Sponsored

Help identifying if these will work with Lightning - 18" take offs

JRDM2

Member
First Name
J
Joined
Nov 17, 2025
Threads
1
Messages
16
Reaction score
7
Location
Michigan
Vehicles
2025 Lightning Flash
Say if I bought these tires what should I inflate them to on a ‘25 extended range Flash?

For what it’s worth the tire inflation numbers on the stock tires are 42psi like the post immediately above.
Sponsored

 

Scorpio3d

Well-known member
First Name
Chris
Joined
Mar 18, 2024
Threads
32
Messages
1,253
Reaction score
1,616
Location
Texas
Vehicles
2023 Ford F150 Lightning Lariat ER
Occupation
SS/IBA car wash owner
PXL_20251125_034142307.webp


My 2025 Flash with the exact same wheels. Those are off a 24 or a 25 F150. They're a direct fit. No issues on my truck. I had the same set of wheels and tires on an ice F-150 prior to my Lightning and really like them in that application as well. Good in the winter and no road noise.
Did you forget that you did not need to stop and get gas?🤣😂🤣
 

Adventureboy

Well-known member
First Name
Jonathan
Joined
Jan 30, 2023
Threads
1
Messages
1,078
Reaction score
1,053
Location
Ontario
Vehicles
2023 F150 Lightning Lariat
The tread contact patch should be the same since they are about the same diameter and width. I'd start with 42psi and run it there.
If you want to be more precise, you can do a chalk test. It might be good if you run loaded all the time anyway.
This article explains it, but it is a bit of a long winded explanation. https://www.intercotire.com/node/80
 

tls

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 29, 2022
Threads
22
Messages
506
Reaction score
486
Location
New York
Vehicles
2022 Lightning
Most factory F150 wheels are not rated for the weight of the Lightning (at least not the ER, it's a little easier with the SR trucks). Only the actual Lightning wheels and the "64H" wheel supplied on some Heavy Duty Payload Package trucks are. More info here.
 

JRDM2

Member
First Name
J
Joined
Nov 17, 2025
Threads
1
Messages
16
Reaction score
7
Location
Michigan
Vehicles
2025 Lightning Flash
Most factory F150 wheels are not rated for the weight of the Lightning (at least not the ER, it's a little easier with the SR trucks). Only the actual Lightning wheels and the "64H" wheel supplied on some Heavy Duty Payload Package trucks are. More info here.
Hmm I'm glad I didn't commit to any of these wheel sets like the ones we're discussing in this thread. It's too bad as I really like those wheels. Thanks for the refresher.
 

Sponsored

El Duderino

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 25, 2025
Threads
2
Messages
138
Reaction score
124
Vehicles
2025 Flash
Ratings are ratings but do you ever plan for fully load your Lightning to the max payload and drive for a significant amount of time?

You will probably never do exactly that. I sleep at night knowing my Lightning has lower rated wheels than Originals. I don't think I will ever put 50% of the payload rating in my truck. Your mileage may vary but just another way to look at the whole picture.
 

tls

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 29, 2022
Threads
22
Messages
506
Reaction score
486
Location
New York
Vehicles
2022 Lightning
Ratings are ratings but do you ever plan for fully load your Lightning to the max payload and drive for a significant amount of time?

You will probably never do exactly that. I sleep at night knowing my Lightning has lower rated wheels than Originals. I don't think I will ever put 50% of the payload rating in my truck. Your mileage may vary but just another way to look at the whole picture.
Our trucks, particularly those with the ER battery, are so heavy that they usually have _lower_ payload ratings than comparable ICE F150 models. I can overload my ER Lariat easily by filling the box with firewood, and I do move firewood in the winter. Everyone uses their vehicle in their own way and there is more "headroom" with the smaller batteries, but, I would not run wheels or tires rated less that GVWR / 4 at each corner.
 

RLXXI

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 10, 2021
Threads
29
Messages
1,382
Reaction score
1,175
Location
3rd rock
Vehicles
2025 F 150 Flash, 2013 F 150 XLT, 2014 Escape, 2011 Suzuki DR 650SE
Occupation
Automotive Technician

El Duderino

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 25, 2025
Threads
2
Messages
138
Reaction score
124
Vehicles
2025 Flash
Ratings are ratings but do you ever plan for fully load your Lightning to the max payload and drive for a significant amount of time?

You will probably never do exactly that. I sleep at night knowing my Lightning has lower rated wheels than Originals. I don't think I will ever put 50% of the payload rating in my truck. Your mileage may vary but just another way to look at the whole picture.
As a follow up to this post and the link posted above about different F150 ICE and Lightning wheel ratings, I was wrong. It it a significant difference. I don't recommend doing what I did now that I spent the time to do the math:

Lighting wheel weight rating: 2,475
ICE F150 wheel weight rating: 2,249

Difference for (4) wheels: 904 lbs.

That is 50% less payload rating for my 2025 Flash now. Dang... I feel silly and thanks for others who pointed this out. Eating crow... I would have guessed the wheel ratings were higher than the tire ratings.
 

Sponsored

JRDM2

Member
First Name
J
Joined
Nov 17, 2025
Threads
1
Messages
16
Reaction score
7
Location
Michigan
Vehicles
2025 Lightning Flash
On one hand, you're probably well within the safety margin but on the other, there's reasons why safety margins exist, it pays to be aware of the possible issues. There's a risk, however small, that insurance might catch that and cancel coverage if anything happens where the wheel breaks, even if the stock wheels would have failed in said situation.
 
