I guess I should say hello and introduce myself. I have a 2002 150 XLT extended cab with the triton 5.4. I got it about 2 years ago and she has been a great truck. My issue is that she needs tires. The truck has 265/75/16's on it and rides and drives great. No lift or mods just bone stock. I took it to NTB (local tire place) to get a price on tires. I simply asked for the size I needed and the guy gave me a price, no problems. I then went to costco to comparrison shop and this time when I told t he guy the size, he asked for the year and make of my truck, so...I told him. He then proceeds to explain to me that those are the wrong tires for my truck and that their computer says it needs 235/70/16's and the tires I want will not physically fit on my truck, so.. I took him out to my truck and proved him wrong. He starts telling me that I am gong to destroy my transmission and that the truck could roll over too easy on those tires. This gets my wife upset and I have to explain to him that the world hates drama queens and we leave. So, to make a short story long....Is there any truth in what this guy is saying? Am I going to kill my transmission with the 265/75's? they have been on the truck since I bought it and I haven't seen any issues.

 

Most of the shops will already try to tell you to stay with OEM specs for their liability, and sometimes to give you a hard time. You could fit a 305/65/17 on that truck I bet. 235/60/17 sounds like the factory specs, I would stay with 265 for the better wider grip, and 60 or 65 is a fine sidewall size.

 

265-75-16 ios not the factory size. It was probably a 235 or 255. It should list teh correct size inside the drivers door.You didin't say weather it was 2 or 4 wheel drive. Having said that, there is no issue with running the 265-75-16. It is actually the same diameter and width as the 265-70-17s, that were an option on the the 4x4. Trucks with these tires did not necessarily even have different gear ratios. I know several people running the 17" Offroad wheel and tire package on their 4x2s with no issues.
I ran 265/75-16s on my 98 F150 for several years. No issues what so ever.

 

You can run any size that will fit under the fender, it won't hurt your tranny, won't raise the center of gravity enough to worry about rolling it. On my 2000 4x4, it came with 265/65/17's when I got it, and I put on 285/70/17, then bought a set of 16" wheels for it and put on 285/75/16's. The 16's rubbed just a little bit at full turn, but no problem other than an annoying noise. Last Saterday I traded this truck on a 06 F-150, and it had 255/65/17's on it, and I took it straight to Big O and put a set of 285/70/17's, and they fit and clear just fine. I also put the old 17's back on the 2000 when I traded it and kept the 16" wheels and tires. The wheels won't fit anything I own, but I can put the tires on my 76 F-250. Keep reading these forums and you will learn what sizes you can fit and what won't, what will fit with a leveling kit or lift, etc. Don't let these guys in these shops push you around because they think you don't know anything. Most times these guys can smell the unknowing and sell you somthing you don't need. Also, is your truck 2wd or 4wd?

 

It also helps to understand what the numbers mean in the sizing. On a 285/75/17 (for instance), the 285 is the width in mm. The 75 is the aspect ratio, meaning the sidewall is 75% (in this case) of the width. The third number is the rim size.

 

I appologize, I should have noted thatthe truck is 4 WD. I am not interested (right now) in going up in size or changing wheels or anything like that. Actually I tow, a lot. I have all my trailers and my hitch set up and balanced for the way the truck is now and I don't want it to change. When the guy showed me the tiny little tire he said was what was supposed to go on it, I thought there is no way I am towing all over the state towing my boat and other toys with my truck on those puny *** tires. I think iam going to go with a set of cooper 65000 mile tires that the guy at NTB quoted me. They have an E load range and a huge amount of siping (sp) on them (very very important on boat ramps). I just wanted to make sure the 265/75/16's weren't going to mess up my transmission.

On a side note, I have been looking around this forum a lot today and there seems to be a lot of knowledge here. I appreciate the input on my question.

 

"I just wanted to make sure the 265/75/16's weren't going to mess up my transmission."

How a pair of tires can damage the transmission?
please someone explain that

 

Read the first post.

 

What you've experienced is a know it all, who knows nothing. Running a 265/75-16 on a heritage body style F150 4x4 will not cause any issues. I ran Michelin LTX A/T in this size on my 98 for 130K miles and on my 01 for 110K miles and finally on my 03 for another 120K miles, with zero issues.

My personal preference when it comes to buying tires is to visit your local family owned (Not Box Store) tire shop and talk to them about what you need and what your concerns are. They have a vested interest in helping you select the right tires because they want you back as a customer. And because they are a small business, they tend to know alot about product, other then what a brochure says.

The short of this, go buy the tires you want and ignore the "you can't do this or this will cause that" BS because it is BS.

 

I will never order off line or from a big box store I take care of my local merchants and they in turn take care of me. I gladly pay an extra 100 bucks but most of the time I get them cheaper like right now I am looking at a set of 33X12.50X17 Cooper Disc. STT for 850 mounted and balanced. No one online can compete.

 

Well i know why they alwasy say dont do it and maybe some one that really understands how an electronic transmission really works can tell everyone else how larger tires can cook them, thats the biggest reason Ford went to stupid wheel patterns and sizes in the past cuz everyone was putting big tires on their new trucks and cooking the trans. lol but that has never stopped me from putting the biggest tire i could fit and i have had no issues in the past

 

having 265/75/16s on that truck is fine, its not gonna hurt your transmission, if its a 4wd, i know that the stock tires on the 4wds are with 17s are 265/70/17, which is basically the same diameter you are running now. 235/70/16s are tiny, ive only ever seen them on 2wd work trucks. you could probably even go up to 285/75/16s with no problems if you wanted. your not gonna have tranny issues till u get to 35s, then you would want to regear to compensate, but u need a lift to fit those.

 

I just love getting "expert" advice from the guys at costco. There are probably 10-12 different tire wheel combos that came on your truck. Must have been the same guy that told me i had the wrong size on my last truck, he got kind of quiet after reading the door tag.