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just purchased a 2005 2wd Eddie Bauer Excursion. It has stock 16” wheels , 265/75/16 wrangler tires.
Very happy with truck and was wondering are there any advantages in upgrading wheels to 18” or 20” besides aesthetics.
i prefer a soft, smooth ride with the best possible handling I can get for this large suv. I mostly use it for city and highway driving. I appreciate all feedback.
thanks
Larger diameter wheels can fit larger diameter brake rotors but remember that for a given size tire the larger rim the more harsh the ride but the crisper the handeling, like everything it’s a trade off.
if you were to go up in tire size and down in aspect ratio you could keep the sidewall about the same size and keep the ride similar to stock.
a 275/70r18 should fit nicely if your front leaf springs are not sagged.
Thanks for the quick reply. I am new to this, can I improve the stock ride? If it stays similar I don’t necessarily need to change. The tires I have now on the truck are fairly new. If I can improve the ride, I would definitely consider.
I don’t know how yours rides now or if the suspension is stock or modified but as a general statement the ride can always be improved.
lets start with what you have.
measure from the center of the hub straight up to the bottom of the fender arch.
post all 4 measurments. This will give us a good idea what springs gs you have in it.
then a picture of the front and rear shocks. When you do the fronts try and include the bump stops in the pic and in the rear include the front 1/2 of the leaf spring.
just purchased a 2005 2wd Eddie Bauer Excursion. It has stock 16” wheels , 265/75/16 wrangler tires.
Very happy with truck and was wondering are there any advantages in upgrading wheels to 18” or 20” besides aesthetics.
i prefer a soft, smooth ride with the best possible handling I can get for this large suv. I mostly use it for city and highway driving. I appreciate all feedback.
thanks
Which power plant does the Excursion have? Our Excursion is also 2wd and shocks seem to make the biggest difference in ride comfort, but the last set of tires I put on it I went a bit taller and wider with 285/75/R16 and it helped. I have run this size on my F350 4wd since the beginning and it takes some of the harshness out of the ride, but I do run stiffer shocks on it.
You'll be fine with the 285/75/R16 and I would not recommend the 18" tire as it is way off from factory. The 285/75/R16 compared to the 265/75/R16 in an E rating is a softer ride as there is more sidewall plus it is offset a little. I would look at your shocks right now and see if they need replacement and then the tires when they need it.
I use the yellow Monroes on my F350, but it's a front spring leaf 4x4...painted a different color of course. I utilize a silver Monroe Reflex variable rate shock on the wife's 2wd Excursion. I think the last set were Gabriel and I liked them because to me they had a firmer stance. The Monroe units have more bounce to them, but the wife likes that and she drives it most of the time. I think these would work well with the stock size 265/75/R16 load range E tires, but I went with a set of the 285/75/R16 load E range tires this last time to help the ride for her. The only reason I had to replace the Gabriel units was because the back passenger shock was ruined because the lower axle shock mount was compromised...why Ford mounted the rear shocks in this manner is beyond me.
