I have a 79 F150, short box, 351M, 4 speed, with part time 4wd. It is my first 44. The truck is lifted some, with 33x12.5x15 tires. I will be driving in deep snow and on ice this winter and believe I need narrow tires to get around in our winter snow. I would like to get as tall a tire as I can so the truck won't look too silly, sitting this high. 15" wheels seem to limit my choices. Is there a 16" or larger wheel (steel) that would allow a taller tire? Can anyone suggest a wheel and tire combonation for winter driving. Thanks for any help you can give.

 

as long as you have deep tread on your tires, 12.50 33s are great on snow. nothing is good on ice, studs do help a little but not a whole lot.
i have run 44s on snow with no problems, amd there is a trick called sipeing that can dramaticaly improve rain and ice traction for bigger tires.
getting around on ice and snow is not all in the tires, most of it is in the head. common sense plays a very big role in bad weather driving. i drove 155 miles 2 winters ago on ice. no snow at all. freezing rain and sleet all the way. took 5.5 hours to make a 2 hour trip, but i got there in one peice. this was on 235/75/16 highway tires.


jim

 

Thanks for trying to help Jim. I agree wholeheartedly about the value of using your head getting around in the winter; I'm 57 and spent most of my life in snow country.

My question is more hardware related. I am asking for information about putting a tall, narrow tire on my F150. Specifically, are there 16" wheels that will fit my 5 bolt hubs? And what tires have worked well for others?

Thanks again,
Bill

 

I run 33x10.5R15 tires in northwest snow w/o issue.

They also make a 33x9R15 tire, called "pizza cutters" around here. I think that they look funny.

You have some options in a 15" rim.

Eric

 

I recall a buddy of mine's 76 F-250 4x4 with 18 in rims. These were for farm use but were on the truck since it was almost new.(he was second owner, I knew of the truck before he bought it). The reason he took them off was the tires were getting too hard to find. But this may give you an avenue to persue. " Nuthin' like a set of hayrack rims to get ya through the winter, Yeee Hawww"(spit now). Best of Luck

 

92-97/98 dodge 1/2 tons had 15 and 16 in wheels on them. both were 5x5.5 bolt pattern. you could use those with 235-255/85 16 tires, when you get to 265 they realy start to widen out.
those and ordering whitespokes are the only options i know of.

jim

 

When I was doing commercial snow plowing I bought a set of BF Goodrich Mud terrain 33 x 9.5 x 15. They are awesome tires, They dig right down to the hard stuff. If I found I couldn't move forwards anymore (which was rare) I could just throw in it reverse and back right out. They look a little wierd at first, But you won't be dissappointed

Check my gallery album titled "ugly old reliable" I still have those tires on it.

 

I too live in the snow mountains and I use BFG A/T 33"X9.5 15" tires on my daily driver 76 f-150 (check my gallery) Ii am yet to get stuck with them. granted I have a L/S rear end but I can get up my driveway in 2wd when we have over a foot or so of snow. When I put it in 4 wheel will go anwhere I care to drive it.

 

any wheel and tire store can get you a 16 in 5 lug wheel. if you specify for a dodge ram you will get a rim that w/265 75 16 fits wheel well nice and don't stick out of wheel wheels. thats what i ruyn on the old ladys pu and she never had a problem.

 

Gateway makes "Buckshot Mudders", I've had 2 sets in the 36" size, and they are designed to work on stock rims. They also come in 33" sizes.

 

Buckshot mudder makes a good narrow mud snow, QR78 I think. Also pinned for studs.
If you want bias, Interco has a Super Swamper LTB 34-9.5-15 that is good as well.

I would recommend for snow and ice to run studs and have your tires siped. IT runs maybe 7-10 bucks per tire, but makes a huge difference on ice.

 

Last I knew, Gateway made the buckshot mudders in both bias and radial. Give National tire & wheel a call.

 

A M/T tire is not the best for snow. An A/T tire is better because snow sticks to snow. So the A/T tire provide you more traction vs. the M/T which will dig more. Not always recommended for snow driving. <O</O

Check out regular winter tires. They look like A/T tires for cars.<O</O

We run A/T on all our snow plows trucks even though I really like the BFG M/T for my offroading. <O</O

The buckshot’s m/t are really soft cheap compound and wear quickly which requires religious tire rotation. <O</O

I really like the whole Interco line, I run the TruXus on my wife’s Xterra but it also requires regular rotation and wears like a swampers. I will be happy to get 2 summers out of this set. I run BFG A/T in the winter for her also. A much better hwy tires.
<O</O

If you choose to go with the pizza cutters they will change how the truck reacts in a turn or a emergency lane change. So beware.
<O</O
You should be able to find plenty of 33'x10.5r15 to save you from having to buy rims to move up to the 16" tires selection.<O</O
<O</O

<O</O

 

I would reccomend a BFG AT T/A's in 33x9.5.
I have 31x9.5's and they do ok on my '92 Bronco.

It had 32x10.5 Mud T/A's when I got it. They were horrible on ice. Good in the snow though.

Back in high school I drove my parents '78 Bronco with some goodyear invicta's adn they did good in the ice and show too. The Full time 4wd worked pretty good I thought.

 

NYBill, how about some BFG radial mud terrains in 35x 12.50-15s ? I have a set of these on my 4 inch lifted half ton and they are doing fine in the snow Michigan gets. I have them mounted on 8 inch wide wheels. If you don't mind biased ply tires, Interco Super swampers are available in 38x12.50-15s and 34x9.50-15s. Can you run studs or chains where you live ? DF,@ his Dad's house