Next month i'll be upgrading my tires to 35" Nitto Trail Grapplers along with Moto Metal 962 wheels. I just cant make up my mind whether to get 18" wheels or 20" wheels. I attached an H3 with 20" Moto Metal 962's and 35's on it. Now the question is 18"s or 20"s?

 

Hmmm. let me think...........I'd go with 16. Plan on going off road with those tires and wheels? if so then do a lot of reading on offroad performance recommendations, safety, and what sizes the serious off road pros use on trail and street rigs. From the pros and the national safety council their recommendation is to stay as small a diameter that you can. more sidewall more traction and stability. greater grabbing power. It's all there for you. Most people ignore this and do what they want anyway, so take it as it is.

 

Go with 18's so there is still a lot of rubber for the sidewall, if you off road keep the stock wheels and tires for that. I have 18 rockstars with 35's and i take hunting in the woods and on the beach. If you want to climb rocks keep the stock wheels and just upgrade the tire size. 315/75/16's on stock and 12.5/35/18's on 18x9 rims. My 2 cents

 

I did get rid of the nerd bars and put rock rails, so I use my tire as a step to put stuff on the roof. The tires will stick out a bit so crap flying up from the road is something to keep in mind with 18's or 20's

 

I personally prefer 16's but If I had to go bigger, I wouldn't go any bigger than 18's.
I haven't see any H3's with 20's or 22's that looked good to me.

 

Our new H3 came with 18", they make the truck look much smaller than our old one with 16".

If you go with a larger size rim, choose a black one to minimize this optical illusion effect.

 

I offroad mine with 18s. I would not do it with 20s. If you offroad go with 18s and no more. if you are set on trail grapplers look into 295/70/18s, this is what I run on XD SPYs. they are close enough to 35s, but are cheaper than the 35s.

 

Less rim more tire ! Personally I agree with everyone saying 16s. I had 15"x10" wheels on my truck with 35x12.50x15 Baja Claws before selling it and buying the H3 and I loved them. But if your choice is only between 18" and 20" I would definitely go 18 ! Hope all the replies help and you are happy in the end with what you choose.

 

There is a plethora of off road dedicated tech tire/wheel articles out there that in a nut shell state you want the tire diameter double that of your wheel for serious off road use so that you can run low PSI and get good sidewall flex.

Example: 16" wheel and 33" tire... 16" X 2 = 32" so if your tire is 32" or more your are good; 17" wheel and 35" (BTW most 35s are 34.5" or so, not actually 35") ... 17" X 2 = 34" so if your tire is 34" or more, all is good.

18" X 2 = 36" ... 35s do not make that cut.

Reality is, most of us drive far more miles on the road that we ever get the chance to off road, so those tech articles maybe more oriented to an off road dedicated vehicle. The information is worth considering, but not everybody spends all day rock crawling.

IMHO 20s are great for pimp mobiles, otherwise they just look goofy. 18s can push that same pimp mobile envelope, especially when chrome.

Rice rubber sucks, buy American.

 

Here's my Nitto Trail Grapplers with 18" Chrome Moto Metals. So I guess I'm pushing that pimp mobile envelope.

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https://www.hummerforums.com/forum/m...-001a-3888.jpg

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