Any one tow a 20' Boat with 24" rims? 2wd

dkorzun21

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Mar 22, 2009
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Just wondering if any of you out there tow with rims on your truck and if its a good or bad idea? Im getting 24" rims this summer and tow a 20' boat about 20 mins to the lake. Its also 2wd so i dont know if that would even cuz a probleming with slipping at the ramp. I have never had a problem before
 

Shamus O'toole

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Re: Any one tow a 20' Boat with 24" rims? 2wd

the biggest problems I've seen with guys putting big rims on trucks and cars is braking. If you add this much rolling mass on stock brakes you'll lower your braking efficiency. You might not notice until you have to panic stop or put an extra load on the vehicle. As far as issues at the ramp. I haven't heard about anyone having issues.
 

haulnazz15

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Re: Any one tow a 20' Boat with 24" rims? 2wd

By increasing the OD of the tire, you are effectively lowering the overall gear ratio. This will likely result in less slip at the ramp, but slower acceleration when getting on a highway. The downside to 24" rims, aside from being rediculous in and of themselves, is that no one makes tires for them that will be anything more than a rubberband around the wheel. So you get crappy ride characteristics, and if you happen to get off the edge of the ramp or pull of in a soft grassy area, there's a good chance you'll get stuck since the tread pattern is made strictly for on-pavement driving.

Nothing wrong with it, but just know your limitations both with where you decide to venture and how much load you place on the wheels.
 

smokeonthewater

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Re: Any one tow a 20' Boat with 24" rims? 2wd

sounds bad to me.... someone might run in to you at the ramp while laughing..... of course not everyone thinks they are as funny looking as I do so you might get lucky
 

jeeperman

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Re: Any one tow a 20' Boat with 24" rims? 2wd

By increasing the OD of the tire, you are effectively lowering the overall gear ratio. This will likely result in less slip at the ramp, but slower acceleration when getting on a highway. The downside to 24" rims, aside from being rediculous in and of themselves, is that no one makes tires for them that will be anything more than a rubberband around the wheel. So you get crappy ride characteristics, and if you happen to get off the edge of the ramp or pull of in a soft grassy area, there's a good chance you'll get stuck since the tread pattern is made strictly for on-pavement driving.

Nothing wrong with it, but just know your limitations both with where you decide to venture and how much load you place on the wheels.

Actually they do make 36" to 38" o.d. offroad mud tread tires for 24" rims. Only $500+ each but they do make them. In load range D and E also.
 

haulnazz15

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Re: Any one tow a 20' Boat with 24" rims? 2wd

Actually they do make 36" to 38" o.d. offroad mud tread tires for 24" rims. Only $500+ each but they do make them. In load range D and E also.

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like it wasn't possible to find them, I was merely saying that it was unlikely he was going to have a truck lifted enough to have 24's with 38" tires. He better have replaced the stock gearing by that point or he'd be saying bye-bye to his tranny/diff. Minimum 4.88's, lol. In any case I think anything over a 20" wheel just looks silly. Not enough tire-to-wheel ratio if ya know what I mean!
 

Bondo

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Re: Any one tow a 20' Boat with 24" rims? 2wd

Ayuh,... I'd be concerned with the weight rating 1st,+ traction on the ramp 2nd....
 

DaNinja

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Re: Any one tow a 20' Boat with 24" rims? 2wd

I have a 1999 Dodge 1500 4x4, with a 360/Auto as my tow vehicle.
I have 20's with 275/60 tires. It looks great, but performance was hurt.
Braking, acceleration, and towing were all impacted.

When these tires are finished, I think I'm going back to a stock setup.
 

NYBo

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Re: Any one tow a 20' Boat with 24" rims? 2wd

If you try to tow the boat without rims, you will wreck your brake rotors and drag the bottom of the truck on the ground!:eek:

Oh, you meant oversize rims. A lot of money for decreased function, IMO. But to each his own. Load rating and traction would be my concerns.
 

CaptainSkip

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Aug 23, 2009
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Re: Any one tow a 20' Boat with 24" rims? 2wd

Around here they call those rims "Donks" and "Dubbs" forget which ones are bigger, ground's usually vibrating when you see 'em. They have a store that rents these rims, kind of like rent-o-center, you could try that before committing to buying them. Good Luck
 

lmannyr

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Re: Any one tow a 20' Boat with 24" rims? 2wd

Like said above, check rating.

Lower profile tires have crappy grip. The tread will slip nicely into the pond if the ramp has algae. No but really, your gonna have trouble on steep and slippery ramps on the way our with your load.

Go 20" too add more gripping rubber.

Good luck!
 

made in china

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Aug 19, 2009
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Re: Any one tow a 20' Boat with 24" rims? 2wd

The problem I see is two fold:

1. Many big rims are cheaply made to maximize the diameter/bling/$$ value ratio.

2. Many big rims I see on vehicles have cheap, no-name sporty looking tires. Big, wide "sporty" tires also don't do well in friction-challenged scenarios like wet surfaces, slime or gravel. Wider tread can actually reduce the ability of a tire to bite thru the muck by spreading the vehicle weight over a larger surface area.

