I have a 2008 F-150 XL RWD, yesterday the driver-side Michelin LTX M/S2 (severe dry rot) gave out. The truck's spare is an OEM P235/70R17 tire while the tires I have on the truck are the other OEM size P255/65R17s, the Michelin LTXs.

So my question is... since I am severely pinched for cash at the moment, would it be okay to drive in-town speeds and short distances with the spare on the front driver-side being that the truck is a Rear Wheel Drive?

I know in an ideal world you should buy matching tires and I intend to do just that but will it be okay to make short trips in town until I can change out all four tires with new matching tires?

The spare on the front driver-side is a 235/70R while all the rest are 255/65Rs. My understanding which is very basic indeed is that you wouldn't want to put a mismatching spare on the drive axle, is that correct? Thanks

 

It won't matter at all for the front tires on a 2WD as long as the size isn't vastly different. You're talking about 1.25mm difference in sidewall height, or 3mm total diameter difference which is negligible. If you had an LS rear-end, you could even get by with a small difference for a bit in a crunch.

 

It won't matter at all, even if you put it in the rear. Those tires are practically the same diameter. The 255 is just slightly wider, which wouldn't make any difference.

You can drive high way speeds and drive normally with your spare.



I wouldn't run something like 285/70r17 with a tiny 235/70r17 spare though.

 

Thanks guys. I plan to get 245/70R17s as you suggested before in an earlier post, 2008_XL.

What do you think of these special edition sidewall Destination A/Ts?

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

It's either those or the normal Destination A/Ts with outlined white lettering.

 

Good choice for a tire!

I think the special edition look interesting. I personally like the white wall though.

 

Meh, I like the normal blackwalls on our trucks. However, there are a few brands that do the all-white letters that look pretty slick (they may be just painted by the owner), not just the white outline. I'd pass on the special edition blackwall, it looks a bit hokey, like putting camo vents on a white truck.

 

Yeah, I agree, I think I'll just go with the understated white outline A/Ts. I also think it looks goofy when people put too much aftermarket bling on their trucks, the closer to stock the better looking in my opinion. Thank you both for your advice and opinions.

 

I agree with you about the stock look. While I might have changed my XL a bit, I did so with stock looking parts.



You'll like the destination AT tires. Probably the quietest AT tire out there, too.

 

Yep, I am sold on the Destination A/Ts even though I have never driven them. My only concern is that they are Passenger rated tires and not Light Truck rated. I don't haul heavy loads and I don't use the truck for work so... I don't think it will be an issue. Take care, much appreciation.

 

You don't need an LT tire on your truck no matter what. It didn't come with them from the factory. P metrics (passenger) are what your truck is meant to have.

Light truck tires come on HD payload F150, F250, F350, etc.

Each one of these tires has a load rating of 2,204 lbs. that's 8,820 lbs which is WAY more than your truck can tow or haul.

On top of that, tirerack doesn't offer a single light truck tire in the 255/65r17 size you had previously. So you didn't have LT tires.