I got a ’92 F-150 Flareside 4WD pickup for my son. It is nice, but when test driving it I became concerned that the oversized off-road tires on it are too dangerous for highway driving by young inexperienced driver. I'd like to change to on-/off-road all terrain tires. Look on the door jam I see what the standard tire size is P235 75R/15. Those can't be mounted on the current rims which are made for the oversized tires. If I'm reading everything correctly, standard rims are 15” x 7”.

Internet searches turned up only on 15 x 7 option for rims, but a few 15 x 6, more 15 x 7.5, and a whole lot of 15 x 8, and 15 x 10.

I'm no expert, so my guess is that the 15 x 7 was just for use with the short body of this pickup and the rest are for the full size F-150, which there are many more times of on the road?

Also it has a lift kit on it. Wondering if 15” rims will work at all (or look so stupid he won't drive the truck. If 15” wheels are still an option, is it necessary that I get the recommend 15 x 7s or would the 15 x 7.5s that you have be acceptable if I am going to use P235 75R/13 tires? I don’t think I want the wider 15 x 8 or 15 x 10 because then I’m back into the wide bouncy tires problems for the young driver.

Any help somebody can give me in answering these questions will be greatly appreciated.

 

what size tires are on it and my truck came with 15x8's from the factory

 

Sorry, I don't know. I'm not where the truck is right now. Here's a link to the Web site where I bought it that has a photo.

Cars Limited Home Page

My guess is 15 x 10 rims. I don't know tires well enough to guess on their size.

What year is yours that came with 15 x 8s?

 

lolz
poor kid

 

I see the lift as more an issue for a new driver over the tire size on it.

The high center of gravity it has is a bigger problem, going to smaller tires won't change that much if at all.

Doesn't look like it has a lot of lift but it doesn't take much to make it easy to high center one of these trucks in a corner or sudden/abrupt maneuver, simply being a 4x4 already creates/adds to that condition.

And yea, if you put stock/near stock size tires on it with the lift it will look dorky stupid as all he_ _!

 

Yeah. I'm getting old and have led a vanilla life, so I've never had a vehicle with a lift kit, but I do remember that dorky stupid is not desireable. Expect that's what the other post meant by "poor kid." While we neither would enjoy looking dorky stupid, my son aren't high "status conscious" guys, so we would still like the pickup even if it wasn't as much of a high rider, so another dumb question... is removing the lift kit an option? Finally, I understand the point on the high center point being the real cause of danger in pickups/SUVs, but if you live in farm country you know what a Terra-Gator is for spreading fertilizer. That's what the ride is like on the highway with those big balloon off-road tires. It probably isn't the roll-over hazard they create. It is just a vehicle control hazard.

Let me know on whether a lift kit can be removed.

 

It would be easier to just educate the kid about the facts about handling/speed/safety of a lifted rig...............maybe a "one incident" rule too,...... one incident that indicates aggressive/careless driving,..... and he's walking.

 

but if you live in farm country you know what a Terra-Gator is for spreading fertilizer. That's what the ride is like on the highway with those big balloon off-road tires. It probably isn't the roll-over hazard they create. It is just a vehicle control hazard.

Yea the lift can be removed then even reinstalled later but it sounds like it would benifit from the wheels balanced/properly inflated and new/better shocks.

It shouldn't drive that much different then stock tires other then perhaps tend to shake a little more.
Large tires are almost impossible to balance to perfection.

It may also need some front end work, ball joints or tie rod or two, steering gear box or shaft play. May be one, or all the above but minimal at each point but when combine together makes it hard to handle.

No, it should not handle as you describe with those tires, there are just not that big even on a half ton. Nearing the boarder for axles and brakes on one but not to big yet.

 

Why couldn't 31.5x15 BFG's work for this rig? (Radial-Long-Trail or something along that line?) Not balloons, nor are they dorky, either...

 

the tires on it look like 33's but they may be 35's i doubt it tho...

and my truck is an 88

i know its old.... i think it came across on noahs arc

 

Yea they look like 33's. Maybe try putting air soft pellets in the tires. I have herd that by putting around 1500 per tires helps balance them.

 

I agree with the "poor kid" comment. Leave the truck how it is. As long as your son isn't a complete idiot he should be more than fine driving it the way it is.

Just go over the front end and make sure everything is safe and make sure the tires are properly inflated.

 

i agree. im 17 with a f-250 super cab long bed. those look like there only 33's maybe 11 wide. make sure everything in the front end is good, then get it balanced and aligned with the right tire pressure and it really shouldnt be anymore squirrely than stock tires. its a truck so itl be a bit jumpy and the lift probably made the ride a bit stiffer but overall he really should be fine. and if you put much smaller tires on that it really will look pretty dumb.

 

I'm not sure you're achieving your desired results by swapping out tires.

Lift, as you know, raises center-of-gravity. Typically, the way that the raised CG is offset is by mounting oversized tires that are also WIDER. This increases vehicle track, in an attempt to at least partially offset higher CG by increasing lateral stability. So by going back to 235-75-15, you go back to a narrower track, which might actually *increase* chance of vehicle rolling. The physics involved are complex.

My own son is 15 and taking driver education next week, with permit coming later in the summer, so I'm in your shoes, and I feel your concernt. Buying a lifted truck for a new driver may not have been the wisest move. But it looked sexy and both you and he presumably liked it, or you wouldn't have pulled the triggern. Now, un-lifting it or selling it (you bought it from a dealer, right?) will both cause you to take a big financial bath.

Here's another alternative. Certainly have all the steering and suspension components looked over by a pro. People do some funny things sometimes to get a "cheap lift." But once everything checks out OK, perhaps *you* should drive this truck for the next year, while he gains experience driving *your* ride which is presumably more sedate. Then you can swap with him on his 17th Bday.

 

Those look like 33 12.50 from the picture. Nice truck by the way. I would just get some the same size taht are all terrain tires like BFG AT or something like it. Since it appears to be lifted, running small stock tires will look goofy anyway. The larger tires don't really effect highway handling much.

If your set on running smaller tires, then get some factory type wheels and run 31 10.50s on it, but take off the body lift. From the looks of it, that is how its been lifted. Thats what I would do. Then the bumpers will actually fit right too.

Factory wheels were actually 15x7.5.

The wheels on that truck look like 15x10.