35's or 33's with 2.5 in leveling kit on 2002 FX4?
 

I'm a bout to put a 2.5 in leveling kit on my 2002 FX4 and I dont know if I should go with 35's or 33's. I like the 35's look better but I'll have to do some trimmin on the valence and bumper and I'm worried it might take away some power and lower my MPGs. So 33's are my safety blanket.

I'm new to this and I know yall have probably heard this same question a thousand times but I'm clueless when it comes to trucks and installing stuff, so just wanted to see what yall had in mind since yall know a lot more than I do

Also,If you have any pics of a 97-03 with 35's or 33's with stock wheels and a leveling kit please post them. Thanks

NO LEVELING KITS FOR 4X4! Read the link in my sig for more info.

You also left out whether your running factory wheels or aftermarkets.

lift???? No
 

I'm running 285/75-17 on some factory FX4 wheels I think that is about a 34" tall tire.
No lift or leveling kit needed. You may have to adjust the front ride height by adjusting your torsion bars to fit the 35" tires though. I gave mine a few good cranks to help level out the truck

https://www.f150online.com/forums/me...2-108-0248.jpg

:beers:

Yup. 295/70/17 Nittos here with just a torsion crank. No trimming was needed.

dang thanks for showin me that stuff about the after market keys, but yea im runnin factory rims
looks like ill be crankin those keys soon, im wantin to put 35/12.5r17 Hercules trail digger mt on there do think they wont be too wide for those stock rims?

No you can put them on factory rims, they'll just look a little ballooned at the top, and could have uneven wear because of that. Also you may have rubbing on the frame while turning and have to do minor trimming in the bottom corner of the valence.

I don't mind if they rub a little after I trim some but I don't want them to wear down unevenly, if I get them should I re gear the axle and how much you think it will cost?

btw your truck looks mean as hell, I like that front bumper alot.

Thanks man, and as long as you keep them rotated and check the pressure in them to make sure one of the front's isn't off or anything you should be okay. Regearings all up to you, I've been running stock 3.55s on my truck with 35's for about 30k or so now and haven't had a problem. But if you tow a lot or you wanna get back all the power you'll lose with the bigger tires, or wanna try to salvage some gas mileage then gears may be a good idea. For a 4x4 to get the front and back done expect to spend somewhere around 1300 or more if I remember right.

I'm running, a 285/70 which is a 33x11.3 (according to Federals site) and i have my stock keys maxed. A 35 looks like it'll be real tight; as i had to remove the front mudflaps to get these to not rub. And since you want a MT tire, you'll have a bit more sidewall to make contact. If it was a less aggressive AT tire, you could get away with very little to no rubbing. With the MT, you'll probably have a decent amount of rub. Just my opinion ofc.

Isn't your black truck on aftermarket wheels though with a different backspacing than the factories?

Yes, but the tires were actually on a set of OEM's prior for a few weeks. And they still caught the mudflap slightly.