I'm getting tired of the crappy ride and bad mileage in my RCSB, looking at dropping wheel size when I'm due for new tires. Trying to figure out how much weight I'd drop on each corner. If I do this I'll probably want to regear from the current 3.42 to either a 3.23 or a 3.08 (assuming I can find something for the front diff), not sure if it's worth the cost and effort but I figure it's worth exploring at least.

I emailed Nitto support and got weights for the 420S tire in both my current 275/55R20 size and a 275/60R17.

275/55R20 - 44.1 lbs
275/60R17 - 37.9 lbs

I have these LTZ Tahoe 20's on the truck now:





Looking at swapping to something like these 17's:



Anyone know what either of these wheels weighs without a tire on it? I've looked at the wheel weight threads and they either didn't have the info I'm looking for or the descriptions were so bad I couldn't tell what wheels they were talking about.

 

i went from my 20" Gm accessory wheels with Nitto trails 35/12 at 110lbs each

to stock 18" z71 wheels with stock tires and dropped down to 67lbs each

 

Did you notice a big difference in ride quality, handling, or mileage?

 

yes just swapping back to the stockers it seemed as i gained around 3 mpg

truck felt lighter and did ride smoother with stockers

 

I use to have some heavy (100lbs+) 305/40-22s all the way around, i gained at least 1mpg interstate and a noticeable seat of the pants 0-60 accel improvement going to my alum decladed 275/55-20s from less weight and rolling resistance im assuming. Rides a ton better now also, but ride comfort is one of those opinion things usually as everybody's is different..
Ive had both those 17" 5spoke wheels and tahoe 20s before, i was going to use 17s as a set of track wheels, they are very light for a oe wheel if my memory serves me right.
And after a search it looks like i would guess they are somewhere around 23lbs, and those tahoe 20s with tires are probably around 80lbs.

What brand tires do you have? That and air pressures makes a ride difference in my experience. You would gain by a switch, maybe 1mpg and a tenth at the track but thats purely a guess..

 

Thanks for the weights, gonna get a set of 275/60/17 420's for mine.

 

I think my 20's with dueler alenza 275/55's are around 85lbs combined at a guess.

The rim it self has got to be 40lb.

 

I have Toyo Proxes S/T. According to Toyo's website they are 41 lbs per tire. If the rim is 40 lbs, then I am just over 81 lbs combined. I run them at 35 psi.

If I went with the Nitto 420S 275/60R17 and the 23 lb OE wheels I'd be at about 60 lbs combined.

Any estimates on what a 20 lb per corner unsprung weight reduction would do for ride, acceleration, and handling?

 

Because of the change in sidewall height, it "should" ride a little softer and you'll likely feel less of the smaller cracks in the road.

I couldnt say much about acceleration gain, but it will help just a little bit because your truck weighs less now and power being put to the ground has less weight to spin.

 

I have basically the exact wheel setup you are refering to at 84lbs. Same 20" Tahoe wheels 275/55-20 tires. Keep in mind this is unsprung rotational weight meaning the difference in acceleration is multiplied vs normal weight loss. I would say it's for sure worth a couple tenths in the 1/4.