AKRON, Ohio, Dec. 13 - Ford's first 20-inch wheel package on a production vehicle will roll off the assembly line next spring as a limited-production Harley-Davidson F-150 pickup truck.

Wrapped around the massive polished aluminum wheels are low-profile 275/45R20 Goodyear Eagle GT II tires.

To fit the Harley-Davidson image, the Goodyear hogs are black sidewall, according to Tim Lovell, product manager for Goodyear high-performance tires. No white letters or colored treads are used to mar this all-black and chrome 4x2 Supercab flare-side truck.

The mere size of the Eagle GT II tires make a statement. They're huge, like the Harley Fat Boy, and they're black. And you can see them coming, just like the audibly recognizable beefy exhaust notes you can hear from an idling Harley, Lovell said.

Ford plans to build about 10,000 copies of the F-150 at its Oakville, Ontario, truck plant, which also builds the Goodyear Eagle-equipped Lightning pickup. Ford said it plans to build the Harley-Davidson F-150 for only the 2000 model year. The automaker and motorcycle manufacturer will design a new vehicle each year of the five-year alliance.

Horsepower will be a stock 260 from the 5.4-liter single-overhead-cam V-8 engine.

Goodyear first developed a 20-inch tire, a P295/40R20, for the Plymouth Prowler. That size, Lovell said, is skyrocketing. "The tuners jumped all over that tire size. We expect they'll do the same with the Harley-Davidson tire," Lovell added.

Last year, sales of the Prowler tire grew seven-fold.

With 21- and 22-inch applications looming in the shadows, Lovell said it's natural that Goodyear will participate in building high-performance tires for these niche markets. Light-truck tuners are particularly attracted to these larger diameter tires, he said.

Last year, 7.4 million light trucks were sold, or 47.5 percent of the market. Year 2000 could be when Americans buy more light trucks than passenger cars.

That's fine for Ford, which is producing the Excursion, the largest full-sized utility, the Lightning and the Harley-Davidson F-150. A 1999 supercharged Ford F-150 Lightning became the first truck to come with 18-inch high-performance tires, the top-of-the-line Eagle F1 GS.

The Lightening already is gaining a reputation as a rubber burner. One magazine writer said, "No current production vehicle does a stationary burnout easier than the Lightning. With this simple recipe, anyone can convert $600 of Goodyear Eagle F1 GSs into smoke and rubber dust."

For Goodyear, Lovell said, these vehicles create Eagle opportunities both in original-equipment and replacement.