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I've had my 2 door 8ft 2002 F150 2WD XLT for a couple of years and now it needs tires. It has 245/65/R17's on it now.
The factory tag shows 275/60/R17SL. Whenever I look up tires, I get:
The 275/60R17 tire size is an available OEM option for the Ford F-150 King Ranch and Lariat trims, specifically for model years 2001 through 2003 in Super Cab and Super Crew configurations.
What's the right tire for this truck? I use it on weekends to do side landscaping work and often drive on highways. I'm not going off-road, but drive in dirt, grass, rocks. A 60 series tire seems like a car street tire to me, not a truck tire.
Pick the tread pattern you like and go for it, maybe look for a nice AT, I have the Toyo AT3's on 3 of my other rigs and love them for all around everything, on my 2000 Scab F150/4x/7700 had 245/75/16 stock size on it, I use mine for an extra wood-cutter/hauler/wheeler/run-around truck, I wanted a more aggressive tire so I went with the Hercules TIS Mud Terrains in 265/75/16, Love them! They change the whole look/disposition of the truck.
Yes, I would go more towards a 265/75/17 in your case, you don't have to go with factory spec'd sizes, and size you load it like I do, I'd go for a Load Range E tire/size.
Landscaping like hauling a mower and some rakes or landscaping like hauling a full bed of bark dust and/or gravel? You might want to study up on load ratings. And consider that the ride of a stiff sidewall tire can be rougher than a lower load rating tire.
And don't forget your speedometer reading if you get a different diameter. And road noise if you travel on the highway. Aggressive tread patterns can be noisy.
Pickupmanx2 used looks as a major choice factor. It's usually a compromise between looks and function. Overall, you can put whatever tire you want on your vehicle. None of them will damage the truck. It's how you use the truck and tires that matters. Good luck.
Thanks guys. Looks are unimportant. I'm carrying equipment and a load of topsoil or mulch, so carrying capacity is most important. I don't want noisy highway tires, but that's secondary.
My old 1984 F150 4x4 had heavy duty leafs on the back and laughed at carrying 3,000lbs. This truck is much wimpier, so I've considered better springs, but might change the truck out if I really need them. But if I did put better springs, I want tires that can match up.
BTW - the speedometer is off with the 245s showing a little faster than comes up on radar, so I imagine it left the factory with taller tires.
Last edited by syakoban; Mar 29, 2026 at 04:07 PM.
Landscaping like hauling a mower and some rakes or landscaping like hauling a full bed of bark dust and/or gravel? You might want to study up on load ratings. And consider that the ride of a stiff sidewall tire can be rougher than a lower load rating tire.
And don't forget your speedometer reading if you get a different diameter. And road noise if you travel on the highway. Aggressive tread patterns can be noisy.
Pickupmanx2 used looks as a major choice factor. It's usually a compromise between looks and function. Overall, you can put whatever tire you want on your vehicle. None of them will damage the truck. It's how you use the truck and tires that matters. Good luck.
Correction, I used function as my choice factor, the looks came after getting them on and really liking them, I wanted an aggressive MT for the intended use of the truck, if he was to be mostly a run-arounder I would've gone with the Toyo AT3's, but having been stuck cutting wood, I knew the AT3's, as great as they are would not be the best choice for the tasks asked of 456.
@ the OP, the Toyo and Falken AT's seem to be great all around tires, I have the Toyo's and they are quiet on the road yet have great traction in most everything with some limits expected from an AT.
Yes my MT's are noisy, personally, I've never cared about tire noise but that's me.
Definitely check load ratings, I've had some D's that were = to the E's, and IMHE, I prefer the stiffer sidewall handling, especially when I air down.
E codes weigh a bunch more, especially when in MT form...keep that in the back of your mind. I cannot see a reason for E codes on a half ton.
My 2000 F150 is the 7700, and it does get loaded... the worn out AT's were questionable, went to 4wd to avoid the possibility of losing forward momentum on the way out, this is why I went MT's in E
I've never seen/heard of the laughspark website, however, I do know a few folks running Kuhmo's, no complaints that I've heard, I can't speak personally on them, but they seem to be good tires and appear that they would be a good all around choice, plus a nice price, but I'd be leery of the website... I've shopped for a lot of tires and never heard of that one.Never heard of it...
TrustPilot has no reviews and ScamAdvisor says it's legit, but looking at the details I don't think so. Known scammer domain, all contact info is free public addresses, low traffic overall...
I bought my F150 2002 in 2006 and it had taller tires and never knew it. I always replaced them with the same size tires for the past 20 years and always wonder why I was always passing cars doing the speed limit. My son got pulled over and the Cop said he was doing 95 in an 80 and he asked me if the truck had taller tires and I said I don't know let's check them lol.
Correct tire size?
