I am about to purchase new tires in a couple of days, but need some expert advice. I have narrowed my selection to either BFG All-Terain T/a's or Bridgestone Duelers. My queston is this, what is the largest tire I can safely run on a 2wd non-lifted truck? The guy at the tire store said I could probably get away with a 285/75r16 and may or may not have a rubbing problem. Can anyone shed some light on this for me? Thanks!

 

265/75/16 or 31.6" tire is as high as you dare go with a 2WD that has not been lifted. That's what I ran on mines before adding a 3" spindle lift and it fill the wheel well up. I can't see how you are going to get a 32.5" or 285/75/16 on a non-lifted 2WD without rubbing...it will be a problem.

Even the 265s will throw your speedo off by about 2-3 mph, but you can be easily correct that with a small speedo gear for your truck since you have a '97. If you decide to go with the 265s, get the VSS gear from your Ford dealer, about $6.00 as I recall and it will fix your speedo. You will need the 19 tooth (tan in color) gear. The part number is: C7VY17271A.

 

Here's a few past threads that might help you.

I have heard of a couple of folks here running 285/75/16s on the stock 97 rims. I remember that there was a wire harness in the wheelwell that had to be rerouted.

Those tires are very close to 33 inches in height you might feel the power a little less with that much of a change. And youll need a different gear to recalibrate the speedo drive too as it will be off by a bit.

Good luck.