How did 22 inch rims affect your ride?

MACKBUSA

Member
Name
david
I like rims. But the older i get i DON'T like buying tires every 6 months just to look cool. I also don't like having to drive 2 miles per hour over every bump on the road because i don't want to bend or crack a rim. What did you do?
 
Welcome to :iS2: David.

New tires every year just not cool to me neither. I'm very comfortable to say that 22" wheels is the best size for look and ride quality for the FX based solely my experience. I had 22x10.5 on 285/40R22 tires with H&R lowering springs. Love the ride and not have to worry or slowing down to 10 mph to go over railroad tracks nor bumps and dips in the road. A good set of tires last me about around 38,000 miles (about 8 months of a year for 4 years) with tire rotation on every oil change (7,500 miles). Since I'm in the Chicago area with pretty nasty winter months, I have a dedicated winter set of wheels and tires to handle the salt and snow for about 3 months.

If you run 22" on stock springs, tires should last a few thousands more miles due to much less camber wears when comparing it to running with lowering springs. And its obvious that the quality of the 22" wheels also a factor on the chances of having a bent/crack wheel after going over those unavoidable pot holes.
 
22"s on an FX isn't that big of a deal, you're still running 35 or 40 series tires which is a big sidewall. I ran 22"s for 3 years in city streets and never once bent a wheel or cracked one and that was driving through potholes, metal plates, rocks, uneven pavement, everything. Other than losing a tire due to construction debris, never had any issues.

The ride will be a little harsher than on OEM wheels, but it's not a huge difference. Wheel size has zero impact on tire life, that's all alignment and rubber compound. I dropped down to 20"s because I was going for a different look and more responsive handling, but 22"s work fine on the FX.
 
I agree with them. I too run 22" wheels on 265/40 tires with coilovers and the ride is not bad at all. Before that I had 20" wheels with 265/45 tires and the difference was very minimal. I was worried about the ride being harsh until I tried it. I'm in the Chicago area too, our roads definitely put wheels to the test. Haven't had any issues in 3 years.
 
In terms of tires its all about what you do with the suspension, if you slam it and have your alignment all over the place, then yeah you might wear through tires quicker. But if your just stock, or on springs, or even coils and don't slam the car, you will be fine.

In terms of bending a wheel, I am the worst possible case for our vehicles (short of like the donk guys I guess), I have 22" wheels on 30 series rubber. I am careful with this setup, I don't fly over bumps, and I avoid construction and bad roads. I do this for more reasons than bending a wheel though, I also don't like to beat the ship out of my suspension or other components.

That's not to say however that I havn't hit a couple big bumps, and as of yet I havn't had even a remote issue.

So i'd say you would be fine with 22's on 35 or 40 series rubber.
 
22's aren't too serious, I have factory 21's you have room for beefy tires on the FX as long as you dont slam it, like meme said. keep it aligned and the camber right and you won't have an issue.

Like you, I don't want to have to slow down and swerve to drive down the road.
 
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