I use my 88 F250HD 4x4 primarily for towing a 3,200lb portable sawmill. The truck has 235/85 16 street tires. On more than one occasion I've gotten it stuck in the mud on a job. I need some advice on tires. I don't want to go full mud tires, since the truck is loud enough already on the highway. I often travel 40-50 miles for a job, it's just the last few hundred yards that are an issue.

I'd like to keep the rims I'm using now. How much wider could I go on them? I'm guessing they're 16x8 rims, not sure.

 

One thing to consider is tire width, and if you drive in winter conditions. Wider tires don't do well on ice at all. I like the BFG AT's on my truck, they're not the best tire for any one condition, but do well enough everywhere I go. A mud terrain would be great off road, but might be terrible on ice, or a highway tire is awesome on dry road, but terrible off road. The AT is decent all around.

 

I put 235/85R16 Hankook DynaPro ATM's on my F250 4X4 this past summer. About half of my trucks duty is towing a light to medium trailer. I end up maneuvering or turning around off of the drive/road.


So far the tires have been GREAT in dirt and snow. They don't seem to make much noise, but my truck exhaust is kinda loud so I may just not be able to hear them.


Todd

 

An all terrain will produce much better traction than a a full street tire in varying off road conditions, and while it's not quite as good as a full mud tire in the greasy stuff it does better than the mud tire on snow covered roads.

 

I have copper discovery tires which are 265/75 16 which are nice and meaty. I have a spare thats a 285/75 16 too

 

While tires play a big part in not getting stuck, a lot of it comes down to driver skill. What range are you using on the transfer case, high or low? For mud you wanna be in 4H and if you have an automatic transmission, throw that bad girl down in manual first gear and keep it there. If you have a stick then first or second gear will do. Keep the RPM's up so that the mud is thrown clear of the treads.

Also... what air pressure are you running? I've seen people air up to the max that is stamped onto the sidewall of the tire. If so then air down to something more comfortable like what's posted on the sticker inside the driver door jamb.

 

I had four sets of the original BFG Mud Terrains. They really weren't very loud on the road, and they were significantly better than BFG ATs in mud or deep snow. As others have said, the ATs are better on packed snow and ice (and also on wet pavement). But if noise on the highway is your concern rather than snow / ice performance, I don't think you need to be so afraid of some of the milder mud tires (I'm not saying that Interco Boggers will be quiet!)

 

I've liked my WildPeak tires alot and have only been let down one time on a thawing clay road. My son and I were driving through 12+" of snow without any problems last winter. They are also quiet on the hiway. But I will say is that at the end of their tread life that they loose most of their wet traction.
I'm looking to replace them with BFG AT KO2s.

 

I'm running 265/75 goodyear duratrac's. They are the same height as the stock 235/85s, but a bit wider. Pretty quiet on the road for an all terrain that's on the aggressive side.

 

The bfg AT KO's on dad's super duty tend to ball up in mud. They just got replaced with cooper discoverer. I'm looking at Cooper stt maxx or st radials for my truck, probably comes down to price but I might spring for the st tires for more grip in the pastures.

 

I put a set of Copper ST MAXX on my truck this spring. So far I'm very happy. I've had a couple long highway trips towing a boat and a fair amount of light off road use. We've had some pretty severe rain lately with standing water and I think they are the best truck tires I've owned. I went a little bigger with a 285, but 265 is a nice size for what you're replacing