- First Name
- John
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2021
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- Location
- Charleston SC
- Vehicle(s)
- 2021 Bronco 4dr OBX MIC 2.7 Rear Locker A51 Roast
- Your Bronco Model
- Outer Banks
Correct. For those still comparing, The OBX 18" wheels have a shorter section height than comparable 17" wheels on other Broncos for a given tire size, which off-roaders do not like because there's less tire to absorb rock inpact or to spread out when airing down. To compensate, the additional 275/18's height helps, e.g. a 275/70R18 is 33.2" high, while a 285/70R17 tire is typically 32.7" high. They're both called 33's. The 285/70R17 tire is the stock Badlands tire, a half inch shorter and .4in wider than the 275/18.To be clear, +- 1” diameter increase over OEM tire, but only increases height +-1/2” of vehicle.
The 285/70R17 tire is 11.2 in wide vs 10.8 for the 275/70R18. In practice, brands and types differ, but the TREAD widths tend to measure 7.5 wide for our stock OBX 255/70R18, 8.5 for some 275/70R18 tires, and +/-9" wide for the 285/70R17 stock Badlands tires. But brands vary wildly. Micky Thompson's E rated LT275/70R18, is huge with a 9.6 tread width on a 10.8 section width and a 33.4" height, its the one I want but I'm leary of the 66# weight. Also, while spec sheet says permissible 7-9" rims allow our 7.5 OBX, OEM rim, I'm more comfortable with the Ford Performance 18x8 wheels. I'd love to try it, to see if it fits, but the Goodyear Territory seems the safer bet for a mostly daily driver.
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