17" and big tires VS 18" with smaller tires?
 

With spring around the corner, new shoes are in the works. I'm deciding between 17"s with a taller tire or 18"s with a sleeker tire. Any thoughts on either choice? I don't care about MPG, my concern is with loss of performance and ride quality. I currently have stock 17"s and don't plan to get a tuner til my warranty expires(2 years). My truck is 2wd and driven mostly in the city so I'm leaning towards the 18's. I kind of like the look of big tires and small rims but feel it would be a bit impractical. Any opinions would be appreciated.

Not a huge difference between the two in my opinion. If you were looking at 17's or 20's there's a noticeable difference. But not a whole lot between 18's and 17's. Probably only you would notice the difference so I'd say go with what you can find for a better deal.

I've had both and prefer 17's. Cheaper all around for tires and rims fwiw. I like more sidewall on my tires. But again it's barley noticeable from how my 18's looked.

What size 17 you run then? I was thinking of going down to 17s myself to save a buck.

I'm running 17s and 33s on my truck now with a Rancho 4in Lift. I will be going to 35s later on. I've always liked the bigger sidewall versus the "cityboy" look with 35s and 20s or 35s and 22s.

Stay with your stock rim size. No performance diff between the two and cheaper with 17" tires.

I have 17s and love them. More sidewall for a smoother ride offroad and tires are cheaper.

Weather you go with 17" or 18", make sure your tire diameter remains the same. If you change your overall diameter it will change your speedo reading plus a few other things like performance (larger=slower, smaller=faster). Not huge differences but if you change it too much it can do some damage. I've heard no more than a 3% difference. Now, a smaller rim with a taller sidewall is better for off roading (Raptor has 17" rims), generally a better ride. But that also has a lot to do with rubber compound, tread design, tire construction, etc.. A larger diameter rim with a shorter side wall (the F150 Harley Davidson has 22" rims) generally gives a bit more responsiveness to steering input and is usually better suited to street driving. But a really short sidewall, a so called "Ribbon" tire, will really adversely effect your ride quality. Again a lot of that comes from compound, etc.. So, do you prefer a little better ride, or do you do a little off roading?

Thanks for the replies. I'm not too worried about the price difference, I just want to be happy with my decision. I'll only run them half the year anyway, I'll keep my stock rims with snow tires for winter.

I agree with the "cityboy" look thing even though I'm a city boy lol, 20's just look too big for the wheel well. I don't do any real off-roading so I guess I'll go with the 18's. My next truck will be 4x4 so then I can go the 17" route.

I have to go get wider tires though, stock width 2wd is only 255. Looks too skinny and all aftermarket rims are wider than stock. Besides I already have OEM fender flares installed! But if tire width has a more adverse effect than height, on performance or ride quality, that is good to know.

I like these wheels and can't find any pics of them on a truck anywhere. I like that fact but would also like to see a preview first! They are satin black, so they should go well with my satin black vinyl wrap and painted fender flares. I'm still not 100% sure about which tire size I'll go with.
http://www.1010tires.com/Wheels/AR%2.../AX19288566730
This is my truck BTW
Attachment 302011