18" wheels for Edge Sport 2016???

[CharPatton]

We are looking at replacing our awesome but old Explorer with an Edge. The Explorer has P235/70R15 tires. We want the Edge Sport due to the safety and tech features, and also because we don’t want a sunroof (cramps headroom), so we can’t get a Titanium. But everything I’ve read says that the larger wheels (in this case 20 or 21”) are primarily for looks, and that one takes a hit in durability, snow, and off-road use with the bigger wheels (the possible increment in handling is of no interest to us since we drive conservatively). Thus, we would love advice about:

 

Can we replace the 20” wheels that come standard with the Sport with 18” wheels? Is there any safety or other reason why one should not do this? If we do this, should we get the wheels from Ford when we buy the car or from another source?

 

Thank you!

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

Sure you can replace the 20" with 18" wheels. Look up the 18" wheel OEM specs on tirerack.com and make sure you get that same effective size with the wheel/tire combo if going aftermarket. The ride will be different though, which is good and bad. Good in that it will have resistance to those everyday nasties, bad in that the response will not be the same as expected from the OEM combo. Taller sidewalls generally make for "squishier" tires, and thus decrease steering and handling response.