I was wondering what size tires could fit on a 97 f150 4x with the three in. body lift. Would 35's require fender trimming? Also, any comments on wear w/this size tire, eg.. brakes, bearings, ball joints, etc. any reply appreciated.

 

I would not go any higher than a 33's with a body lift on a 4X4, you would have to trim alot out of the fenders to sqeeze the 35's in there, an your tires would look really stuffed not to mention having almost no wheel travel. wearing would be about normal if you don't beat on the truck.
https://www.f150online.com/galleries....cfm?gnum=1680

 

I have seen ppl with 3in body lifts put 35s on, and they dont look like they are stuffed in there either. As far as wear goes, everything that would normally wear out on your truck will wear out faster with the larger tires. im guessing pitman arm, idler arm ect... mostly things having to do with the steering.

 

Thanx for the response fellas.

 

I have 35s!! Take a look at my gallery for better pics.

kev

 

Sorry for the brief reply earlier. I had to take care of a few things and didn't have time to post a big reply. So let me elaborate some:

35s do fit with a 3" body. Some people have mentioned that when using aftermarket 8" or 10" wheels, that they contacted their front valence very slightly when turning. Some of them fixed this by cranking the torsion bars some, others did it by trimming just a tiny bit off the valence.

I had a different problem, I used the original Ford factory 7.5" rim. THe tire fits great on it and handles great but at full lock of the steering, the tread hits the frame. Again it only did this at full lock. About .25" of the tread hit. Under normal driving conditions it was fine, the only time it rubbed was when you were like turning tight into a parking spot. What I did to fix this was to lay a bead of weld on the bump stops for the steering. So in sence I limited my steering a hair. The only reason I did this was so that during state inspection I wouldn't have the mechanic turning tight and feeling the rub and fail the truck. This was worth it 100% for me though because I love the looks and didn't want to go with an aftermarket wheel. One of the reasons why I bought this truck was because of those nice shiny chrome wheels!

I had the lift and tires on for 20,000 miles and have had no problems whatsoever except I needed an alignment after I installed the tires because they were taller. The truck handles great too. I did loose a little power though. It tends to downshift a bit more when going up hills too.

Let me know if you have any questions.

kev

 

Kev, thanx a bunch for the details Your truck looks sweet. you da man!

 

I have been running a 3" body lift with 35's for around 44K miles. The truck is now 4 years and 97K miles old. Everything is fine. Never been taken to alignment. Good tire wear with rotation every 5K miles. The tires are around 43k miles old. At this rate I am expecting to get like 50k miles out of the set, maybe a little bit more. No problems with the pitman or any other front suspension component.

I did trim a little the front valance and adjusted the torsion bars two turns.

For some pictures you can go to my truck web site.

 

Go with 35's you won't regret it. I have 33's now and when they wear out i am going 35's.. Just my 2 cents..

Todd

 

hey Todd glad to see you here......good advice, 33's are nice but 35's would look better..

Nate