Just picked up a 04 F350, the previous owner put oversized Ford rims and tires on the truck from a later model Ford. The tires look great on the truck but I can only turn about 1 1/2 turns on the steering before I have tires rubbing on leaf springs. Is there anyway to fix this without replacing the tires?

 

Either a wheel spacer or proper offset wheel is necessary for 99-04 trucks.

I recently went from 05+ wheels to some proper fitting wheels and it makes a big difference in turning and handling.

 

I have the same issue with my 04. It has 06 rims on it with the same size tires. I just live with it . Spacers or drill and tap the knuckle , put a bolt in it and it will stop the rubbing

 

2" thick hubcentric spacers will move those '05+ wheels back out to where your stock pre-'05 wheels used to be, that should stop or at minimize the rubbing.

 

Okay, will look into some 2" wheel spacers. Just wasn't sure how much offset I'd need. Any wheel spacers that I should stay away from?

 

Yes, if running OEM wheels be sure to use hubcentric spacers, avoid any non-hubcentric (or lugcentric) spacers as both the wheels and your truck were designed to work correctly with the factory hubcentric arrangement. The wheels have about 1.75" of a difference in their design but using 2" thick spacers will save you from having to trim the ends off your trucks lug studs.
The choice to use either steel or aluminum is yours, just be sure to keep everything properly torqued once installed.
I run 35"x12.8" tires on my OEM '04 18"s on my '05 (same leaf spring front suspension as your '04) EX had still have just a little tire on spring rub at full lock.

 

I'm having some issues with the Rough Country hub-centric spacers on the rear, I got the right one on flush but the left side ***** at an angle.I'm trying to figure out what it is hitting.

 

Okay well 2" wheel spacers don't work. Even if I replace the bumper that's slightly bent I have even less of a turning radius with them. Before I had 2.5 turns of the steering, with the spacers at 1.5 turns or so I'm hitting the fender liner.

 

The inner liner is thin plastic, you could try to pull it back with a cable tie.

Is this on the same truck that has the front end damage? Have you verified that the front axle is properly centered and is not out of square with the frame?

 

I'm going to pull the liner back on the area that it rubs and see if I can pull the edge of the bumper out with a tree and chain.

Yes, this is the same truck. No, I'm unsure of how I would do that. It appears I was mistaken about the turning radius. Without spacers at 1.5 turns is about as tight as I can turn, with the spacers I can do a full 2 rotations of the steering wheel.

 

Most trucks are about 4-5 turns from full left to full right. If you're getting 2 turns from center to full left, or full right, you're where it should be. The 99-04 trucks have a more limited turning radius than the 05+ coil sprung trucks because of the leaf springs. Backspacing is critical to get everything to fit correctly.

 

Okay, well I eliminated almost all the rubbing. The tires seem to still rub slightly when turning on the rear of the fender liner, I'll look at it more to see if I can pull them back any further then they already are with the cable ties. Seems like turning left I have 1 3/4 turn and right turns I can get almost 2 turns. Just glad to be able to finally drive it.