I've really been beating myself up over "wanting" bigger tires, but not wanting (or maybe even being able) to spend much more on gas, than my F150 is already going to drink in the first place !

Now, solid, real-world numbers for this kind of thing, are really hard to come by..... So of course I'm going to be making some guesses here, but I think you will get the idea.

My stock XLT, will come with crappy, dinky little 235/70-17"s. Now, lets just say that driving it easy, all freeway, it gets 17mpg, stock. This would mean that to drive my truck 80K miles, I would use about 4700 gallons of gas, at lets just say $5 a gallon (although that might be overly optomistic, when we are factoring in what gas will be costing in 4 years, towards the end of that 80K) That comes out to $23,500 ! Ha ! Just about exactly what I'm paying for my XLT itself ! However, that's just what you will pay, to drive a half ton truck, with stock wheels.

Now, lets say that a set of BFG AT 285/70-17"s, knock my mileage down by just 1 1/2 mpg, or from 17 mpg's, to 15.5 mpg's. This would mean an 9% decrease in mileage, "OR" an additional $2,115 in fuel over the 80K lifetime of the tires. Damn ! This means these $1000 tires, are actually going to cost me $3115 !

Okay, so now what if I say, I don't give a $#!+ ! I just want some bad-*** looking 35"s ! Okay, so lets say this drops my mileage by 3 mpg's, from 17mpg's, to 14 mpg's.... this equates to a 20% drop in fuel economy, "OR" an additional $4159 in fuel over the 80K lifetime of those tires, so my 35" tires now cost me ($1300 for the tires) $5459 ! Damn ! At that price, those things better look REALLY freaking cool !
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, if I'm completely off base on any of my calculations, please tell me where, and why.

I'd just love to have somebody show me why 35"s would only cost me like $500 more..... Because that's something I could probably swing.

Does everybody on this forum just have that much more money than me ??? (then again, I only work 30 hours a week, and fish 30 hours a week too, so I'm not really complaining too much.... except about having to go with smaller tires ;-)

Hmmmm.....
Fish

 

Some probably, some probably not. You forgot that a fraction of the owners these lifted trucks, etc., don't use their trucks as daily drivers. For example, I'm considering buying an older Honda just to get to/from work as I have about a 40 mile round-trip. (Note: my truck is running stock tires currently)

Your assessment looks good though, larger tires will run your expenses more in the long run. However, by the end of 4 years that you mentioned, if all goes well, you should have a 24% raise over this time (6% each year optimally). So all in all, you should be fine

 

I don't use my truck as a "daily driver" either...... but instead, I drive my little car 4 days a week, for maybe 500 miles, for my work (the more I drive, the more I get paid though)..... then (at least in the past) on my 3 days off, I'd make 3 fishing trips which might work out to 500 more miles.

So, even though my truck will not be a "daily driver", I could still easily put 100K on it in 4 years. Although I have to admit, I'm thinking more and more, about fishing trips which stay closer to home.
In a worst case scenario, we have some great fishing water (but mostly Fall through Spring) less than 5 miles from my driveway. So if gas ends up getting to be unaffordably high, I know where I'll be fishing out of......

I guess I'd still be able to use my truck "a lot of days". It might not go far from the house, but at least it wouldn't be parked on the driveway :-)

Peace,
Fish

 

I went from the OEM 245/65/17s to 265/70/17s and lost about 1/2 mpg. I have since gone to 305/50/20s and have lost about 1.00 from the original tires. I have it all documented in a spread sheet. I just cannot tolerate the look of the little factory tires and the cost is worth it to me.

 

you had me ready to jump for some bigger tires for a second ! Only 1mpg loss, documented, as you say, is certainly not bad.

However, it is the tire "diameter" which has more effect than anything else, on mileage loss (of course overall tire / wheel weight, + tire drag make a small difference too).

So, I went and checked out your tire diameter, and found that your 265/70-17"s were only a 31.5" diameter, while your 305/50-20"s are only a 32" diameter.

So, since I am planning to go with 295/70-17"s, with a diameter of 33.2", I'm probably going to lose 2mpg, and if I went with 35"s, I'd still probably lose 3mpg :-(

But of course we agree that those stockers look like crap !
So what's a guy gonna' do ?

