I am buying a set of tires for winter (I have to, it's required by law here). I read that's it's recommended to downsize for winter (smaller tire, better traction, etc) so I was considering going from 20" to 18" rims and tires for winter.

The problem I have is that the truck itself is already pretty low in the front and that lowering it further would just be begging to get stuck (I'm in Canada, we can get a lot of snow).

Any thoughts?

 

You can counter some of that smaller rim size with a tire with a larger sidewall possibly?

 

Your truck will not be lower by going with 18" wheels.
I run an 18" set with Blizzaks for winter on my R/T. The sidewall will just be taller.

 

This is true.

You have to get the correct size tire to compensate for the loss in wheel size. So you lose 2 inch in wheel with an 18inch. You need a 2 inch taller tire.
Also, the smaller is better is refering to width, not diameter. The skinnier the tire, the better is bites down through the snow to get to the road (to a point). A wide tire will float on top of the snow.

I would just buy winter tires to go on your existing rims. The stock width is not very wide.

 

I did some shopping around and given the comparative cost of buying new 18" tires, rims, and TPMS sensors vs. just getting four new 20" winter tires, I think I'll just get the 20" tires on the stock rims.

Maybe in the spring I'll even get cool new rims for the summer tires instead of swapping them back in

 

In Canada (where I live) you should still be able to get this all done with 265/60r18 tires, tps and alloy wheels for 2k. I got lucky and found some blizzaks on kijiji, order tps from eBay and sourced some 18"s locally and on the car ill be into it for only 1600.00.

Try tirerack.com or discounttiresdirect.com. I've used both and they are usually the cheapest even with shipping.

 

I previously owned a 2002 Maxima. Bought a 16" steel wheel/Blizzak package from tirerack.com, kept the 17" summer performance tires on the stock rims.

It made an immense difference and their web site made it very easy to purchase the correct size parts. I highly recommend them.

If doing it over again, my only thought is that if was going to keep the vehicle for a long time, I would consider spending a little extra and get new rims instead of the steel wheels. They looked like crap and the plastic hubcaps just don't hold up.

Steve