I recently bought and installed the Hell bent Steel 2.5" (all American) leveling kit and was wondering on an otherwise stock 06 F-150 XLT with stock wheels what size tire can I safely get up to? Suggestions on tire brands and styles and sizes is much appreciated. I drive mostly desert trails but in bad weather will need a tire that can handle muddy/sloppy conditions.

Thanks

 

I have 33s with no rub and no trimming. I bet you could go up to 35s if you were willing to get out the cutoff wheel and take a little inner fender out combined with a low back spacing wheel so you don't rub the frame with the tires at full lock.

 

I've always heard that 35's on the 18" FX4 rims would work with a 2.5" leveling kit. Anyone have first hand experience? I found a great deal on slightly used 18" FX4 wheels, bought them and am now just wondering if 35s would work without rubbing in full lock steering. Any information on the tires you used or saw used would be appreciated.

 

33s would be fine for sure. I've heard the same thing about 35s, but I'm not positive about it either

 

would help if you mentioned if you were 2wd or 4wd....

2wd + leveling = 33
4wd + leveling = 35

 

what he said!!!

 

If u are 4wd the 35s will work on those stock fx4 wheels. There is a member with that exact setup. I will see if I can find his username.

 

You can get a 35 12.50 but may have some rubbing. Highly recommend a 295/70/18. Here is a pic of how they look on my stock wheels.

 

Yes they will work. My brother has the exact setup on his. I have similar except I added a body lift to mine. Your truck will fit any 35x1250 tire on a stock 18" rim... well, I wouldnt put a TSL Bogger on there, but other than that one exception, you should be good. You will need to trim the plastic piece under your front bumper and your inner wheel well where the tire touches at full lock and you will be golden. I did it to mine and my brother's. It's very easy to do. Just install the tires on there and when you hop in it next time have a sharp knife on you. I used a CRKT folding-fixed blade. Just turn your wheel all the way to one side and see where its hitting. Trim it, then check it again. Do it for both sides, then back it up and turn, seeing if it hits (for some reason, unbeknownst to me, when you back up, the suspension shifts some and you will rub, so just trim that down based on how much you're rubbing).

As for tires, I would recommend Toyo MTs, Cooper STTs (not ST, but STT). Mickey Thompson MTZs are okay. I dunno about BFG KM2s, my BFG All Terrains dry rotted after only two years and 40K miles. Im not sure Ill buy BFG again. But I would definitely stick with a mud terrain D load capacity that is a mildly soft compound. If you'll be on the street a lot too then I would recommend some that have the water sipes in the tread (the little squiggly lines in the tread blocks -> Like this. Toyos have them and so do a few others. I know for a fact BFG KM2s do not.

Semper Fi, Marine -

 

Just my 2 cents but the BFG KM2 is one of the best MT for daily drivers out there. Ride good, great tread life, dont look bad either. Biggest down fall is price.

 

Yeah I don't doubt it, I am skeptical about wet driving conditions on the road with them since they don't have water sipes in the tread tho, and I dunno if I got jipped on my tires when I got em or what, but my BFG are literally dry rotting only after 2 years. And I never let the truck just sit. If I can't drive it, I get someone to drive it for me if I won't be driving it for a while. I was just pretty ticked. And they actually started to dry rot after only 8 months of having them. Maybe I put them through too much mud? lol... I do like the looks and have heard good things about performance of the KM2s but just based on my experience with BFG in general, this set dry rotted on me and my car I had before this had BFGs on it that dry rotted too. I dunno.

 

btw, Hawkin, Very nice looking setup on your truck! I like the looks of the Trail Grapplers!

 

First off thanks for the compliment, much appreciated. Not sure why you had those problems - hate they are not working out for you. I myself and many of my friends have had excellent experiences with BFG tires (M/Ts). I had the first generation KMs and several of my other friends have the KM2s and all love them. I have seen where people have had dry rotting problems with the Rugged Trail and the Long Trail, thankfully none of them ever resulted in a failure/blowout.

 

This is my 2006 with 275/65/20...it comes out to being just slightly bigger than a 33 inch tire with no rubbing issues... love tha bfg's!!!

 

i had 315 70 17s on my stock wheels with no rubbing and a 2.5 level