How's it going everyone? I picked up my first truck today; a 92 f250 custom 5.8L. It's kind of a junker but I figure it'd be a good truck to fix up in my spare time. My first of many questions for you guys is what size tires could I fit into the truck? It has a 215/85-16 now and how much bigger could i go before having to do any modifications? I'm looking into used military tires. Any opinions on them? And what is a good to get them from?

Also I'm looking to replace the bedside panels that are all dented up. Any good sites for those?

 

Most military tires are 37's aren't they? A big lift is needed to run those. around 8" or so...

 

Are they? haha I'm new to this. I guess those are out for now. I want to lift it at some point but that's a little later down the line.

 

Hey, congratulations on buying your first truck. It should be a pretty good truck. Yeah most of the military tires that I know of are 37" tall, some are 36" but mostly 37". I've been looking into the 37" tall ones recently and will probably be putting them on my truck. Also most, if not all, of the military tires are for a 16.5" rim, at least the ones that aren't ridiculously tall. To fit those you will probably need at least a 6" lift, maybe a 4" but I think that would probably be pretty close. On my truck, an 88 F250 with the 460 7.5l engine, I have a 4" suspension lift with a 3" body lift and it clears the 38s that are on it easily, its just that they are too wide and pretty old so I need new tires. I also now someone that is planning on doing about 5.5" of lift on his 88 F350 and running the 37" tall military tires, and they should fit easily with a great looking stance. I think on stock suspension you should be able to fit 33" tires and be okay, but I'm not for sure.

Oh yeah, for those body panels I would try maybe taking them to a body shop, if they are not too bad, and see if they can get them out for you, or try and get some stock ones from a donor truck. The reason for this is because I've heard that most replacement panles are not that good of quality and not too close to the quality of the stock ones. I've also heard that sometimes they don't line up that well with the rest of the truck. They might be okay, but I'm not sure if I'd trust them. Hope this all helps.

 

If you're looking for a box, try finding somebody that's selling a clean one or one in a pull a part or something. Aftermarket ones are garbage.

I'm assuming this is a 4x4. With a 4" lift you should be able to fit the 36" or 37" military tires. They do go on a 16.5" rim, and the 36" ones are bias ply. I'm putting the 36" on my truck within the next month or two. Stock, you can fit 33"x12.5" tires but to keep from rubbing you need a rim with a 4" to 4.25" backspacing so they dont rub when you turn, and you will have to trim or shim the front bumper. You should also have 235/85R16 as a stock size tire by the way.

Do you know what front axle you have? The Dana 44 TTB was standard, with the Dana 50 TTB being optional. If it's a Dana 50, the diff will have 50 stamped into the bottom of it. If you post a pic of the truck, we should be able to tell if you cant figure it out.

 

Welcome to FTE

My 97 F-250HD has 265/75/R16 GY Dura-Trac's which are just under 32". And the tires actually ripped off the splash guard (which almost took off my fender trim with it) When I was backing out of the entrance of our field. I don't think I could get 33's on mine without some bumper trimming, removing the splash guards, or some rims with more backspacing. But maybe my springs just worn out

Just something to watch for.

 

That's odd. My 250 is running 33's without any issues at stock height. Never had any issues with rubbing or anything.

 

Yeah thats what I thought and was wondering why Fastback had problems. Then after reading your post and looking at your guy's sigs, it got me thinking maybe the reason for him not being able to fit 33s is because he has the heavier 460 in his truck and you have the lighter 351. Maybe??? I'm not sure just throwing it out there.

Also I would have to agree with Davey. Like I said I would not trust those aftermarket panels. And backspacing is very important when going with bigger and wider tires.

 

Well I feel a little dumb... Somehow read he had a F150, not F250... My bad.

 

I'm confused about this, I've seen a lot of people on here running 33's without a problem. My truck had 285's on it when I bought it, I changed them to the 265's because the passenger tire rubbed on the inside every time I turned left, and they only cleared the bumper by about 1"(maybe less). I don't know if maybe it's because of the 460's weight, like RedDevil suggested or if my springs are a little worn out.

Here's the 285's that were on it

 

dont worry i have the exact same problem as you do except on a half ton, if you ever figure it out you should tell me. and if i figure it out i'll tell you