Last edited:

tls

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 29, 2022
Threads
22
Messages
506
Reaction score
486
Location
New York
Vehicles
2022 Lightning
As a follow up to this post and the link posted above about different F150 ICE and Lightning wheel ratings, I was wrong. It it a significant difference. I don't recommend doing what I did now that I spent the time to do the math:

Lighting wheel weight rating: 2,475
ICE F150 wheel weight rating: 2,249

Difference for (4) wheels: 904 lbs.

That is 50% less payload rating for my 2025 Flash now. Dang... I feel silly and thanks for others who pointed this out. Eating crow... I would have guessed the wheel ratings were higher than the tire ratings.
It's not as bad as you think - the total for the 4 wheels needs to add up to the vehicle's GVWR in order to maintain your payload rating. The Lightning wheels are rated for 2,475 rear, 2,025 front - conveniently, exactly 9,000lb. The burliest ICE wheel (the "64H" HDPP wheel) is rated for 2,275 rear, 1,991 front - totalling out to 8,532lb which exceeds the 8,250lb GVWR of the SR Lightningand is 18lb short of the 8,550lb GVWR of _some_ ER models. However, this exact same wheel is shown in other years of the Ford documentation as rated for 2,025 front just like the original Lightning wheels. So this doesn't worry me. The other ICE wheels, though, at 1800-1900 lb on all 4 corners, fall short by a few hundred pounds; that, I'm not comfortable with.
 

El Duderino

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 25, 2025
Threads
2
Messages
138
Reaction score
124
Vehicles
2025 Flash
It's not as bad as you think - the total for the 4 wheels needs to add up to the vehicle's GVWR in order to maintain your payload rating. The Lightning wheels are rated for 2,475 rear, 2,025 front - conveniently, exactly 9,000lb. The burliest ICE wheel (the "64H" HDPP wheel) is rated for 2,275 rear, 1,991 front - totalling out to 8,532lb which exceeds the 8,250lb GVWR of the SR Lightningand is 18lb short of the 8,550lb GVWR of _some_ ER models. However, this exact same wheel is shown in other years of the Ford documentation as rated for 2,025 front just like the original Lightning wheels. So this doesn't worry me. The other ICE wheels, though, at 1800-1900 lb on all 4 corners, fall short by a few hundred pounds; that, I'm not comfortable with.
So I did some more digging on this and did some math shown in this box:


Description:
Front
Rear
Total
% Difference
18x8.5 – Machined Aluminum (64R)​
2025​
2249​
8548​
-5.02%​
20x8.5 Lightning BEV​
2025​
2475​
9000​

I am only 2lbs short of the 8,550 GVWR. Close enough for me.

Also for discussion sake, the wheels are the same part #. What is dictating the wheel rating being less for the front axle versus the rear? You rotate the rear wheels to the front when rotating tires...
 
OP
OP

oxnor

Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2025
Threads
3
Messages
12
Reaction score
4
Vehicles
2024 Flash
wow, I've learned so much here.

This begs the question... are there any aftermarket 18"s that are this "HD" rated? Not sure what to look for on the various websites like Tire Rack and Discount Tire.

I believe the official part number for the ford 18's on the 2025 XTL is RL3Z-1007-S
https://www.ford.com/product/wheel-p4000207866

Which, "discounted" down the ~$750 on various sites through google.

that... is a tough price to pay that's for sure
 

digitaldad

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 14, 2025
Threads
14
Messages
354
Reaction score
328
Location
ABQ
Vehicles
2023 Lariat ER MaxTow
wow, I've learned so much here.

This begs the question... are there any aftermarket 18"s that are this "HD" rated? Not sure what to look for on the various websites like Tire Rack and Discount Tire.
**Shopping for wheels/tires, this applies to all vehicles, not just our truck**

Look at your VIN sticker to identify your minimum weight support (below are actual examples from mine):

Total GVWR = 8400 LB
Front GAWR = 3940 LB
Rear GAWR = 4800 LB

When looking at Discount for example, you want to check the "Load Capacity" of a wheel.

Here's a spec from my actual wheel (yep, they are heavy):
Ford F-150 Lightning Help identifying if these will work with Lightning - 18" take offs tr33


So, from these specific 4 wheels, I support 10000 LB total (or 2500 @ each location, or 5000 at front & back). These amounts are higher than the GVWR & GAWR amounts from the VIN sticker, so this setup supports the minimum....good to go.

Next, look at the Tire and Loading Information stickers (yellow examples above). Take notice of the number to the right of the tire size), in this case, 116T. On your new tires, same thing, you want 115T (example from mine) at a minimum.

The numbers are the load rating, and the letter is the speed rating. You (should) need at minimum, the 115 or 116 (or higher). The speed should also be the same but can go lower or higher. For example, my OEM tires were T, for max speeds of 118 mph. My new ones are 117S, for max speed of 112 mph (and 117 load being higher than 115).

https://www.tiresplus.com/tires/tire-guide/basics/tire-load-index-chart/
https://www.tiresplus.com/tires/tire-guide/basics/understanding-tire-speed-rating/

These are the basics, but a few more important ones.

Wheels - besides bolt pattern and offset, the "Hub Bore Size" should be understood. The Lightning (and modern F150) are 87.1. Meaning, my wheel fits right onto the hub like an OEM wheel. If you buy a wheel that has a larger hub bore, you need to purchase hub reducing rings (typically, aluminum or plastic). This adapts that wheel to your hub to get rid of nvh (noise, vibration, and harshness) and a firm fit onto the hub. This works in conjunction with the appropriate bolt pattern and lugs/lugnuts to make that wheel setup as OEM as can be.

Tires - sidewall ratings, ply ratings, etc. These have to do with stiffness/support on the sides of the tires.

Hope this helps your journey.
Sponsored

 
Last edited:
 







Top