Price shopping: 32/33" tires on 16 vs 17 vs 18 inch wheels

[TheSleepyWeasel]

I've got a 2020 XLT FX4, while my wife has a 2002 Jeep Wrangler. The Jeep hardly sees any real road time, as the Ranger has proven to be the most comfortable & versatile on long road trips, etc. I mention this because we recently did a bunch of work getting the Jeep back on the road, sorting out some handling issues, and the local tire shop wouldn't do a rebalance for us because her tires are 11 years old, but with lots of tread.

This lead me to the idea that if we both ran the same size tires, I could rack up the miles on the truck and then simply give her my high mileage low age tires for the Jeep every time I get new tires for the Ranger. Yes, it will be mildly inconvenient to dismount two sets of tires every time, but it will make a lot more sense than letting the Jeep tires eventually crack & rot while they still have lots of tread.

This leads me to my questions for the group. I know I can't fit 15 inch wheels (the diameter on her Jeep). I've got factory 18's now, running 265/65R-18 BFG AT's, up from the 265/60R-18 original tires. Her Jeep is on 33's and I'd be happy with either 32 or 33 inch diameter tires. I'm not worried about wheel width just yet, as we've got some wiggle room there.

I'm just curious whether anyone else has already gone the route of determining whether 16, 17, or 18 inch tire sizes tend to be the best price point if you want to land in the 32 to 33 inch range?

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[Frenchy]

There will be a bunch of factors to consider when it comes to price. Some of those factors will include(but not limited to) will be the Size(how common is it and how big), the brand, the place you get of from and the type of tire in said size.

Now if you want to go with 33's on the Ranger, I can promise they will look good, but you will most likely have to at least raise the front alone for fitment reasons. Also they will fit with OEM 16, 17 and 18 inch wheels. Just make sure you are willing to commit as you will most likely be buying wheels for both the Jeep and Ranger.

For the tire shop not wanting to touch the tire for the age, well they are not wrong. If a tire is over 7 years old it needs to be replaced. Also a vehicle does. It like to sit. I'm not saying you should take a cross country road trip, but the Jeep needs to be driven more often. To me it sounds like it is lucky to see 100 miles a year the way you are talking.

 

[RangerPNW]

I recall briefly looking at prices for both 17 and 18 inch wheels as my buddy's ranger is on 18's and i'm on 17s. In more modest sizes, 32s in this case, the 17" wheel options were a good 40-60 bucks cheaper than the 18" options. But I can't say for sure if thats the case with 33s.

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