Greetings Everyone!

I have a 98 F150 SuperCab 5.4 V8 4X4. My tires are Good'for'a'Year Wranglers P255/70/16. My truck sits a little higher up as if it were an Off-Road Series F150, but is not actually an "Off Road" F150. I seem to have plenty of room in the wheel wells. I need to replace the tires and was wondering based on your experience and opinions, what would be the biggest tire that I could put on my stock rims without adding lifts to the vehicle?. I haven't ruled out a suspension lift, but I wanted to see what the biggest tire was first.

While on that note, if I am allowed to ask a few questions, who makes the best lift kit for 98 F150's. I was leaning toward Skyjacker, Trailmaster, Superlift, and now I am hearing good things about Fabtech. I believe I have the torque bars and heard Fabtech allows you to add the lift without adjusting the torque bars and maintain CV angles.

As far as tires go, based on reading your posts, I was going to go with Bridgestone Dueller A/t Revo's LT285/75/16. Is that too big of a jump? I use the truck for a 60% ON - 40% OFF road. Do I need to be concerned about the tranny or the speedometer if I go with those?

Thank You Everyone as I value everybody opinion greatly.
Mike

 

You can easily fit 285/75-16's (33x11.50) on your truck at stock height. In fact several people have fit 315/70-17's (35x12.50) by using the stock wheels. This is an extremely tight fit on a stock truck. As far as lifts, I'd recommend the RCD or Fabtech lift.

 

What wandell said

 

Stock 16" rims are 7" wide. The widest tire any tire manufacturer specifies for a 7" wheel is 265, check the spec. sheets.

If you put 285's on a 7" wheel and had a tire related accident, you could be held 100% liable because you went beyond the manufacturers recommendations. And there would be no manufacturer warranty due to improper tire mounting.

285's may fit, but the risk is yours alone.

 

You truck is identical to mine with the exception of the color and suspension. It looks like the back of your truck sits higher, is that from a lift kit or from adding leafs to the back. I like that. I assume you can go anywhere and buy extra leafs, correct?

By the way, is that a HILLER sticker on your truck?

I was just wondering. I live about 10 miles south of Hales Corners.

 

Thanks for the help. One followup question that I had was:

According to the Bridgestone website regarding Revos:

LT265/75/16's have a load rating of C, and a speed rating of S.
LT285/75/16's have a load rating od D, and a speed rating or R.

I am not sure what the D & R stand for, my first reaction is I'm losing something over the C & S rated tires. Can you explain briefly the difference between the tires. I have heard lots of good things about Revos. Are you now losing ride and speed performance going to the 285's because of the D & R ratings over the 265's?

Thanks

 

UnclMik,
check out this link:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...l/sidewall.jsp
as well as
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...eral/speed.jsp

I would also read through all the Light Truck articles from that drop down menu and any other ones you find interesting.

The 285's are a load range D tire, which means they can carry more weight. But this is done with stiffer sidewalls, which can mean a little bit rougher ride.
The speed rating tells you that the 285's are rated for a slower maximum speed then the 265's (see the 2nd link above for more info).