Posted by tmorgan4

Unfortunately wheel sizes jump from 17s to 20s. We all know 17s work great, but sometimes brake clearance is an issue and it seems like a lot of tires are going towards 20" wheels.

Just out of curiosity, what brake setup are you running on a rock rig that doesn't fit in 17" wheels?

[RedBullJeep]

Originally Posted by Travis Waldher

1/2" thick beadlock rings?

Holy crap, each ring must weigh in at near 40lbs alone.

Aluminum...I'll have to weigh one as now you have me curious...I do know one thing, THEY ARE FRIGGEN HEAVY!!!!

[TBItoy]

I run them on my "stock" f350 summer trail beater (A/C blows ice cubes)

Seem too work fine.

I run 35s on 16" wheels on my crawler, and the 40s have more sidewall on 20s.

[MaxPF]

Originally Posted by tmorgan4

Unfortunately wheel sizes jump from 17s to 20s. We all know 17s work great, but sometimes brake clearance is an issue and it seems like a lot of tires are going towards 20" wheels.

In just the last few years everything has jumped from 15s to 17s....so what will be next? The sidewall on a 42" with a 20" wheel looks awfully small. Haven't heard much on how 20" inner beads are holding, either.

Looking at 41-43" tires. Iroks are available in a 20" already. SX and SXIIs are available in 20s. The new 42" Krawlers are ONLY available for a 20" wheel. Maxxis doesn't seem to have moved to 20s yet however I don't know what their plans are.

Those of you that have 20s...do you love or hate them?

Actually, there are 18" rims out there. When I looked at off road tires the availability in this wheel size was a bit more limited than 20's though...

[wendleburger]

Originally Posted by MaxPF

Actually, there are 18" rims out there. When I looked at off road tires the availability in this wheel size was a bit more limited than 20's though...

I am running 18"s. They fit over a 404 portal perfectly, which is why I bought them. I think the only tyres available are the sticky M/T Claws and maybe some other obscure brands.

I was hoping that by the time my current tyres wore out there would be more options in a 40" or 42" x18", but it's not looking that way

[unimogken]

Naaah its not too big!

In fact my 1965 truck came with 20's stock and other models had them stock 20 years before that!

Rollin Dub's for Fitty Years!

[white-rhyno]

Originally Posted by wendleburger

I am running 18"s. They fit over a 404 portal perfectly, which is why I bought them.(

Steel 17's with 5" of backspace work also. There are alot more tires choices in 17....

Now back on topic...

[wendleburger]

Originally Posted by white-rhyno

Steel 17's with 5" of backspace work also. There are alot more tires choices in 17....

Yep, I had 17" wheels before these wheels, I went to the 18"s to get rid of scrub radius, I am now running a little over 7" of backspacing.

They are the perfect size other than the choice of tyres available, I don't want to go to 20"s for pretty much all of the reasons listed in this thread.

[Dustin]

I ran the 39.5 Iroks on some 20" Stazworks rims for a while. I really liked the setup, it was surgical. The only problems were the weight of the rims @ 85lbs each, the decreased ride comfort, and the lack of tire choices.

If you think about it, a 42" Krawler on a 20" rim is going to have ~ 1" more sidewall as a 37" Krawler on a 17" rim.

The new 42" Krawlers are at the top of my tire wish list.

[greenjeep79]

I love my 20's

[duckymfg]

20's with 42" SXII's. love my 20's. BUT I have bent a couple of them pretty bad in a couple races. If you get the 20's definatly look at a inner beadlock or a stiffener ring in you go aluminum. Never broke an inner bead but thats were they always seem to bend.

[sceep]

love my 20's.

[tmorgan4]

Originally Posted by sweet peter the chea

I have been running 20's for a long time on various buggies and really like them. There seems to be a lot less sidewall roll at high speeds and handle really well. The only down side is until recently , you couldn't find a tire that had enough sidewall flex to really contour to rocks when aired down and crawling. Now there are a ton of tires available that work great in the rocks and at speeds with a little air adjustment !! I cought a ton of flak for running 20"'s back in the day and now with everyone wanting to go faster and faster their starting to catch on ! I predict a large number of rigs on 20's next season for ultra 4 events !!

Thanks Peter....You have me thinking about those 43" SXs on 20s. I think I might get sick of explaining that the tires are in fact 43s, though.

Originally Posted by freerider15

Don't lie, you just want to be ballin' on some 20's and want an excuse so people don't give ya shit

Hey I gotta keep up with you somehow!!!!

Originally Posted by laproscopic

If ultra 4 is to be a reference point:

then the argument that a smaller sidewall offers better handling may be legit BUT would this benefit be negated by the extra weight of the 20 inch wheel?

How much heavier is a 20 inch locked wheel vs a 17 incher? (and how many more bolts?)

I'm curious on weight too. It's not going to make or break the deal, but I'm not sure if the 20s are 5lbs or 30lbs heavier than a 17.

Originally Posted by chris demartini

Just out of curiosity, what brake setup are you running on a rock rig that doesn't fit in 17" wheels?

That's still being planned, but I'd really like to run some big (380mm) Stoptech 2 piece rotors. Problem is finding 8 lug hats....Of course I could swap all my unit bearings and hubs for 6 lugs and make life simple.

Originally Posted by Dustin

I ran the 39.5 Iroks on some 20" Stazworks rims for a while. I really liked the setup, it was surgical. The only problems were the weight of the rims @ 85lbs each, the decreased ride comfort, and the lack of tire choices.

If you think about it, a 42" Krawler on a 20" rim is going to have ~ 1" more sidewall as a 37" Krawler on a 17" rim.

The new 42" Krawlers are at the top of my tire wish list.

Damn...85 lbs a wheel! I guess it shouldn't surprise me...the 17" Stazworks a friend had were ridiculously heavy. They were real nice wheels but we had issues with them balancing and assembly was a bitch.

I'm looking forward to the 42 Krawlers too....but I know the price tag is going to hurt.

[tmorgan4]

Any feedback on 20" inner beads with single beadlocks? I'd hate to spend $1800 on rims and lose an inner bead the first time out.