My biggest concern would be if you are trying to spend as little money as possible to get as much bling as possible. I've seen a lot of Chinese made rims and tires on the market. I would not want that garbage on my rig while I was towing.
 

livin4real

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May 22, 2009
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Re: Any one tow a 20' Boat with 24" rims? 2wd

Alot of misconceptions. I have had 20's (275/45) on my Explorer for the last 4 years. I don't run any bigger because they would rub my fender wells. I also don't go any lower on the sidewall height because it reduces towing ability. I spent 3 years dragging a 16ft. enclosed trailer all over the country for my sons quad racing, through some of the nastiest, muddiest parking lots you can imagine with no problems. I also tow our 21' Chaparral deck boat with it with no issues.

For most people who are putting big rims on, the gear ratio change is minimal because most use low pro tires with bigger wheels so the total diameter is still comparable to stock. My 20's with low pro tires are the same size as my stock wheels with stock tires. You just have to keep going down on sidewall when going up on rim size.

And as far as the comment about low pro tires have crappy grip? really? Is that why I see all these sports cars that hug the road sitting on 33's? That's a ridiculous statement. My Sumitomo tires are H-rated for speed and A rated for traction (only better rating is AA) and hook up great on a wet ramp. The softer the compound, the better the grip.

To the OP, you will have no towing capacity with 24's unless you use something in a 45 or bigger sidewall. Just make sure your vehicle will accommodate the larger setup when turning and hitting bumps, etc. Just remember tire cost when thinking about going big. Tires alone for my 20's run around $700 with balance, install, road hazard, etc. 20's are very common now, not so with 24's yet so expect to pay more for quality tires.
I actually saw a Hummer on ebay two weeks ago with 30's on it :eek:
$10K for wheels and tires alone, now that's crazy!
 

dkorzun21

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Mar 22, 2009
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Re: Any one tow a 20' Boat with 24" rims? 2wd

Ok thanks guy. I'm going to make sure when I order the rims to get the biggest side walls and whats best for for slick gravel roads so I dont have any issue. The wheels are made for trucks so I hope they have somthing more aggresive for the tires to choose from rather then the sport tires they usally put on there. so im thinking my biggest factors are looking out for pot holes while im driving and to make sure the tires are rated for the load im pulling my boat ways 2500 pounds so Ill have to figure that out. It really isnt going much bigger since the stock wheels come with 20" rims and the new esclades have 22" rims stock.

How can I find out what tire rating load I should get since my boat 2500 pounds?
 

haulnazz15

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Re: Any one tow a 20' Boat with 24" rims? 2wd

I'd suggest not getting 24's at all, but I'm willing to bet you're under the age of 25 so it's a moot point. There aren't going to be really any "aggressive tread" tires for a 24" wheel unless you want to lift the truck to fit the tires in. I doubt that's the direction you're wanting to go since you're 2WD and wanting bling wheels.

I would just put the 24's on with whatever tires you can fit in the wheel wells and go on. 2500lbs probably isn't going to cause a modern 1/2 ton truck to sweat much at the ramp.
 

dorelse

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Feb 24, 2003
Messages
624
Re: Any one tow a 20' Boat with 24" rims? 2wd

I have a 1999 Dodge 1500 4x4, with a 360/Auto as my tow vehicle.
I have 20's with 275/60 tires. It looks great, but performance was hurt.
Braking, acceleration, and towing were all impacted.

When these tires are finished, I think I'm going back to a stock setup.

Really? You noticed it huh? I wanted to put the 3rd Gen 5-spoke 20"s on my 98 Ram 1500...guess I'll stick with the stock 16's and leave well enough alone!

P7130236.JPG
 

jeeperman

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Aug 2, 2001
Messages
1,513
Re: Any one tow a 20' Boat with 24" rims? 2wd

go to Tire Rack http://www.tirerack.com
And plug in your truck
It will show what was O.E.M. for the O.E.M. rims
If it is the 2007 Silverado 1500 in your signiture than you have 275/55-20 Goodyears with
2403lbs load rating and 31.8"o.d. or maybe Bridgestones at 32"o.d.
So you could go with 295/35R24 which are basically the same o.d. with basically the same load rating. But have a street/sport thread.
From there they basically get taller and way more expensive.

Do some research at Tire Rack as to what 24's are available.
 

haulnazz15

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Mar 9, 2009
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Re: Any one tow a 20' Boat with 24" rims? 2wd

The major difference will be that the 24's will weight a lot more than the 20's, so you'll still feel a difference even with the stock o.d. the same. I would think about going to a 4.10 rear ratio if I were you (or whatever close number works with your rear-end size). It's only $500 to have a shop change it out parts included, and for a 2WD could be done in an hour or two. You wouldn't lose as any power/acceleration then.
 
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