Jason B

Going to do 22x10.5 on all corners. 305/40/22 tires. OR, 24's... I just haven't seen any in person and don't know...

Here is the wheel I'm doing - that I just LOVE.

Foudie

I went with 22x10.5 Vossen wheels. I saw one with 24's and it just didn't look right on this size SUV in my opinion.

Jason B

Not bad, not bad. What size tires? 305's front and rear?

alx

you are going to have issues. they all do once you go over certain size/ weight per corner...

Jason B

22 is the safe number.

Foudie

Yes, 305/40/22. Compared to the 21" AMG wheels and tires they're not even an inch greater in diameter but weigh 9 lbs less each.

Jason B

Cool. take some more pics when you have time.

AidenFC

I went with the 22's, same size you're going with (2011 GL550). They look great, the tires are so much better then the stock continentals as well by coincidence. They are Yokohama Parada Spec X. The continentals had a nasty habit of hunting all over the road, grooves and such. It was actually a serious problem, my wife didn't like it all. The newer tires in this size fixed that completely, which I was happy about. I have a set of Niche's, they are 22X9, a little narrow for that tire size (that's just what they were, I bought them used). The bonus is that the tires protect the wheels pretty good. Also, the total package is noticeably lighter (didn't weight anything), would guess to be maybe 10 pounds lighter per tire/wheel. This was immediately noticeable in handling, much quicker and more precise, we are way happier with them. One issue, on the front, they do just barely touch the inside wheel well liner when the wheel is turned maybe 3/4ers of the way over, such as when backing out of the driveway. This has worn the liner through in a tiny spot. It doesn't bother me, nothing else bad happens, but they do just touch under some circumstances, in case that bothers you.

There you go, that's been my experience. I wouldn't do the 24's it looks well balanced with the 22's.

Aiden

Jason B

Cool. Thanks!

AidenFC

Here's a pic...

Jason B

22x10? " NICHE? black. Nice. with what size tires are those?

carlosrg

So I was in the same boat and I decided to go with the 22" Because I wanted to have ride, and proper load rating.

So I went with 285/40R22s XL and had to increase my tire pressure by a few PSI to maintain proper load rating on tires. 36PSI front and 41PSI rear.

I wanted to do 24s but I didn't want to take too much of a hit on my MPG and I wasn't too excited of a 305/30R24 for neither sidewall nor rolling resistance.

BlownV8

I would never go below 40 psi with 22's on a heavy truck. You will end up with bent rims.

Jason B

With a 285 tire he'd be ok with that pressure, but not on a 305

AidenFC

Those are 305/40/22. Niche wheels, 22 X 9 actually.

Aiden

Jason B

Anymore pics??? Doing this soon, same sizes, with the rim in the first post.

Cool, the 22x10.5 may just be the right one for me.

Foudie

These are all that I have readily available. I actually sold the GL a month ago.

Jason B

Very nice pics. Care to share the story on what and why you replaced it?

Also, did you ever think of doing wheel spacers at any point with those 22x10.5's and 305/40/22? Or did it look wide enough "in person".

Foudie

It looked perfect in person. That one photo from behind is a bit misleading, the edge of the tires aligned almost perfectly with the AMG flares. I sold the car because it just wasn't big enough for our family. If the driver area had as much room as the S-Class I could have overlooked the smaller overall size of the cabin area, but the driver compartment was so cramped it broke the camel's back. When a couple more kids are out of the house I will probably put my wife in another GL, but for now she's going back into a true full size.

Jason B

Cool. Oh crap, I didn't even SEE those extendo flares!! This doesn't have those. So I'm guessing it will look even wider. Man, that's like a flare ontop of a flare! It's that molded in? I assume you can't easily add those on to a NON amg?

Foudie

They're just the factory AMG flares that come on the GL550 and GL63. You can get them at the dealer or I've seen some aftermarket copies out there. Not sure if the quality though.