Would You Ever Run 20s?

Looking at a set of American Racing Salt Flat wheels.  Staggered. They are one of only a few new style wheels that look okay on older vehicles, and also don't look dorky in sizes that are bigger than 15".



  Will possibly end up on the Tan Panther, but the plan is to put them on my '78 D100, and then take the steel 17" Charger wheels off of that, paint them body color and swap them onto the Ford. 

The 17" steelies (Under hubcaps) on the D100- 




(Long story as to why the truck had the Charger wheels, but it had to do with the fact that it was a 2200 mile fly and drive, and I was able to get the seller to knock off over a grand off the price if he kept his "bling" 22 inchers that were on it, and he tossed the Charger wheels on) 



The plan is to free up the Torque Thrusts so I can put them on the AMC Spirit when it gets home.  

The Magnum 500s are okay-ish, but not really the look I want on the Spirit. I might swap them onto my 1967 Coronet wagon.  I do not have a build thread at this point, and I think only one photo of it, sorry)



 


The point of all this?  20" wheels have grown on me ever since I slapped a set of 20" wire wheels with knockoffs on my '73 Imperial.  They aren't for everything, but I like the way they look on some bodystyles, and only when dropped a little (or a lot)  I'm in the process of swapping a set of 20" Ram spares onto my '89 2wd Ramcharger, and the look works for me.  (The wheels in the first photo are mine, but the RC in the second is not.  It gives an idea of about how mine would- although I will leave the wheels painted argent and the tires are off a newer Camaro and a little short on this, IMO)



This looks like a set of staggered 17" Torque Thrusts on a '79 D100 SWB Utiline.  I think 17" is as big as a 5 spoke wheel can get and still look "right.




These look bigger than 20" on a bagged '75 IndyTruck replica.  A great look, but my truck would cost 1/10th of just the chassis on this thing.



(I would never run a tire with this short of a sidewall)

I like the way 20s fill the wheelwell and the visual impact over the 17s TBH, and had been looking at smoothies from Detroit Steel Wheels, US Wheels but they were too heavy and/or too expensive and then a set of Coys Wheel C33, but they are a custom order in 5 on 4.5", quite a bit pricier, and frankly, no of the aforementioned would work on as many of my vehicles as the Salt Flat.   I have found a great deal on a new set of the 20' Salt Flat, and that is swaying me towards them. They are still more expensive than 17s, but in my wheelhouse.   The truck isn't ever going to do "heavy truck stuff"; I have other options for that.  Light duty stuff, sure.  
 

C33 for reference.  The Detroit and US Wheel would look similar.  US is the cheapest, and was in the running until I found cheaper Salt Flats.  Again, I will run a much taller sidewall than this, and this is a bit lower than I would like.



So, would you run 17s, or try the 20s?   Keep in mind I have heard every "rubber band tire" "ghetto wheel" and "it's ruined" complaint before, and really don't care about misplaced anger.   Reasonable arguments, please, and thank you.   You may or may not be able to change my mind, but I still would like some opinions as I am still on the fence, even though I am leaning.  My choices at this point are only the wheels mentioned in the sizes mentioned, unless you think you know of something cooler looking in the same size.   I'm not interested in discussing 15 inchers, as I have sets of most of the traditional sets of those for RWD and they really won't work for what I am looking to do.  

 

Honestly depends on the wheel. I'd be more open to it on a full size truck, even on a full size car I'd probably stop at 18" for F-body/older mustang sized stuff I like to stop at 17". 

Though I will full admit to seeing a classmate's triple white '75 Caprice drop top on 26"s and not hating it. But I would never roll my own like that.

I will happily sell you a set of really hideous 2002 era 20" 5x5.5 pattern chrome 5 spokes for scrap value if that's what you're after. Nobody else seems to want them.

EDIT: Were D100s 5x4.5 bolt pattern? I definitely remember  that my D150 was 5x5.5.

Not until I am forced to. 15" truck tires are expensive enough, no need to double that for a cosmetic reason.

In reply to Daylan C :

Early were 4.5", late were 5.5"  (Which is why I am able to use Ram spares on my '89 Ramcharger)

As I said, not interested in modern style or chrome wheels.   Which is why I mentioned the wheels I like.  I'm going to buy a set of one of the wheels mentioned.  I really don't like a high percentage of void, especially on a large wheel.

In reply to RevRico :

I can get 17s and 20s nearly as cheap as 15s, and they are easier to find.  Cetainly nowhere near double.

