I am buying a 2002 f150 XLT 139" wheelbase, can I upgrade the standard 16" polished cast aluminum wheels to the 17" cast aluminum cast aluminum wheels? I am pretty sure they are both 5 lug wheels but not sure if they can just be bolted/swapped out? Thoughts??

 

should have no problem with that swap. They are both 5-bolt 135mm wheels. I may have some 17" wheels for sale in a while, interested?

 

My advice don't do it. You will quickly find out that tire selection for 17" rims are pretty limited. There really isn't any advantage to getting th 17" rims. Besides you most likely end up paying more to get some factory rims when you could pay less and get some better aftermarket rims.

Sorry Matt

 

YEAH!...what powerstroke said.
I have 17" rims, which was one of the reasons I selected my truck over the other 2 new ones I was considering. I thought 17" wheels would be great....until a couple of weeks later when I started tire shopping. I wish I had 16" wheels now.

 

Not to mention, the brochure says you loose 500 lbs. of payload capacity when you have the 17s compared to the 16s.

 

Nothing like hindsight...

I upgraded my stock 17" x 7.5" wheels with a nice set of 17" x 8" ARE's before I knew better. Well, now that I've got them I've got no choice but to make the best out of the situation. My question:

Are there any larger 17" tires that will fit on an 8" rim or am I limited to the 275/60's?

Thanks

 

BFG now has some 35x12.50x17 tires Mud Terrain KO's. Nice but about $280 ea mounted and all.

 

Yeah, BFG is now making a new M/T km with "DiggerLugz" sidewall. Awesome looking tire.

There is also a 285/70 R17. Locally it is $214 per tire, $236 mounted and balanced.

See them here ...
http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/

Sizes are here ... http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/catalog/mud_terrain.pdf

 

dfrank,
Man, I had to throw my 2 cents in. You didn't mention that your truck was going to be a 4x4 or 4x2 (I'm assuming that since you didn't, it's gonna be a 4x2). If so, you can get Goodyear Eagle GTII 275/60R17 (the kind STX/Sport models used to come with) from "tirerack.com" for $68 apiece. I put the 17" ORP wheels on my '97 two years ago and mounted a set of these Goodyears on them and I think it looks sharp. It makes my Lariat look kinda like an STX or Sport. You can't get a set of Grand Am Radial GT's for that price. You have to pay the shipping and mounting fees, but that still doesn't add up to a whole lot. The Goodyear store will want about $150 apiece for these. I've put about 25K miles on mine and they still look almost new, and I don't rotate them near as often as I should. They have a better ride than most of the stock Wrangler and Wilderness tires and really fill out the fender wells. I say go for it. Now, if you're talking about a 4x4, then all bets are off .......

 

Yes, I just ordered a black 2002 F150 XLT 4X4, supercab, 5.4Triton, Captains Chairs, Sunroof, towing package, rear window slider, skid plates. The only thing is, Ford discontinue the "off road" package, they are introducing a new "off road" package which doesn't include the sweet 17" cast aluminum wheels so the truck will come with the 16" and I am ordering the 17" cast aluminum wheels....real bummer because it is going to cost me probably an extra $1500.00. I really don't care though, it's going to be one nice truck!! can't wait......