[devilray427]

I have the Z71 2011 wheels, I am looking to upgrade Tires, and eventually wheels unless I step down to 17's then it will be sooner. I have the bilstein 5100's on the top tier and will be running 285's. Would you guys recommend swapping my 18's for 17's to save some cash????

Thanks in advance,
Mike

 

[ricka182]

I suppose if you can get a good deal on the wheels, and it works out for a savings after all considerations... Personally, I prefer a 17" wheel, over an 18"...but I wasn't given the option when I bought. the 17" Z71 wheel is what I could get, so I got it. I wouldn't spend my money on making such a small change.

 

[09chevyman]

I agree as well, with the price of wheels, I wouldn't change.

 

[devilray427]

I would like to swap the wheels eventually...maybe sooner if I think I can save a significant amount of money on Tires....Would I save a large amount on tires?? I have heard some mention that 18's are viewed as a specialty size.....

 

[tcarr25]

You might save some but idk that it'd be enough to really worry about. I switched for 2 reasons. 1 because i prefer a smaller rim and 2 because there were a lot more tire options available for 17 than 18.

 

[ricka182]

Well a quick check on Tire Rack shows a set of BFG 285/70/17's, at $217 per tire. For a tire with an 18" wheel, you might be paying about $100 more total... So not a huge savings, but certainly not throw away money. In this case, I would just suck it up, pay the difference and keep the same size wheel....

Unless, the new wheels were stupid cheap....maybe I would go with them. But I'm still running stock wheels with Plastidip, only because I couldn't find a set of wheels I liked, and that I could afford, and that was in the same size..

Edit: As tcarr says, generally more options for a 17" tire...but 18" tires are not obsolete, so it's your call.

Hmm..another quick search gives me this.. A set of AR708 wheels, in a 17x8.5 size, at $728 for the set, plus a set of DC Trail Country tires at $956 for a set of 4.. And obviously, you could go with any wheel or tire brand you wanted. This is a very generic search, looking for 17's and 285's... Buy you're in for about $2000 with taxes, delivery, leveling if needed, etc...

 

[rsundberg]

I'd be willing to straight trade my Z71 17" wheels for your 18" wheels! I think it really depends on what you think a big price difference in tire price is, especially when you factor the cost over 40,000 or so miles.