I have finally decided that I am looking at 285/75/16 or 295/75/16 BFG A/T KO's. They will probably the best tire for me, I wanted either the M/Ts or the Toyo M/Ts, but I don't think I will see enough deep mud to warrant one. My questions are:

1) Which size would be a better option for stock ride height (unsure whether I want to crank my bars yet), and I also really don't feel like trimming, I have '03 XLT X-Cab Long bed 4x4

2) Is a speedo recalibration necessary, or can I get away with letting it alone. Just want some feedback from other board members who have beefed up there rubber and what they did with there speedometer.

3) I know it sounds silly, but how many of you have gone to get bigger tires installed on your truck, and shops won't do it because it is "not OEM"? I have been reading alot of that on older posts and didn't know if they lightened up. I had bigger tires put on my sisters Jeep no problem, but will Sears do it for me? They have awesome prices on BFG's LOL



Oh, on a side note to Wandell, in your pic gallery, what are the dimensions of those BFG's you have on your Screw at stock ride height, how comes they stick out so far?

 

Either size will fit. You don't have to recalibrate the speedo but it is a good idea.
Also, the 285/75-16 BFG's on my screw stuck out because they were mounted on a 10 inch wide wheel with 4.5 inches of backspacing, which means they stuck out 3 inches farther than the 7 inch wide oem wheels.

 

I feel left out, noone ever responds to my threads, so thanks Wandell . http://www.finishlinewheels.com/FORD...C0+TRUCK/2003/, my current wheels are the 5th ones down. To me, they don't look so terribly bad that I need to get new ones, and if I did I would just get the ones two below it, the stock FX4 wheels. So, if I am correct I have a 16x7.5'' wheel. My wheels can run the BFG 285's, but how much backspacing do I need to get them to stick out over my wheel wells much like the stock setup on your Screw? Since I won't be doing a lift right now, I want that mean aggressive, yet still stock look due to what I use my truck for.

 

My wheels are 10 inches wide with 4.5 inches of backspacing. Your oem wheels are either 16x7 or 17x7.5 with 4.5 inches of bs.

 

I just checked my speedo against two different portable GPS units. Both units ended up reading exactly the same. My speedo was around 3-4 mph off but now I know. Driving with that knowledge is cheaper than a ticket and speedo recalibration!

 

You don't have to have a dealership calibrate your speedometer to your new tires. You can do it yourself with an SCT X3 Power Flash or a ScanGauge II.

 

^thats good to know, I would probably just have it recal'd though becuase I would never go back to 255's again. Which size would be a better fit though? Would I have any rubbing with the 295s either fender or full lock, or would I be good. Most people comment on getting 50-70k to a set of BFG's so this will most likely be the last set of tires I put on my truck since it has 103k miles, and I just want to be sure I get a size I will be happy with. Oh, and when I get the tires mounted do I get the luxury of choosing how much backspacing I would like or is it all contingent on my rim size?

 

Backspacing is just a measurement. It's the distance from the mounting surface of the wheel (where it bolts to the hub) to it's rear edge. Your oem wheels are 16x7 with 4.5 inches of backspacing. Most aftermarket wheels for our trucks also use 4.5 inches of backspacing.

 

Just a quick question guys, does anyone have any experience/pics with clearing 295 tires w/o a lift or t-bar crank? I saw 285's today on a f150, and it looked like there was room for a tad more. I have read posts on here saying you can and you can't, wanted to see if anyone had photos, Thanks.

 

I don't have any pics, but I've seen them on a few trucks with oem wheels.

 

I would use this with a grain of salt, but it has been relatively accurate with the + wheel size changes that I have done on multiple vehicles.

It will at least give you an idea as to what to expect.

Tire Calculator

 

I installed 33" tires on my 2006 and according to my GPS it is 1MPH off at 65