Can I retrofit 18" wheels to an Expedition that came with 20's, like a Limited ? Ideally I'd find an FX4, but they seem to be rare as hens teeth, and I want many of the features on the Limited, but I want to run 18" A/T tires.

and, can I use any Ford 18" such as ones for an F250, or do they use different offsets ?

 

F250's are 8 lug. if the wheels you find will clear brake caliper {easily tested} you should be good . some years 18's were stock size with 20's optional, you can research that upfront when you find one that interests you.

 

I meant to say F150, fingers did a number o me, since I currently *own* a F250, but mine is has 16" and is a 7.3 diesel.

 

Yes you should be able to run 18s especially since the spare is still a 17" or 18" wheel. I have heard of a problem of an Expedition guy running a set of F150 take offs and had a problem with the rears working but not a fitment issue it was the little 1.5" diameter Ford pop on center cap emblem not going due to the rear axle stub sticking out which isn't there on the F150 solid rear axle. So perhaps the Expedition does have about a 1/2" farther offset since that's all it would have taken to clear the center cap.

 

But like someone already mentioned if you do find some wheels just take the tools to swap one real quick to make sure it clears the front calipers.

 

This is basically the only issue with using F150 wheels on the Expedition. The rear axle shaft stubs protrude about 1/4" too far to get the wheel center cap on. Most people, myself included, just trim the shaft. As far as I know, all 6-lug Expedition and F150 rims that are 17", 18", or 20" are +44mm offset, except F150 Raptor wheels are +34mm. I say "as far as I know" because there's almost 20 years of wheels that I'm not keeping up with.

 

My FX4 came with the 18" painted wheels. Just ordered the LT275x70x18 BFG KO'2s and sell the 275x65x18 Michelin Primacy P rated tires. Going from a 32 to 33" tire but same width plus its a 10 ply. Had good luck with the BFG TA/KO's in the past.

 

I hope you meant LT275/70R18 because R17 ain';t gonna fit on your wheels, and I'm not sure 17" wheels will clear the brakes and spindle. With 33's, of course, your speedometer and odometer will read about 3% lower (fewer wheel revs per mile)

 

Good catch!! Must of had a senior moment...

I'll check it out with a GPS afterwards. A one inch height increase would put you spot on the actual speed you were going. I had to use an Edge programmer to correct for tire height when I went from a 32" to a 35" tall tire. 3 inch height increase was roughly 6 mph less with the rev per mile factor.