Need tire advice for a 2003 diesel F250 with Mickey Thompsons

[Regcabguy]

Good call on dropping the truck down to a quality 2.5" lift with a slide in camper. This should dramatically improve your emergency handling. An E-rated 80 psi tire with a super high load capacity rules too. The last thing you want is a blowout with a cabover. Ask me how I know. Almost lost my life when my D-rated(3305# @ 65 psi) Bridgestone tire blewout on I-15. $3300 damage in seconds and me and the truck narrowly avoided going over the edge of a 100' dropoff. Tire had plenty of load capacity,just mushy sidewalls with the D rating. Toyo E-rated M-55's solved the problem.

With all that weight,I can't stress enough how a custom valved reservoir shock and a Hellwig Big Wig swaybar will further enhance the handling. All it takes is money and lots of it.

[drodio]

Gents thanks for the quality feedback. A few thoughts:

1) I am definitely going with E rated tires. So that point is agreed and settled.

2) I am not an expert on lifts, but friends that know lifts have told me it was done well. It has bilstein shocks. Here is a video I made for one of my friens showing the underbody so he could better evaluate the lift: http://socialcam.com/v/0375mTEC?autostart=true ... I'd love your opinions too.

3) I was able to verify that my rims are 9.5" rims... So they could take a tire down to 285 vs the 325s I have on there now. So what would be so wrong with keeping the lift and going with one of these tires:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....Qty=4&i1_Qty=4

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....Qty=4&i1_Qty=4

(my top 2 at this point). If you thought I absolutely had to go with a wider tire I could do:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....ORWL&tab=Sizes

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....WLV2&tab=Sizes

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....Qty=4&i1_Qty=4

But I just don't see the reason why it's so necessary due to the lift (besides it possibly looking a bit funny)... The rims fit... fuel economy would go up with a narrower tire... and the RPMs would return to closer what they were on the stock tires. What am I missing? The load capacity on 285s is 3,640 lbs., plenty.

[Buliwyf]

The wheels and tires balence out the 4" lift. Going with skinny tires on wide wheels is going to ride weird. 9.5" is a little wide for a 285. You won't be able to air down and risk popping beads more often. It'll feel tipsy.

With a 4" lift and tires you're stuck with the 35" BFG ATKO's air'd all the way up, air bag springs to stiffen the truck to avoid rolling over, and lighter campers, no giant campers.

$2000 will likely be a fair budget to go down to 2.5" level with airbags on just the rear and Bilsteins. Ebay the 4" lift.

[drodio]

OK @buliwyf, good point about risking bead breakage when airing down and thanks for your perspective about the tires balancing out the lift. I am definitely going to put airbags on the back before I put a camper on... I'm thinking about a 1600 lb camper (with all my gear, probably 2k pounds).

I think I'm going to go with the 325/60/R18 Wrangler Silent Armors then... it's an E rated tire with a 3,525lb load capacity at 65PSI. It's a 33.4" tire and the ideal rim size for that tire is 9.5", which is what I have. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....Qty=4&i1_Qty=4

Any objectsions based on what you wrote above?

[Buliwyf]

OK @buliwyf, good point about risking bead breakage when airing down and thanks for your perspective about the tires balancing out the lift. I am definitely going to put airbags on the back before I put a camper on... I'm thinking about a 1600 lb camper (with all my gear, probably 2k pounds).

I think I'm going to go with the 325/60/R18 Wrangler Silent Armors then... it's an E rated tire with a 3,525lb load capacity at 65PSI. It's a 33.4" tire and the ideal rim size for that tire is 9.5", which is what I have. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....Qty=4&i1_Qty=4

Any objectsions based on what you wrote above?

That'll work. I didn't know they had a E rated Silent Armor that big. I may need to get some steel 18x9" wheels.

I like the new Airride kit that goes inside the frame rails. Looks adjustable enough for lifted trucks as well. Worst case senerio you might need a spacer and longer bolts.

[drodio]

@buliwyf, can you share a link to the Airride kit you mentioned? I tried googling it but didn't find anything.

[redthies]

Firestone makes a great airbag kit too. I have it in my F350 to carry my 2700 lb camper.

[Buliwyf]

I prefer the Airride kit because it has the dishes that protect the bags at low pressures. It's a little easier to install as well. The air fittings on the firestone kits are sometimes superior, but you can order even better fittings at Napa if you feel the need. It's a new kit, probally why it was hard to find a link to.

This is the kit, read the instructions on that page before buying to make sure it deosn't conflict with any 5th wheel setups or whatever you have custom:
http://shop.airliftcompany.com/produ...G_LEVELING_KIT

I prefer not having the expensive compressor and guage setup. I just put valves in my rear bumper and fill up at the gas station. Besides I don't use air springs all the time. I remove the bags and reinstall my bumpstops when I have prolonged times without planned towing.

The airbag kits limit your flex and downtravel. A good thing when there's a camper on your back. Not so good when your unloaded on a farm or tent camping and wheeling. So I remove mine, but I haven't been in many situations where I wished for more flex or felt that the bags were limiting me. Lately I've been leaving them on all the time and only removing them for dirtbiking trips where I knew for sure I'd be doing extended offroad travel unloaded with the truck. Besides, most fullsize owners don't really need any flex at all. It's all about realistic goals.

I'd recommend the uber expensive Carli long travel airbag kit if you were hauling a gooseneck trailer. But I don't think we want long travel setups combined with a slide in camper.

The inside the frame/spring mount airbags have more travel than the ontop of the spring kits. And they won't interfer with larger tires. Depending on your lift, they may need a spacer or simple modifications. But If your using stock f350 springs and 5" blocks, you may be fine. Let us know.

[98roamer]

I had the Firestone Destination AT and loved them. They behave like a highway tire and were great in the snow, rain, forest road. Never did much mud in them thankfully. Leaving for a trip and I needed to quickly replace them last fall but they were out of stock in the city, so I went with Toyo Open Country,= more $$ and noise. Still like the Toyo but would have gone with the Destination AT if they had them.

[drodio]

Yeah the Firestones might just be my limit of "too" highway-like. To me the SilentArmors look a little more aggressive... it may be pure vanity because the Firestones were rated highest in the Tirerack survey of all terrain tires. Anyone have experience with Firestone Destination ATs vs. Wrangler SilentArmors?