I have a 2002 F-150 s-crew 4x4 that I bought nearly two years ago. The guy who had the truck before me changed out the wheels/tires from the orginal 17" wheels to 16s. The truck had virtually new 33" Durango Radial ATs on it when I bought it (285/75/16).

A little over 35K on the tires and I am at the point of having to change them pretty soon. The guys at the shop where I last had them rotated told me that I need to have wider tires for my rims. The 285/75/16 tires call for an eight inch rim. I have Eagle rims that have markings on the inside that say 16/10. I take that to be 16 inch diameter, 10 inch width.

I haven't seen anything that will fit a non-lifted truck that call for 10" rim width. The closest that I can come up with is a 305/70/16 that calls for 9" rim width. I am looking at AT tires rather than max traction considering that I spend more time on the beach than I do in the East Texas woods and red clay mud.

Is it possible to put 315/75/16s on the truck without lifting the truck at all. My wife hunts with me and she has to be able to climb in and out of the truck. She has a bad back so I have to take her ability to get in and out when I replace the tires.

The previous owner cut the wheel liners to avoid rubbing. I just can't determine by eyeballing it that 315/75/16s will fit in the wheel well opening without rubbing when going over bumps and stuff.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I am currently considering the General Grabber AT2s in 305/70/16.

GY

 

Ive heard of one person even puttin 317/75/16 on our year trucks without lifting it, and he learned very fast not to do that again, our trucks max tire size is a 33, preferably 285/75/16 or 285/70/17 (which is the size i currently run and is about 33x11.5) however you can run a 305/70/16 which is about 33x12.5 or right around there which slight rubbing at full lock, if you go this route i suggest cranking your torsion bars which can give you about 1-1.5 in lift, this the route i plan to take, crank the torsion bars and run 305/70/17 which comes out to about 34/12.5 a little bigger but still shouldnt be too big of a problem, thats of course just for now untill i do my SAS bruahahahaha!!!

 

Talk to a Nitto dealer. The terra grappler comes in so many sizes that I think you'll find a winner

 

if you do go with nitta terra grappler i belive the may a 295/70/16 or something close to that which would be a perfect size for you i would think, however ill advice you against gettin these tires because they are very soft and get horrible mileage on the road, they do decent for a AT tire offroad, pretty good in sand for an AT (a couple of my buddies have them) which would be good for your beach trips, but if you plan on driving alot on the street with them id suggest lookin around first because they will wear very fast on the street

 

I had a 1998 Range Rover that I put Nitto Terra Grapplers on and they were fine. Only had that truck for one year before mama made me get rid of it after an airbag blowout. They were okay in the sand and on the dirt/clay roads on the deer lease. I've thought about them, but am more interested in a little longer lasting tire.

I think that I have settled on the 305/70/16 General Grabber AT2s. They have a 60K warrantee and grab like there's no tomorrow for a strait AT tire. I still can't figure out what the hell the guy had on the truck with these rims. The Grabbers in that size call for a 9" wide rim so I think the tires will fit a bunch better. The Grabbers are 33.1" new at that size.

I am trying to stay away from making the step up into the truck any higher than it is right now so I don't have to hear about it or carry a step stool. But, perhaps a few turns on the torsion bars won't be noticed too much. A friend did that on a Nissan something or other (not Pathfinder, the next one down) and it worked for him in moving up a couple of sizes.

Appreciate the advice!

GY

 

The rim width really isn't that big of an issue at all. They "recommend" a certain width rim, but anywhere near there is good. You may have to alter your tire pressure a small amount to get an even wear pattern, but nothing you can't figure out with some chalk.

 

Interesting comment. I live in Texas and get to see many "mexican" cars/trucks running around with tires on rims that are WAY out of proportion. To that extent, my rims are just about as wide as the tread pattern which makes the look a little odd, but not bad. The tire shop guys are the ones whe keep telling me I need wider tires on the rims that I have.

As I said earlier, I think I'll put the 305/70/16 tires on and will be satisfied with them. The wheel well liners have already bene cut and I don' think they'll rub the fender.

Of course, I keep thinking that 34.5" tires would look a little bit better than the 33" tires. I just can't live with the grief I'll get if I get them and then have to do "modifications" to make them fit. I still like getting fed.

GY

 

Either 8" or 10" rims will be fine. A narrower rim will hold the bead better, a 10" rim will ride better on the road. On my heap, I run 8" wide rims with 33x12.50" BFG MTs and have not had any trouble....even on the East Texas red mud/rocks:

 

Nice pic Jeremy. For a minute I thought it was like on the edge of a big drop off, then realized the camera was hanging out a window lol. Wish I had somewhere to wheel.....

 

Good looking Jeep, Jeremy! We have a "red hill" on the deer lease that is a lot of fun once it has rained. Mama doesn't like being in the truck when it starts sliding side to side. Kinda takes all of the fun out of it.

I have also thought about the Firestone Destination MT tires. They are supposed to be good in the mud and get good mileage. Downside is that they dig soft soil (sand based) like a ditch witch. I tried to pull a guy out of sand soil who was runing Destination MTs and couldn't do it (only had 2wd due to vacuum problems). He was turning dirt like a john deere tractor.

I've heard a lot of good stuff about Kumho venture MT tires, too. Don't know enough about them to buy, though.

GY

 

the firestone destination MT is a real good mt tire, but if you're in sugar sand and start diggin then any mt is gunna dig in and get ya stuck, also the kumho venture MT is a good tire for the value, pull decent, theyre no bogger but they do decent for the value

 

Hehe...that wheeling spot is at a park north of Longview. Lots of rocks!

BTW, if you are interested in tires...you cant go wrong with BFG MTs. That picture was taken in early 2003 and I still have those tires on my jeep. They are pushing 70K mi.

 

X2 on the BFG mts for good mileage. My 31x10.5's had over 50k on them when I sold the truck, and still had a good amount of tread on them. Help my 2wd alot in the mush and slop and the scrap yard, but besides sticking it in a mud pit once, thats the only offroad it got. Keep in mind.... 2wd 5 speed 6 cylinder with no momentum.

 

Got a little smoke coming from that I6....


Shouldn't have to worry about the rims, just adjust tire pressure until there is full tread contact.

 

yeah.... water on the hot motor. Overheated on the way home pulling my car trailer full of quads though. Dang radiator was packed full of mud.