I am wondering how wheel width plays a part tire size and selection? My truck came with 235/75R 16 and I have upgraded to 265/75R 16 and plan to go to 285/75R 16. Do I need to go to a wider wheel than the stock steel wheels that came with my XL? The 265's I am running now seem to be wearing in the centers. I run them at 40 psi (max is 55psi). Help.

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'97 F150XL 4.6L 5 spd 4x4 SC, Silver Frost Clearcoat Metallic,
265/75-16 Wild Spirit MPT tires on factory steel wheels, K&N air filter, Leer fiberglass topper, Access Roll-Up Cover, bug deflector, rear custom Ford mudflaps, Pendaliner, Pioneer Supertuner CD, 4 Cerwin Vega Speakers. Future mods: BFG's and wheels, shocks, Superchip, stainless rocker panel guards for starters.
* 9/27/99 installed Factory Ford 60/40 seats from Sonny's
* 10/13/99 installed cat-back exhaust system with dual pipes out back, a Dynomax Race Magnum muffler, and 3 1/2' stainless slash tips.

FOR SALE - '99 Leer 100XL Signiture Series fiberglass cap. Loaded: tinted automotive glass, cab slider, tilt out rear windows, carpet headliner, brake light, colormatched Silver Frost Metallic ('97+ F150). $850




[This message has been edited by Michael Reschke (edited 02-01-2000).]

 

I don't know for sure but you might be pushing it a bit going to the 285 series tire on that rim. With regards to the tire pressure try going down to around 30lbs in fron and 35 in back. 40 seems really high and is probably why your centers are wearing out.

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Mike Lind
1999 EB Expy with 5.4, Edelbrocks, K&N filter. Superchipped and Dual Exhausted

 

I ran 285/75R16 on the stock 16x7 wheels for quite a while- over a year. No problems other than they didn't "look" wide. Now running 16x8 rims and the tires look a lot better.


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1997 4x4 Expedition- 4.6L, true dual exhaust w/glass-packs, K&N air filter, SuperChip, airbox mods, Edelbrock shocks, 285/75R16 BFG ATs, Optima "T-Bone" wheels, Clarion In-dash CD player, Smitty Bilt push bars and nerf bars!!

2000 4x2 F150 XLT Reg. Cab LWB- 5.4L, Tow Pkg, 3.55LS, CD player,Remote Keyless Entry, Sliding back glass, Special Appearance Pkg.

http://members.visualcities.com/NoMo

 

Try going with a 70 or 60 series tire over the 75, that will add width! Your tire pressure is probably to high as well! I have 275/60-17s on mine, and the recommeded tire pressure is 26 in the front and 30 in the rear! I normally raise this to 28 front and 32 rear on trips, mainly to try and increase gas mileage.

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Paul...
99 F-150 XLT SC Sport, 4.6L, Auto, Captain Chairs, Class III Towing Package, 3.55 LS, Sliding Rear Window, White, 4X2, CD, Soft Factory Tonneau Cover, K&N Filter, WMS Velocity Tube, Line-X Spray on Bed Liner, Gibson Side Swept Cat Back System, F150online Decal...
Flip Chip on it's way!

ptarnuzzer@megsinet.net

 

Rim width has very little to do with bad wear patterns. Center wear is always overinflation. A/T tires are a bit more inflation sensitive than highway tires because of the tread pattern. 50 PSI is the max inflation rating for those tires, something you might use to carry a ton of gravel in the bed. For normal use check the door sticker and reduce the recommended pressures slightly for your oversize tires.

BTW, BFG recommends a 7.0 to 8.0 inch rim for the 265/75-16

 

Is a 285/75R 16 made to go on a 8 inch rim?
Is this the biggest and best looking tire size that will work without a lift?

[This message has been edited by Michael Reschke (edited 02-02-2000).]

 

BFG says 7.5 to 9.0 rim width for the 285/75-16

 

Thanks. It sounds like it would be a good bet to go with the 8".

 

I put 285/75-16 on the stock 7" rims. Have about 1500 miles on the tires and they seem fine. I am running 42 psi on the front and 45 psi in the rear. I have pictures if you want to see what they look like.

[This message has been edited by JohnD (edited 02-03-2000).]

 

JohnD,
Yes I would like to see pictures. You are running higher pressure than others. Any comment?

 

Michael,
Go to the post I made on 1/6/00 how long before you changed your tires. https://www.f150online.com/f150board...ML/000139.html

Or else give me your email address and I will send them to you


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I put on my Wild Spirit MPT 265/75R 16 on at 15,000. They are on the stock 7 inch steel wheel that came with my XL. Check them out at http://sites.netscape.net/iridektm/homepage

Yours look pretty good. No problems running them on the stockers? I am confused why mine are wearing in the center at 40 psi and yours are bigger and at a higher pressure. That is what worries me about using my stockers.

 

Michael,
When the tires were installed they had 50psi in them. After the 25 mile ride home I could see that the rear tires were high in the center. I lowered them and now they seem fine. When I load the motorcycles in the back (2 dirt bikes and gear I may raise the psi a little. In the front they seem fine, wear is even across the tread.

 

Michael Reschke

IMHO, I suggest you to base your final decision on long term cases. A couple of thousands miles on a set of tires is not very representative of what is going to happen to them later. Almost every tire manufacturer has a web site, and , in each of them you will be able to get the recommended rim width for each tire size.

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98 4x4 Lariat SC 5.4L ORP, Tow Package, 3.55 LS in oxford white two tone. Only modifications, K&N Filtercharger and Stepshield door still protectors. Many more to come.