I've got an '02 F-250 SD 4x4, and I'm about to lift it 8" and put 38's on it, but the tire & rim choices have me stumped. It's a problem of three factors, of traction, of rim width, and of tire tread width.

1. First problem is that besides on the road, this heavy truck will be seeing soft deep sand, and slightly deep clay mud (sometimes with, and sometimes without a bottom, the kind you'd find on a muddy farm road, or two track hunting trail.) The 38x15.5-16.5 (11.5" tread) would be the obvious choice untill you factor in airing down for the sand, hence the second problem.

2. 16.5" rims are bead poppers by design, and I don't think it would be much fun re-seating the bead on a 38" 10 ply tire. There is a 16" rim 38, but it's a 38x13-16 (10.0" tread). This would provide me the ability to air down, and even maybe do a beadlock conversion.

3. Even though the tread width between the two tires only varies 1.5", the 15.5's sidewalls would also contact the sand providing more floatation than the 13's, correct? But I also remember seeing somewhere that when aired down, a taller & narrower tire will have a greater contact patch that a wide tire, is this true?

Or is the whole tread width/airing down/traction even an issue because these tires will be supporting such a heavy truck? I do realize that the 38x13's do have a lesser load rating, but this truck won't be seeing much towing (besides the trucks I pull out *grin*). Any insight into any of my 3 problems would be greatly appreciated!!

Super Swamper TSL Radial 38x15.50-16.5 (37.6" tall x 11.5" tread 3640lbs. max)
Super Swamper TSL Bias Ply 38x13.00-16.0 (37.8" tall x 10.0" tread 2700lbs. max)

 

I have been out of the "mud scene" for a while, but I swear that I have seen 16.5" bead locking rims. I think the ones I have seen were made of a carbon fiber. Pretty pricey, but it depends on your budget. I don't think that you would need to air down that much with a wide tire anyway, so I would probably go with a regular set of rims.

Matt

 

I'm not going to go with beadlocks right away, it's more an issue of the truck in the sand, more than the mud. Even thought I'm sure I can keep the wheel spin up, there's always a time where it'll bog down in the baby powder sand we've got. It's so tempting to go with the wider tire for floatation, but if I want to air down, I'm SOL