Ride smoothness with 17inch wheel on 4Runner limited

Hi everyone,

I know that this question has been debated quite frequently, but I read a lot of post on some forum (including this one) about the ride smoothness on 4Runner limited with 17inch wheel vs the original 20inch wheel. Some say that it will be lot better, and some say they doesn't see difference with the 20inch wheel. So I'm little lost ... do the 17inch I will improve ride quality (mostly over bump and pothole), or not. I understand that LT tire will be on the "harder" side of thing. Provide that its a 17inch P rated tire, does it improve the ride or not. If you did the move to the 17inch wheel, please let me know which tire and if it improve your ride.

As always, thank you and have a great day

 

I recently installed trd wheels with 265/70r17 falken wildpeak at3w tires on my wife's nightshade. Ride feels very similar to before almost no change at all. I made the change to 17" wheels for a larger selection of tires and at a cheaper price. I'm very happy with how it turned out appearance wise also.

 

Same here, I use 20" wheels with original Yokohama tires during Summer and 17" TRD wheels with Dunlop P rated tires during Winter. Ride feels very similar. The truck feels a bit more planted with the 20" though. Can't say if it's the tires or the diameter of the wheels but the difference is subtil.

 

Thank you all for the anwser, meanwhile I get a set of 4Runner Trail wheel with the Bridgestone Dueller 684ii tire. I did find that it smooth the ride relatively well over the hard surface and pothole (less harsh we may call it ?). What I notice, however, is that the tire is little more noisy on the road at highway speed. Also, it seem that I get a loser MPG than with the 20inch which is expected because the tire is slightly larger. Overall, I find the trail wheel more suited to the truck that the OEM 20inch wheel (I think it look like an Hot Wheel with the 20inch wheel). Next step I will shop for a ''more'' confortable tire than the OEM Bridgestone. Maybe the Michelin Defender LTX or the LTX AT2. I also see that the Continental TerrainContact AT have great review, but I wonder about the softness of the ride and the highway noise since its an AT tire.

 

I didn't notice any decrease in fuel economy with my change. The weight of the stock 20" wheels and tires is heavier by about 2lbs each than my new set up. The new set up is wider giving more rolling resistance though. In the end it seems to be a wash, my wife is still getting 19.5 - 20 mpg on her commute.

 

for my part in fact im liter per 100km, so the increase in mpg is probably not relevant probably less than 1mpg.

 

Did anyone have the Continental TerrainContact AT or Michelin Defender LTX and how they are compare too OEM ?