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

[oxnor]

**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):

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.

This is amazing, thank k you.

have you noticed any issues with 20mm offset vs 44mm? Having the tire stick out another inch?
thank you

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[tls]

Just to close out one more open question - I have been told by a Ford engineer, though not one who works in this particular area, that Ford rates its wheels lower on the front than the rear because the front wheels take more lateral forces in cornering and in off-road/"urban" driving (curb strikes, potholes, etc). If this is right, it might make sense to discount the rating of an aftermarket wheel to a similar degree when it's on the front - but a 2500lb rated wheel is going to be sufficient either way.

Some of the older OEM F150 wheels (both those shown in the chart I linked to and others you can find in the same book for prior years) have much, much lower ratings, and some current wheels do too. It always makes sense to check before assuming if it bolts up, it's safe (maybe it would have made sense for Ford to use the 8 lug pattern from the F250 for the Lightning, but then everything would cost more and we'd have less options...).

 

[El Duderino]

Just to close out one more open question - I have been told by a Ford engineer, though not one who works in this particular area, that Ford rates its wheels lower on the front than the rear because the front wheels take more lateral forces in cornering and in off-road/"urban" driving (curb strikes, potholes, etc). If this is right, it might make sense to discount the rating of an aftermarket wheel to a similar degree when it's on the front - but a 2500lb rated wheel is going to be sufficient either way.

Some of the older OEM F150 wheels (both those shown in the chart I linked to and others you can find in the same book for prior years) have much, much lower ratings, and some current wheels do too. It always makes sense to check before assuming if it bolts up, it's safe (maybe it would have made sense for Ford to use the 8 lug pattern from the F250 for the Lightning, but then everything would cost more and we'd have less options...).

Thanks for this post. I was wondering why the discrepancy. Makes more sense.

 

[RLXXI]

I think some may be confused with the front/rear ratings. Those are not what each set of wheels can handle, if it was it would make for a really expensive tire rotation. Both front and rear wheels are rated for the exact same weight.

 

[El Duderino]

I think some may be confused with the front/rear ratings. Those are not what each set of wheels can handle, if it was it would make for a really expensive tire rotation. Both front and rear wheels are rated for the exact same weight.

When taken as an individual component independently, yes, same rating.

But when you bolt it up to the front axle with a tire, Ford de-rates the amount of max loading as an assembly.

See post #32

 

[digitaldad]

This is amazing, thank k you.

have you noticed any issues with 20mm offset vs 44mm? Having the tire stick out another inch?
thank you

Thats a bit of a can of worms on my answer & my application. I'm doing a 35" tire (4x4) setup in my case. You will find a lot of aftermarket are either 18, 20 or 0 offset. Since I have done everything to go against the rules of effeciency, I sort of wish I had just gone with 0.

With that said, if you are looking for OEM sizing (or as close to as possible), you will be fine with 20. Since my tires are so large, trimming is involved. If you stick with the normal 33"ish sizing, you shouldn't need any trimming (sometimes even at 34") and would just have a bit of poke.

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