Alright, so it's getting close to winter and I'm in the market for new tires. I'm looking at Toyo Open Country M/T's or BFG All Terrain T/A KO's(not really sure which I'm going to go with yet). I have a 2003 F150 Supercrew King Ranch 4WD. Stock tire size is 265/70-17.

Now my question is if i go with the Toyo's, should i just stick with that size or should i go with a 295/70-17 or a 285/75-17?

If i go BFG, should i stick with stock size or go with a bigger size too?

I'm planning to get new shocks also:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/BSN-F4BE52574H0/
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/BSN-F4BE52490H0/

I don't have my stock torsion keys cranked up AFAIK, but i could probably do that myself or get it done when i get the tires installed and get it realigned (think I'm going to install the shocks myself).

 

Alright, so I think I'll just stick with the stock 265/70-17 size so I don't have any issues. Now i just need to figure out which one to get, they're both almost identical in price.

...and about the shocks, i wanted the 5100's, but if i read correctly you can only use those on vehicles with 4" of lift, so the HD's seem to be the only other option as far as Bilstein's go.

 

Your truck would look a lot better with a 285x70x17. If you drive in a lot of snow I would go with the BFG AT over the MT Toyo. Just my 2 cent's!

 

The BFG's come in that size whereas the Toyo's don't which I'm sure you already know. What makes you recommend the BFG's PawPaw? You have Toyo's yourself.

Oh, and yeah, I drive in a fair amount of snow.

 

I've had both the BFG AT's and now the Toyo MT's and for everyday use the all terrain is better. The MT's look better and may handle the mud a little better and that's about it.

 

Alright, well I will definitely take that into consideration. I agree the Toyo's look better, but I kind of had a feeling the BFG was a better daily-driven tire considering its an A/T.

 

The Toyo MT is a tire you can drive on the street or highway daily and still get 40-50k miles easily. Good tires but not the best for a daily driver. Drawback's are their weight and I find they are a little noisy on the highway but not too bad. I've put 15k miles on them since November.

 

What kind of mileage did you get out of your BFG T/A's?

 

I had the 315x70x17's and took them off at 43k miles and sold them to a guy with a H2 Hummer. They were only 1/2 worn and probably could have gone 80-90k miles easily. Best tires I've ever had but put the Toyo's on for look's.

 

Well i decided I'm going to go with the BFG's, and I am going to get 285/70-17's. Now which of these would you get? Not real sure what the difference in the two is?

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/CompareTires.jsp

Also as of now I'm planning to get these shocks:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/BSN-F4BE52490H0/
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/BSN-F4BE52574H0/

Think that I'm making a good choice in getting those? Or should i consider something different?

 

You can get the 5100's without any lift kits. I think they are around $75-80 for your MY.

 

Are you sure Sam? That's not the way i understood it.

Oh and i have another question, how did DeereGeff fit 315/70-17's on his old Lariat with 17x7.5 FX4 rims?

https://www.f150online.com/forums/4234544-post24.html

 

sam is incorrect about the 5100 shocks for your (our) body style (pre '04) trucks...many guys make that mistake when posting up comments around here. For you, you are correct...5100's are only for lifted trucks. For a stock, pre '04 truck the HD is your one and only option. Don't let this bother you though and here's why. The HD and the 5100's are identical shocks! They are internally and constructed exactly the same...same valving, oil, design, etc...identical. The only differences between the two are color (5100's are silver) and length (obviously the longer extended length on the 5100 for lifted applications). This also applies to the HD vs 5100 for post '04 trucks as well for all you guys reading, with the only difference being the ability to adjust the spring perch on the 5100.

With that said however, as awesome as the shocks are, I have heard of some issues on stock trucks of our body style with the Bilstein shocks. I know for certain Bilstein designes the front shock to limit front suspension travel...the shock itself and not the bump stops prevents the suspension from extending all the way to the physical limit. In other words, the shock reaches the end of its stroke and prevents further movement before the control arms hit the bump stops. I have no idea why they do this. Have heard of some guys that experienced some handling issues possibly contributed to this. Not trying to scare you away from the shock, but may be something worth looking into.

As for tires in the snow, someone once told me that nothing sticks better to snow than snow! This means the AT instead of the MT, because the large voids/lugs on the MT would sling out all the snow due to its natural self cleaning attributes. Have never tested the theory and quite certain the MT's would perform beyond my expectations in snow, but it sure sounded cool.

About the 315's...who cares. A 315 is waaay to wide for a 7.5" wheel. Too much sidewall flex. Probably not dangerous, but definately not ideal and most likely against the tire manufacturers recommendation I would bet. Wouldn't look all that great either.

 

Thanks for all the awesome info Galaxy. I will definitely go with the 285's, I was just curious how he managed to do that when it is not stated to fit a rim that width.

As for tires, I'm pretty much set on those now, minus not knowing the difference in the two available at tirerack.

As for shocks, I've heard a lot of good things about Bilstein, but am not sure what else is out there that compares in quality/performance. Glad you mentioned the suspension travel issue, as I have never heard about that. If someone has something better than the Bilstein's in mind, I'm open to suggestions, but as of now I'm still leaning towards them.

 

Although Bilsteins are downright awesome and highly recommended for a reason, just like many othe things they are not the end-all be-all of shocks. I had Edelbrock Perfermor IAS's on my truck when it was stock and absolutely loved them. Have Rancho 9000's rift now and they rock. Quality and performance...you can't go wrong with either one of these when compared shoulder to shoulder with the Bilstein...IMO.