Need Tire Recommendations

[Heather inOC]

This is my first time buying tires and wheels on my own and I am really confused. I'm looking on 4wheelparts.com at the BF Goodrich Radial All Terrain T/A KO and the Procomp All Terrain. I've got a 3" body lift and I'm going to get Mickey Thompson Classic II wheels (15's). Which tire do you recommend for occasional offroad/snow use with a lot of highway use?? And which size do I get? The wheels that I'm looking at are a 15 x 10. Will those fit the trac? I'm a dweeb. Thanks!!



-Heather in OC

 

[Adam Yee]

Hey Heather,



I'm currently running the BF Goodrick All Terrain T/A KO's on 15 x 8" rims. I have a TT/shackle lift and am running 32 x 11.5" tires. I think with a body lift you might be able to fit 33x12.5's but you might want to confirm that. I've had mine for 6 months now through a canadian winter.. lots of snow. These tires are amazing in snow.. as for ice they are better than other more aggressive off road tires but not as good as an all season light truck tire. The stiffer side walls of the A/T KO's make the trac corner better, they aren't very loud.. tho you can hear them for sure. I don't know what the procomps are like but they seem like a decent tire.



I've done all 3 with these tires, off road mudding, snow and highway. The wear isn't bad.. only gone down about 10% since last october. 10000 miles. I am happy with these tires.





[Broken External Image]:



[Broken External Image]:

 

[Nelson Atwell]

It sounds like you plan to do off-roading with those choices. One thing to consider is that most of the time you will still be driving the interstates of SoCal. Those highways get slick when it rains, so I would recommend an all-terrain tire that also gets great highway traction.



If you check out TireRack.com, you'll see that Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revos are rated best in almost all conditions. Pirelli Scorpion A/Ts are also a good choice.



I have the Revos, and they have never let me down in deep snow, heavy rain, ice, or slippery, red clay mud.



[Broken External Image]:

 

[Brad Bottoms]

Cooper ST. I have them on my 98 and they are everybit as good as Revo's and BFG ATs (I've had both) and they cost less to boot. I think they look better too. They are a bit more aggressive looking but still highway friendly.

 

[Josh OH]

I also recomend the Dueler A/T Revos. Mine are a 265/75R16 size, but with the M/T Classic II wheels, and a lift, you're probably going to want to go bigger than that. The killer for you is your gear ratio. I think just by looking at your stock wheels that you've got the 3.73 gear ratio... You need to be careful because getting TOO large of tires could put your gear ratio through the $h!tter and kill your truck's preformance all together.... If you want me to I can send you info on what I am talking about and I'm sure Todd Z or TonkaTrac can tell you ALL about what I'm saying too.. :lol:



~Josh

 

[Heather inOC]

How do I figure out what gear ratio I have? And does it cost a lot to go up to 4:10 if I do have the smaller gearing? I went with the 32" procomp tires.



-Heather in OC

 

[shawn stonbraker 2]

Heather, it's on the driver door. there was a post just earlier today that gave the codes.

 

[Andy Szkutak]

heather, I recommend the BF Goodrich TA KOs! I got mine back in November, prolly put 8000 miles on them already, and still have the yellow paintline on the treads from the factory! I have 235/75/15s, and they work just great! I've gone up seasonal use highways 40% incline with a foot of snow unplowed and not spun them once! Even in 2wd, the trac performs as good as it did in 4wd with my old dunlops! I hardly used 4wd this winter, except for the seasonal use roads. As for mud, ive been up a few trails to my friend's cabins and the trac was sinkin down about 4 inches, no problem with 4wd, plowed right through! On the highway, you can hear them, but its not bothersome. Wet and dry traction is amazing! I cant even break them loose on wet roads, unless im turning a corner! I think your needs are just like mine, mostly highway, with the occasional off road excursion... The BFGoodrichs have not let me down yet, and i dont anticipate them to either! At $110.00 each, you cant really beat them!



Good luck with your tire selection

Andy

 

[Josh OH]

Heather,



I'm going to e-mail you the same info that I sent to someone else asking tire questions. Also, it does cost about $1000 to change up in gear ratios, which will also void out ANY warranty that you had on your ST. (Don't know what year you have.) However, if you have stock tires sized at 235/70R16, and your trac is a 4x4, your gear ratio is DEFINATELY the 3.73 gear ratio.



Let me know if you need any other answers and or/have questions. Check your e-mail for the info shortly.

~Josh



Oh.. and here's a link for a company you could contact should you want to change gear ratios. TonkaTrac got his gears there.

 

[Heather inOC]

Josh- thanks for the e-mail. that'll be really handy



So even if I have Ford swap the gears from 3.73 to 4.10 it will still void the warranty? The entire warranty?



-Heather in OC

 

[Josh OH]

I'm not quite sure if you had Ford itself do it, but that's going to be probably QUITE costly... I do know that by changing the gear ratios, your changing the ENTIRE POWERTRAIN of the truck to an aftermarket design, and that voids out the manufacturer warranrt no matter what. Ford only covers what comes out of their factory on the origional warranty that they have on the ST. (The 3 YR / 36,000 mile warranty) If you bought an extended warranty, then you can obtain what is and what is not covered under that warranty VIA the information book that you got when you bought it. (In case you don't have it, the link for that is below.) But if you look on there on pg 4, it tells you what is NOT covered and what voids the warranty.



Now, if you had a certified blue oval dealership do it like your saying, I could see you getting the truck gear ratio changed and get away with it along with keeping the warranty, possibly.. But I'm no expert there... I did the same with my tires, and you read how I got the dick in the @$$ on that one, but got lucky becasue of the X Cal 2... (Another thing you need to think about.. The speedometer...) But, you could contact a local blue oval certified dealership and ask how much it would cost to do the job... But that's grey area to me...

Let me know if I can help in any other way...

~Josh

 

[Johnny O]

I have 3.73's and 32" tires, it runs okay. Better mpg than my old 4.0 Ranger with 4.10's and 31's. Speedo is off but I just allow that I'm going 5 mph faster than it says. Keeps the mileage down for lease purposes too.