1999-2007 Upgrades and Aftermarket - GeneralUpgrading or adding OEM or aftermarket equipment to your 1999-2007 Super Duty. Please confine discussion of topics in this forum to those items that are not engine-specific.
I did some searching, but I didn't see any posts that indicated what the width of my stock 17" wheels was. I want to replace the stock 265/70/17 Rugged Trail tires with something larger and a little more aggressive. I need new front shocks anyway (Rancho's are already shot with only 31k of all street driving, that's a shame!), so I don't mind doing the spacer/shock thing to fit them. Suggestions? I was gonna order 315/70/17's, but not a lot of options in an E load range tire in that size range, and I tow fairly heavy loads on occasion.
I didn't see any posts that indicated what the width of my stock 17" wheels was.
7.5" wide. Wheel size 17"x7.5" J.
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I want to replace the stock 265/70/17 Rugged Trail tires with something larger and a little more aggressive.
If you go to the website of the brand you are considering, they usually have a spec sheet for their tires. For example, you described the BFGoodrich AllTerrain T/A KO. The specs for those tires show they make a 285/70R17D that will fit on wheels from 7.5" to 9" wide, and they have a weight capacity of 3,195 pounds @65 PSI. That will work for you as long as you don't overload your pickup to over about 11,000 pounds gross vehicle weight (GVW).
That same spec sheet says BFGoodrich doesn't make a 295 in that 17" AllTerrain, so the next size up is LT305/65R17E. But those puppies require wheels at least 8.5" wide.
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I was gonna order 315/70/17's, ...
BFG has those too, but they also require wheels at least 8.5" wide.
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...but not a lot of options in an E load range tire in that size range, and I tow fairly heavy loads on occasion.
The AllTerrains in either 305E or 315D have a weight capacity of 3,195 per tire. If you buy new wheels and tires that size, then load the rear axle to 6,000 pounds with a 5er or goose tied on, your GVW is going to be about 11,000 pounds. Or about 1,000 pounds overloaded over the GVWR of a 2006 F-250. And your rear tires will still have almost 400 total pounds of wiggle room (unused weight capacity) before you reach the weight capacity of the tires. So you don't need load range E unless you severely overload your pickup. You just need to be sure your tires have a minimum weight capacity of at least 3,000 pounds each, then pump them up to the max on the sidewall when towing.
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My Sierra Blanca in the sig pic was a great pickup for 11.5 years. I sold it last year. Replacement is a 2012 F-150 EcoBoost SuperCrew Lariat.
Last edited by SmokeyWren; 09-22-2009 at 10:25 PM.
Not me, but check with any big wheel retailer and you'll probably find some. Discount Tire, for example. Those are 8" wide. 20"x8" J. So you can run AllTerrain LT285/65R20E tires, which require minimum of 8" wide rims. And those puppies have a weight capacity of 3,860 pounds! Those are almost exactly the same diameter as the old 35s. And again, BFG also makes a 305, but those require rims at least 8.5" wide.
The 285/65R20 will change your speedo error by 8.4 percent. So an indicated 70 MPH will really be over 75 MPH on Officer Bob's radar/lidar. And your odo will be 8.4% slow, so a 400-mile tankful of diesel will really be 433.6 miles. So your MPG calculations will be junk unless you have the speedo calibrated for the taller tires. Calibrating the speedo will also fix the odo and tripmeter.
look on ebay for take offs, its where i found mine
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early 1999, 7/98, F-250 7.3L, 250,000+ miles, 4x4, triple disk torque convertor, AFE dryflo home made cold air intake, straight pipe exhaust, superchips tuner (stuck on high performance tune,because someone stole the tuner out of my truck), 4.7K mod, Glow shift gauges (pyro, boost, egt), CCV mod, 3in of lift in front, 1in in back w/ 2009 SD rims w/ 2in wheel spacers wrapped in 325/65/18 Fierce Attitude MT, aftermarket headlamps w/ LED's, ranchhand grill guard, 03' front bumper w/ fog lights, gooseneck hitch
Takeoffs were bringing too much money ($1500) on Ebay. I ordered these: Interactive Wheel System - Discount Tire Direct
Choose blue, then the first rim with the black background and silver lip.
20"x9" MB 72's with the gloss black background and machined lips/center caps. They were the last 4 in stock, and clearance priced at $125 each!!!! I ordered them with the stock style Goodyear ATS tires (275/65r20) because they were taller, sturdier, and cheap. Got the whole package shipped to my door, mounted, balanced, lugs, caps, and lifetime road hazard warranty (NO PRO-RATING!!!) for $1,252.44, after wheeling and dealing between them and Tire Rack.
That's insanely cheap IMO for custom 20" wheels and brand new HD truck tires.
BTW, they still have silver (machined finish) 20"x9" MB 72's for $125 each.
I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but your hubs were designed for hub-centric wheels. The stock wheels are hub centric. Most cheap aftermarket wheels are lug-centric - not good enough for your SuperDuty truck.
MB Wheels (apparently the house brand of Discount Tire) does not include wheel specs on their website. MB Wheels - 72
And I can't find any specs on the Discount Tire websites either.
Hopefully the store will have the specs. The spec you care about is pilot bore diameter (the big hole in the center of the wheel). Hub centric wheels will have a pilot bore of 4.93 inches (125.22mm). Cheaper wheels will have a pilot bore bigger than that, probably around 5" or more.
One clue to whether the wheel is hub centric is the lugnuts they use. If they use your stock lugnuts, then no problem. But if they use conical lugnuts, then it's time to double-check the diameter of the pilot bore. Hub centric wheels will fit snugly on your hubs. Notice the fit of your stock rims. Lug centric wheels will flop around on the hub until you have the lugnuts fairly tight.
The reason the pilot bore diameter is important is because your hubs and lugbolts and the metal the lugbolts are attached too were not designed for the added stress and strain of lub-centric wheels being centered on the hub by the lugbolts and lugnuts. You might be okay for thousands of miles with the wrong wheels, but then you could also break lugbolts or hubs and loose a wheel at any time. If it were my truck, I would insist on hub-centric wheels.
I called Discount Tire Direct. Tim at extension 51847 says that most aftermarket Super Duty wheels have the same larger (131mm) hub, and he doesn't know of anyone that's experienced problems. He said the key is to torque the lugs properly (duh), and retorque them again after 100 miles.
Hmm. I see tons of aftermarket wheels on these trucks. I've never seen one come off. Anyone else ever see it happen? Will I be concerned for nothing?
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