I currently have 255/70/17 and was thinking of only going one size bigger. I am afraid that it will be too much to run 285/70/17 on my 4.6 4x4 scab? I am probably going to keep my stocks rims but want a more aggressive tire plus a little larger tire to fill in the gap between the tire and fender.

 

If your not towing much (over 3000lbs) and not expecting a race car then the truck will do fine with the 285's.

-Tim

 

check my gallery, I have 265/70/17s on my 2wd screw




https://www.f150online.com/galleries...7686&anum=7325

 

BFG ATs.

 

Exactly how much taller are these tires than what I have?

 

A little over half an inch.

 

FISH:

Are you going to level your truck out?

 

No, I like the rake and don't want to lose the ability to of carrying a heavy load or tow something heavy if needed.

 

not looking to start an argument here, but installing a level kit will not hamper your ability to haul a heavy load or pull a trailer. It will certainly effect your rake, but other than pointing your headlights closer toward the sky, there are no other ill effects. I have a level kit on my truck, I have hauled over 1000lbs in the bed and I pull a boat/trailer combo that weighs over 4000lbs every other weekend thru the Texas hill country without breaking a sweat. Check my gallery for a pic of my boat in tow, the bumper only drops about and inch under the tongue weight of my trailer.

 

I am not concerned with the ability to pull, I am more concerned with the ability to steer and stop. If the nose comes up, that means weight is coming off the front and onto the rear, just like a lever with the fulcrum being the rear axle. I have seen more that one truck going down the road with an overloaded or poorly loaded truck and they can barely steer a straight line. Same holds true with with a too heavy tongue weight and no weight distribution hitch. I have towed before with trucks that did not have a leveling kit and even though they were no where near overloaded I can definitely feel the difference, especially on the steering.
As you, not trying to start an argument, just my choice and the way I feel about the kits. I have no problem with others using leveling, lift, or lowering kits as long as they are safe. I stay as far away as possible from vehicles that are improperly or over loaded as you never know if something is going to break or a tire blow.

 

Why did the ford engineers make the truck have the rake in the first place?

Was it something from the designers and not the engineers, just for looks?

Being educated as an engineer, I'd defer to their testing and design.

I don't know anything about the aftermarked leveling systems. Are they designed and tested in multiple situations by engineers, or is it Cooter from the Dukes of Hazzard?

 

I agree for the most part Kingfish, but the scenario you describe is really a function of proper loading and towing procedure, rather than the effect of a front end level kit. The level kit itself is not so much unloading the front of the truck as it is raising the center of gravity, which could affect handling. Its the extra weight of a heavy load in the bed or on the hitch that is providing the leverage that you mentioned. My truck, even with the 2.5 inch Daystar kit, still has a forward rake, so all I am saying is I have not unloaded my front end or shifted any significant amount of weight to the rear compared to what an overloaded bed or heavy tongue weight would cause. Overall I see your point of view, I just dont agree that the level kit by itself either hampers hauling ability or makes it inherently less safe. I feel thats controlled more by the person operating the vehicle properly and taking necessary precautions to correctly distribute those loads.

 

If you are hauling/towing well below the limits, you might not notice any difference.

For instance if someone is towing 4,000 lbs on a leveled truck setup that the factory says has a limit of 6,500 and NNN hitch load in stock setup, maybe the serious problems don't show up until 5,500 lbs. giving the impression that "yeah it's fine".

With the truck level it has to make some difference (though it could be small) in the factory numbers. Do the leveler manufacturers produce a new chart for towing data that comes with the products?

 

Goslow, if the level kit manufacturers have done their own testing and adjusted the towing or payload numbers, I have not seen that represented in the literature or disclaimers. I did have a four wheel alignment done on my truck after the kit was installed and the fronts were adjusted back to factory spec, rears were fine. As far as changing the weight distribution of the truck front to rear, I still have to disagree, the rear of the truck is not rigid, so when a load is added the lever effect that Kingfish mentioned is significantly reduced by the ability of the rear suspension to adjust to the load. Also in my particular case, I installed two inch rear blocks from a 4x4 so my truck has almost the same rake as it did when stock, it just sits higher now. In general, I still feel the average truck with a 2 inch level kit would not be either less safe or less able to haul or tow a properly sercured or distributed load, right up to the max. rating, IMHO.

 

Another view of 265/70/17 tires (on a Screw 4X4):

http://www.f150online.com/galleries/....cfm?gnum=3886