Peace,
Fish

 

Yes, you are correct about my sizes, so, settle for a smaller size like I did, and lower the rear 2". I just cant live with all the open space in the wheel wells.

 

that is so funny you should say this.... As when I first looked into "leveling" my new F150, > lowering the rear end a couple inches was the first thing that crossed my mind ! So, then I started talking on the forums about lowering the rear end for leveling, and I think everyone was looking at me like I was from a different planet ! :-)

I think your the first guy I've heard from over here, who has mentioned this method of leveling, since I mentioned it myself, way back during my first visits to this forum. So, I guess I wasn't the only oddball :-)

Well, like I say, I'm going with slightly taller tires than yours..... and if it turned out that I had still too much open wheel well above my tires, I could always adjust my Bilstein 5100's back down in the front, and drop the rear a couple inches..... But then I see SOOO many F150's with so much gap in the wheel wells (all the stock ones, to be sure) that I don't think mine will look too awefully bad.....

We will see,
Peace,
Fish

 

With my 37's, I get about 9-10 miles per gallon with 95% city driving. I guess it is a good thing that I only drive about 300 miles a month. So, how much will it cost me? Frankly, I don't care. I like the way the truck looks with them on it.

I like that comment about getting a raise each year too. That needs to be factored in.

 

Only 300 miles per month ??? Heck, if that's all I drove, I wouldn't even give it a second thought. Heck yes, 37"s all the way :-)

But like I say, I typically drive about 50K to 60K miles per year (1000 miles a week) but that's split between my truck for fishing, and my little car for work.

Anyway neuspeed, I really have to believe that most people 1) don't drive as much as I do, and 2) make more $$$ than I do, as well...... Which is probably why I see so many big lifted trucks, with big V8's, and giant tires.....

Peace,
Fish

 

Well for that you're gonna need a lift. The most you can fit on NBS 4x4 is a 35x12.5 BFG M/T with a 2-2.5" spacer (or Bilstein 5100s). Needs to be BFG M/T because the BFG 35x12.5 is actually a bit narrower than most M/T 12.5s in other brands. But you may still get a tiny bit of rub on full lock...

As far as MPG, I have the 275/65/18, and I was averaging 14.5MPG, I just put on a new exhaust, and I was ready to see my MPGs drop severly cause I like the pedal more now, but in my last 4 tanks I've seen 19.5 (long highway trip), 17.5 and 18 (mixed). Don't ask me how the hell that happened either, but if I keep checking and my numbers hold true, it's the best mod I've EVER done!!!

There are a number of folks on here that have lifted trucks with larger wheel/tire combos that are still claiming high teens that I've seen posts for.

 

I've been backing my speed down on my daily 100 mile round trip commute, still able to get 16 to 17 mpg which isn't bad running on 35's. Maybe 1 to 2 mpg less than my stock 32 inch tires.

 

and hey Paw Paw, you already know how I envy your tires and wheels :-)

So anyway, like I say, this first time around, I think I'm just going to go ahead with 295/70-17" Nitto TG's (but BFG AT's are still not out of the question if I can get a good deal on them when I'm ready) and if I get the BFG's, those will be the 285"s.

Then, in 4 or 5 years, if gas isn't $10 a gallon, and I've managed to get anywhere close to 18mpg...... I'd probably have to go with 315/70-17"s myself :-)

Peace,
Fish

 

$201.94 For my latest set of four

 

I like your math but its a little flawed. Even in a AT its gonna be tough getting the 80k out of a set of tires. BFG TA KO's, TOYO AT's, and maybe Nitto Terra Grapplers. are the only ones that might get that mileage on a heavy truck like yours.

So if you are calculating the tires, and say you wear a set out quicker than expected thats another 1300 you have to add.

And another thing you didnt add is regular rotations, possible alignments... get my drift

And if you plan on a MT Then forget about it!

Just get the darn tires, Im 20, have a daughter and still drive my 4.2L v6 with 285/75/16's.

The looks makes up for the expense, and im far from not having enough money.

 

Believe it or not, I've been reading up alot about reviews on the BFG M/Ts, and assuming you do proper rotations, maintain tire pressure, you can see high miles from them