I was at the tire store today looking for new front tires on the F3. I put the Jag front on but wanted to keep the 8 lug so went with spacers. I think it worked out OK as the rear end is an F250 that is wider than the old one (making the bed 5 inches wider). I have 235 x17 R80 on it now that are 10 ply. The tire guy said I should stay with 10 ply because it is a 3/4 ton. I doubt it will ever carry any thing heavy like it did in it's working life on a farm.
The amount of room is tight in a turn -- if I hit a good bump they will rub the fenders. The only smaller size they can get in a 10 ply is a 225 x17 R75 which is approximately 2 inches smaller than the current ones. This will give me an extra inch of clearance. Good but not great. Does anyone run less than 10 ply tires and if so can you tell me the brand and size. I was hoping to go to a 225 x17 R65 or R60 if they make them in a 10 ply or 8 ply or ????
Thanks for any help or even comments about how crazy I am with this build or widening the bed or whatever. Have fun.

 

JMHO, go with the lightest rated tire you can find that will fit. Ten ply tires are for working, hauling trucks. Look at the sidewall load ratings of whatever tires you consider and figure out what rating you actually need.
Now, OTOH, if you want to put a vintage camper on it, go heaviest you can find.

 

you need to find out how much the truck weighs, then add 500-1,000 lbs (just in case you ever decide to help out a buddy or haul something). Once you know how much weight the tires will be carrying you will be able to determine what ply rating you need. Being a 3/4 ton it SHOULD have a 10 ply tire, and the tire shop could be held liable for installing anything less than that...

 

Common sense needs to come into play here at some point. Sure, if I needed tires for my late model 8800gvw F-250 and I planned on using it like a truck, I'd want some good LT tires on it. But for your application, where you admit it won't be hauling loads of rocks anytime soon, you're ok with lighter duty, more comfortable tires. 8 ply is still pretty stout. They only came stock with 6 ply tires and they weren't nearly as tough as passenger car tires are today.

 

Get away from LT series tires and you'll have a lot more choices, but many will be station wagon tires...

 

Thanks guys as usual the good guys of FTE come thru. I really appreciate it.

 

Make sure to stay with a tire designed for pickups and SUV's. The smallest pickup tire that I know of is a 215/65R17, which is 28.0 inches tall with a weight carrying capacity of 1653 lbs per tire when inflated to the max pressure of 44 psi. This size is also available for cars, so be careful. Car tires and pickup tires are NOT the same. There's not a huge difference, but most of the difference is in the sidewall construction, which could make a huge difference in how the truck handles...

PLEASE don't buy the cheapest thing you can get. Do a little shopping and buy a quality tire. If you prefer USA made then your choices are Goodyear, Dunlop, Kelly, or Cooper. Some of the other companies manufacture tires in the USA, but these are the only companies that are still USA owned. Kelly makes very good tires, usually at a pretty good price, I run them on all 4 vehicles that I own, including my truck.

I must admit that I work for a Goodyear dealer (Goodyear owns and manufactures Kelly tires) so I might be a little biased towards those brands. Bridgestone, Firestone, Michelin, BF Goodrich, Uniroyal, Toyo, and Nitto (as well as some others that I forgot to list) make good tires, but are ALL foreign owned.

 

I've got Goodyear on the truck now and prefer USA made products when available. Safty is the most important thing as far as I am concerned so going the cheap route won't do. The 215/65 R17 would give me about 2 inches clearance beyond what I have now - that would be a big help. I'll see if I can find them here in Lexington. Thanks TireDood I do appreciate the help.

 

I think you need to go taller/wider than that to fill the wheel wells. Something like a 235 with an aspect ratio of 70 should still improve clearance. How wide are your wheels?

 

Ross I think you may be right a R70 would still give mea lot more clearance than the current R80's The wheel I have on it now are AMERICAN RACING ATLAS 17 x 8 I think -- bought them 15 years ago when I got the truck with the original widow makers and dry rotted tires on it. I will double check tomorrow. Thanks for reminding me I want it to look reasonable also.

 

I think I need to do something like this that REED56 did and try different sizes based on the R70 size and various width's ro see what works best.

I made this template to help measure backspace and turning, doesn't hit anything inside when tape measures 5" in from template in either direction, just worried about fender when lowered.