Hey guys,

So I had another thread about a weird vibration, thought it was the drive shaft so I took the shaft to be balanced. Auto shop called me and said good news, drive shaft is great, bad news, you need a whole new set of wheels and tires. I new I needed new wheels, they were oxidized because the last owner let them sit, so I guess now I have more motivation to get a whole new set. Here's my question. Im going to be towing with the truck, and also have it in the cold north (Ottawa Canada), and I was thinking about moving to a different size wheel. Should I stick with the stock 16's or move to a 17 or 18? I want to keep it to wheels that I dont need spacers or anything so I suppose im stuck with Ex ones. Not a biggie I dont need to be flashy. So I need advice on what size/style would be best for some heavy towing and some snowy/icy weather. The tires I could use advice with as well. Dont know much about the combo's or what options our Ex's came with or what would be best. Any advice will help. Thanks guys.

 

Any ideas for wheels? Stick with the stock ones or are there other 250/350/ex ones that will work? Any help is welcomed. Thanks

 

why do you need all new wheels/tires?

you can easily correct using weights. unless you've been jumping your X and have damaged all 4 rims. Not likely.


As for replacements...especially with heavy towing...I would stick with factory rims. Alot of guys run into issues with aftermarket rims cracking. About the only aftermarket rims I'd use would be ones that are FORGED...like my Weld Dakar F1's


any 1999-2004 F-250/350 rim will work on your X with no issues. I personally would grab a set of 17" Lariat/Harley rims. They look nice, but aren't over the top bling wise. Plus they are tough as hell.

another bonus to using OEM rims...they are cheap. lots of guys replace them and you can get 'em for a few hundred $$$. sometimes with good tires as well

 

Yeah the place I took them to said they were "warped". I didnt own the truck for the first quarter of a million miles so who knows what happened to it. Seemed a little fishy to me as well.

 

extremely fishy. 1 or 2 rims I can see being damaged. say you nailed a big pot hole with the passenger side tires...that's believeable

all 4 at once. Second opinion and I'd never visit the first shop again

 

I agree, the 4 bad rims story sounds fishy. That shop didn't happen to mention that they had some sweet rims for your truck did they?
Tylus is correct that any 99-04 Super Duty rim will work without spacers on the EX, however all of those rims were 16" with the exception of the '04 18" rims found on some Lariats, H-D's and KR's. These '04 18" are the only factory forged rims in a plus size that will mount up without spacers. The popular 17" rims didn't show up till '05 when the SD's went to coil front springs, and the backspace/offset changed that requires the use of $pacer$ to mount up correctly on earlier trucks like our EX's.
If you do plan to tow make sure to buy E load range tires.
This is what the '04 18"s look like, these are from the Lariat and are polished with grey painted pockets. The H-D's look similar and have the red H-D logo on one spoke and the KR's have the gold painted pockets, some came chromed also.

My signature shows a set of those '04 18" Lariat rims on my EX.

 

those 18's are nice. really nice

 

I run a set of steel rims with dedicated snow tires in winter, and run my stock alum rims with mudders for the summer. I would love to go 18's but can't justify cost of rims and then cost of tires in 18's. If you need I would stay stock 16's, but price out some 18" rubber compare to 16" and you will know what I mean.
Many run goodyears or michilins all seasons with good results all year and towing. I think the GY's are silent armour, and mich are the LTX, but I could be wrong on the models. Tire rack is a good site to compare tires before you go shopping locally for prices.
I'm in the Yukon, and this will be 3rd year for my winters hitting the asphalt, (arctic claws) so I figure I'm doing okay with them, and might squeeze another winter yet with them.

 

If your rims prove to be okay to use and you have time refinish them. Last winter I stripped the clear coat off mine, sanded the rims and then used silver with slight sparkle in paint to reprint mine. They turned out really nice. If you can start with sandblasting first that will be even better. Have pics in album.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys. Im probably going to stay with stock 16's. Im going to take the truck to the autoshop on base here tomorrow and check the balancing myself. That way i'll know if its the tires, wheels, which one, etc. If it is indeed the wheels, I've found a set at the local salvage yard with the 8 holes in them for 95 a piece. Kinda steep I think, but if I need them I need them. And Wallz i'll look at the GY's. I've run ltx's and loved them but know they suck in snow/ice. Thanks again everyone.

 

I bought a set of four tires/wheels from discounttire.com and paid $1200.00 shipped to front door including the certificates for each tire. Today I noticed one of the tires had a slice in it and called to see what could be done. Well I was on the phone for only about 5 minutes with a new tire on the way! I did have to buy a new certificate ($22.00) to cover the new replacement tire in the future, but that was all! I have been real pleased with their service and have met other who have bought from them, without complaints! Good luck on your search!

Here are a few pictures!
1132 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

IMAG0336 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!



The wheels I bought are called MB Strykers and the tires are 265/75/16 Cooper ATP

They set me up with the same offset and wheel/tire size the truck had stock.

 

Here's some OEM 18's. Tires are what would originally come with em new which are Conti-Contitracs. I had all grip no slip, even when rain was flooding hill tops. Though to run these you do indeed need spacers sadly.

 

If you are staying with 16"s I had excellent performance with a set of GoodYear Silent Armor 265/75R16E's on the stock 6 hole rims. I will still use them for winter driving. They are getting really good tread wear and have handled our towing, commuting, sand (aired down), rain and snow travels with no complaints from us or the tires.

 

Well looks like im going to go with stock 16's. Will make sure they're balanced or not today or get new ones. And I think im going to try the silent armors. Hopefully they arent rediculously expensive. I'll compare prices at discount tire and tire rack. Thanks guys!

 

Does anyone know if the center caps in the 00' 16's with the oval holes are the same as the ones with the 8 circular holes? I dont see why they'd be different but im curious.