Not intentionally. Who knows, I might get to be rich enoigh that I can buy new wheels every month.

20s on a new truck are fine.  Pretty much anything else, no. 

An aside:  No classic wheels look good upsized.  The best one is the Firebird Bandit wheel, but they share some characteristics with more modern wheels anyway.

Crager ss, kidney beans mags, all look stupid as a 17.

Of course, that's just my opinion.  I could be wrong.

I like it. Plus, it gives you a few more options tire wise 

Not unless they quit making 17 and 18 inch tires.  They charger has 19’s and they are stupid, though they look normal because the scale of modern car wheel openings is equally huge compared to the giant slab sides.  

I have 16's on my 2000 F-350 and get asked why the wheels are so small. It's not a 4 WD or lifted and they are the stock alloy wheels! But I have to agree they look small by modern standards.

I like the Salt Flats, and since the opportunity for shameless promotion of my center caps for A.R.E. wheels is very rare on this forum here it is.

A.R.E. makes some nice looking wheels and because they are also considered affordable by many they're used a lot. Changing the center cap can dramatically change the "look" of the wheel so the wheels don't look like the same ones many others have with the stock A.R.E. center caps. I have some designed to accept factory emblems and "smooth" style to be engraved or run as is. The smooth style with a factory design or custom design would look right on your truck IMO.  https://lab-14.myshopify.com/products/002-smooth-center-caps-that-fit-american-racing-wheels-click-for-description-and-more-pics  They're billet aluminum and can be engraved by trophy shops etc.

[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/RAD%20CAPZ%20Wheel%20Nutz/DSC_0839.jpg.html][/URL]

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

As I mentioned in the OP, must of the aftermarket classic wheels don't work upsized.  But smoothies and artillery wheels work in the 18"+ range, because they came in those sizes when new.    The Salt Flat is a neomodern take on a classic design, and I think it works quite well in 17-20" diameters.  15s look tiny in the wheelwells of my truck, and the 17' wheels on my silver D100 look like they are stock 15s. Once it is lowered, they will look even smaller.   


Here is a Chevy on staggered 20s.  The rear tire is still too short IMO.  Most people try to run car sized tires on these, and it just doesn't work right.  I would run something closer to 30" tall.

Knurled. said:

Not intentionally. Who knows, I might get to be rich enoigh that I can buy new wheels every month.

Why would you want to buy wheels every month?

I’ve been driving on 20’s for two weeks. I Berkleying hate them. 

Salt Flats on pickups, older pickups just plain work. A buddy had them on a 58 Apache.  Was so right.

Cooter said:

Knurled. said:

Not intentionally. Who knows, I might get to be rich enoigh that I can buy new wheels every month.

Why would you want to buy wheels every month?

I have a set of bent 14" and bent 15" car wheels.  20s would last about a day before they started to get ruined.

My wife's CX-9 has 20" wheels stock. Already managed to bend/crack one of them, and they actually have some decent sidewall to the tires, as a large-ish crossover.

I would have no interest in running 20s on anything other than something similar - definitely not on a car or any kind of utilitarian vehicle (pickup, real SUV, etc).

Just my 2 cents. 

In reply to irish44j :

I'm loosely trying to find a set of 17x8 OEM wheels for my Volvo, because the 18s are bent and mangled, and 235/45-17s are an easier tire to find than 235/40-18s

Yes, I see the ridiculousness in running a -1 for summer tires.  (17x8s were stock on some Rs, just not on mine)

I think they can look good. And if I had a vehicle that I was more worried about looking good than driving good then I could do 20's.

I much prefer more sidewall from an NVH perspective. And to that point I think even 17's are excessive. 

But I grew up driving on big old 75 series tires and find anything shorter than a 60 series way too short. 

I just say the 22s that were on my 92 Suburban rode like absolute E36 M3, mostly due to their weight - iirc over 70lbs each! 

Granted, those were really too large for the truck, but even going with 20s your sidewall is going to be very minimal, and you’re likely still going to increase your unsprung weight considerably. 

I want to say no, but if current trends continue we probably won't be able to get good auto X tires in anything smaller.

It's a pickup truck. It will never ride like a car. Put the wheels you dig on it. 

Other than with a gargantuan offroad tire or on a show car, it's hard to imagine why I would. For use on a street or track car with low-profile tires, they're costly, fragile, and debead easily. Best to stick to 18s or smaller.

No

Classic vehicles shouldn't be on anything bigger than 16's, it just looks silly.

If you want silly 20s, I present you with a staggered fitment of 20x5/5.5