Which tires for me?

[clintusaf]

Well, it won't be long before i get new tires. iv'e been looking for while now and am having trouble deciding which size and brand. I'm stuck between 285, 305, and 315's. i have stock 16 " wheels. i have a 2 1/2 " leveling kit. i had a friend check the spacing between my stock tires(285/75R16's cheapo highways) and the front leaf spring and he said i have maybe 1/2" front and back. Since 315's are taller and wider, i'm pretty sure they would rub. please chime in if you think otherwise. my other concerns for runnin 315's are: tranny gearing, speedo readout, decreased turning radius, and increased wear on front end components.
are all of these valid concerns?
If some one has the same setup (F350 4x4 w front end leveling kit) with 315's, id really like to hear your opinion.

i would really like to fill the wheel wells, but i dont want it to end up costing me too much in the end.

the tires im interested in are the Goodyear duratracs and the mickey thompson ATZ's.

here are some pros and cons to both that ive found from reviews.

Goodyear duratracs- Pro Cons
Cheaper only come in 285 and 315
Load range E closer to a Mud terrain
Great overall traction has rollover and feels loose

Mickey Thompson ATZ
come in 285/305/315 expensive
All terrain load range D in 285-315

sorry for ramblin, but i figured i'd get it all down to answer any questions. i'm open to other tires choices as well. ive also been looking at the cooper stt's, general grabber at2's, and others. let me know what ya'll think!!

 

[commanderjjones]

I've been using BFG A/T's for decades and love them. They wear/last great, ride good, aren't very loud, but still give decent off-road traction in mud/snow when necessary.

I'm using the 2.5" leveling kit and running 35x12.50's on 16.5"x10" wheels with no rubbing (but it's very close). Wheel offset will have some effect on whether or not it will rub.

 

[clintusaf]

What wheels are you runnin? that may be an option. did you have any other issues with my concerns listed above? tranny gearing, speedo readout, and increased wear on front end components. what kind of mileage do you get?

 

[6.0PSD777]

I have Goodyear Wrangler AT/S and they are excellent in the snow/rain/mud but a little noisy on the highway and ride rougher than some other brands but overall i really like them.

 

[big_rooster]

The mickey thompson MTZ is the same tread pattern as the goodyear. With stock wheels you should have no issues with the rubbing on the leaf spings. I have rubbing with my 13.5 inch wide tires with the rims i have now which are 4.25 inch backspacing, my previous rims with 3.75 inches of backspacing did not rub. Yer looking at prolly an 11 inch wide tire with the 315/75/ 16's and 4.5 inches of backspacing. If you were going with a mud terrain then they might rub, but an all terrain does have enough shoulder.

 

[IHC Power]

315's

I have a set of Cooper Discoverer STT's on my stock suspension and factory wheels, they do rub when trying to go lock to lock but an aftermarket wheel solves that issue, I'm to attached to my factory Lariat wheels though. As for mileage and wear your looking at lower numbers for both, I just put the 235's back on to get the fuel economy back up. Now I'm at 20.4 mpg, . The heavier bigger tires will put a strain on the hubs and other front end components but I grease mine every 2500 miles so I have not seen anything excessive. After my gauges went in it really didn't effect my transmission temperature much. Hope this helps...

 

[clintusaf]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Keep it coming. Anyone got any good pics of what 235's look like? I might consider those if i see how they look.

 

[vailcomp]

2005 Crew SB Installed Nittro Terra Grabbers 285 /75/17 for the height didn't want to go to 35 on the TA. Just on only 3000 so far- jury still out. I had 33/70/17 BFG TA before got 50,000 out of them its a hard call- so far still favor the TA- if they had the extra height would have stayed with the TA- like the tread and wear. Time will tell. I have a leveled out and no rub.

 

[commanderjjones]

What wheels are you runnin? that may be an option. did you have any other issues with my concerns listed above? tranny gearing, speedo readout, and increased wear on front end components. what kind of mileage do you get?

I'm running an Ultra 50/51 wheel. No regrets or problems with that combo......been running it since the stock tires wore out at 20k and I now have 310k. The 35" BFG's actually measure about 34". I lost a hair of towing power, but gained a little cruising on the highway. The trailers I normally tow rarely exceed 8k, so the minimal power loss is no biggie for me. My speedo is off about 8%, but I don't mind (shows less miles on the odometer) and I never bothered to have it recalibrated. No accellerated wear on front end components, just usual wear and tear for 310k......I've replaced the ball joints once and the hubs twice (the second set of hubs was very recent). I'm on the 3rd set of brakes and average 50k to 55k on a set of tires. No complaints or regrets with my set up.

I average about 16mpg. I can get 18+ if I keep my foot out of it or stay below 65mph on the highway.....so like I said, I usually get about 16.

 

[TurboDsl8]

I tried to put on 315/75 r16 Pro Comp Extreme A/T's on my 2003 w/ stock 16" Lariat wheels and I found that the wheel is too narrow for that size of tire and causes huge handling issues... for instance if you get on the brakes a little hard it wants to come around sideways w / the tire roll on the rim. Not good! also even with the leveling kit they still rubbed on the leaf spring in tighter turns. I went right back and put my used 285/75 R16 BFG A/T's back on til I could get a newer wider set of rims to fit the larger tires. I ended up getting 18x9" wide rims and put 325/60R18 Pro comp Extreme A/T's on.which are about 34" tall and 13.5" wide. No rubbing or handling issues now. Good luck!