Currently I have Factory Ford Chrome Wheels with OEM Goodyear Wrangler AT/R M+S 275/65R18 Tires that have been junk. At 20,000 miles the tread depth is less thanlegal. I'm investing in new tires that will probably be ordered by my installer through tirerack.com. My question is related to tire sizing. The overal height of the OEM tire with my wheels was 32.1". I plan to get a leveling kit installed which will give me another 2" in the front which is where I'm most concerned with picking a more aggressive tire. The two tires I'm looking at are:
General Tire Grabber AT2, 33X12.5R18, with 16/32" tread depth, 32.8" height.
BF Goodrich All-Terrain TA KO LT305/65R18 with 16/32" tread depth, and 33.7" height.
My installer is cautioning me on going to large but know one can tell me what is to large. Everything I read shows that with a 2" leveling kit I can install 33" tires. To me that means the BFG's should be fine. I am not sure if I want to spend the money on a leveling kit, if it is only going to gain me .7"/2 of ground clearance height for my truck. Going with the BFG's at 33.7" would boost that to 1.6"/2 (for axle clearance) ground clearance, which atleast sounds worth the extra money.
Does anyone have a recommendation on what overal tire height I need to stay under with a 2" Leveling Kit installation, or what the largest size I can increas to with the Leveling Kit WITHOUT having rub issues or excessive wear on mechanics, knowing that I have the OEM tires that are already over 32" Height now?

 

i have 275/70R18's which come in right at 33'' i believe. I don't have a leveling kit and have no problems at all. I would be more worried about the width of your tires, even with a leveling kit and the rubbing issue.

 

275/65R18 = 32.075" diameter
305/65R18 = 33.610" diameter

4.75% difference

Even if they fit without rubbing, some issues you may not have considered:
1) You are likely going to have TCS issues
2) Your speedometer and odometer will be inaccurate unless you get the PCM programmed for the larger tires
3) Your off-the-line performance is going to suffer
4) Your gas mileage will also suffer

 

Charlie, piggy-backing a question here.
If the PCM is recalibrated with a handheld to account for the larger tires, will that eliminate the potential TCS issues?

 

Based on reports from other owners (with programmers and custom tunes), apparently not.

I did hear there was a TSB that might address this issue, but no one has confirmed that it works.

 

The installer recommeded the General Tire Grabber AT2 33x12.5R18 which is similar in all regards except no white walls, and the Grabbers are only 32.8" vs. the BFG's that are 33.7".

I planned to get the PCM programmed either way, and I am willing to sacrifice mpg some.

I've also been looking at the Kumho Tires Road Venture MT KL71 33x12.5R18 at 33" even, but has a much deeper and aggressive tread 21/32".

Any more thoughts?

 

The 305s will fit with stock wheels. I had a leveling kit and stock wheels on my 2004 with 305/65R18s before getting after market wheels and everything was fine. I did have to trim a little bit of black plastic off the back bottom portion of the wheel well though.

 

By "trim a little plastic" how much are you talking here? I noticed your pic and txt shows you have 325's on that truck. should I be fine with the 305's without triming? actual tire diameter is 33.7"?

 

What's the actual diameter of the tires you used...believe it or not the actual diameter/height of the tire varies over an inch in some cases for the same tire nomenclature...

 

On my current 09 I'm running 325s and did not have to trim a single thing as they are only 32.99" tall. On my old 04 I had BFG 305/65R18s and I had to trim. I only had to trim about 1" off the bottom of the black plastic of the wheel well. I matched the stock curve of the wheel well when I trimmed so nobody would be able to tell the difference.

 

This is true in some cases as manufacturer's molds are to different "spec". Especially true in inch sizing i.e.: 35x12.50x18

The metric measurements are usually pretty spot on from one manufacturer to another...usually being within 1% of each other.

EDIT: Additionally, a tire on an 8" wide wheel will be slightly taller than the same exact tire on say a 10" wheel when used in the same application

 

The BFGs are true to size at 33.7 in that size. like others have said, not all are like that.

In my experience with the Tundras... and it shuld be very similar to the Fords as well..:
1. Overall height
2. Overall width
3. Need to find balance between too.

You most likely won't be able to fit a 325/65/18 (35" by 12.5 or wider) tire without trimming.

Likewise, you might still hvae some rubbing with a 325/60/18 ( I think 33x12.5 or so)

However, a 305/65/18 is a good medium size between width adn height. They should be around 12.2" wide and then the 33.7" tall.

On my truck, with 2.5" lift, I was able to stuff a 34.5" tall Nitto Terra grappler in the 295/70/18. They're not as wide but they're taller. Stock tundras can clear that with trim of hte skidplate and removal of the mud flaps.

I hope this information helps you and gives you something to look for.. but I believe you can fit a 305/65/18 on a stock rim and with 2" lift. it'll look better with a lift as yuor'e not overly stuffing the fender.

Here's a pic of the 285/65/18 BFG AT T/A KO:



Here's the 295/70/18



Use this information wisely young grasshopper.

-rockstate

 

Personally, there's no way I'd go with the Generals. I've had one set of Generals (01 Expedition) and one set of Continentals (same company - 05 F350) and both wound up losing chunks of tread at less than 20K. Never again...

 

I've heard some bad things abotu the Generals but the thing that deterred me from buying them is... nothing in my sizes.

Nittos had a good, cheap set of tires that I know people like for the most part and say the only thing bad is tread life. So far, it's not been a problem and I should see about 40k miles - what I saw with my KOs.

I don't have enough miles on them to know for sure though.

-rockstate

 

OK, Now on to the next big question. The factory OEM ford rims are typically listed at 7.5" width. According to the RIM WIDTH RANGE Column on the Tire Rack Website, there are no tires above the 275/65R/18's that have the 7.5" width in their range. For all of the people posting about installing larger tires on your OEM wheels, how do you know when you are ok and when you are not? I try to search based on specs, and I'm coming up with nothing. Is it just a guide that no-one listens to or what?