Need tire advice for F250, currently has Mickey Thompsons

[drodio]

Hi everyone, I've been lurking for a while and finally bought a truck to begin exploring with!

It's a 2003 Ford F250 with a 6.0L diesel 6spd manual that I affectionately call "Tonka". It has a 4 inch lift. You can see pics of it at Facebook

The previous owner also put some really big tires on it -- Mickey Thompsons, 325/65 R18 tires. Here are pics:

DROdio - Cloud2go Jun 22, 2012 8:17 PM.jpg
DROdio - Cloud2go Jun 22, 2012 8:18 PM.jpg
DROdio - Cloud2go Jun 22, 2012 8:18 PM.jpg

I"m looking for some tires that are more long-distance travel friendly. These might be great in the mud, but they're not great everywhere else. I'm planning on putting a pop-up camper on the truck, so I figure I'll probably need E-rated tires.

These are my priorities in tires, from most important:

1) Best possible highway travel (handling, gas mileage, road noise) while still somewhat capable offroad
2) Lifespan of tire
3) Cost of tire

Here are some tires I was looking at -- does anyone have any suggestions about these or other tires? I'd like to buy them at Sam's Club or Costco if possible but I'm open to others.

Oh also, I don't really know exactly what tires will fit on the vehicle... I know they're 18" rims, but I'm not sure how narrow or low/high profile I can go. For example, if I went narrower, say 275 instead of 325, should I keep the same "65" height? Or would some variance in either direction be OK? Any advice there would be appreciated as well.

265 width (is this too narrow considering I have 325s on right now? ... the stock F250 tire is a 235/85 R16!)

BF Goodrich Rugged Terrain T/A P265/65R18 (I can't tell what load rating these tires have): BF Goodrich Rugged Terrain T/A P265/65R18 112T - Sam's Club

275 width:

Rugged Terrain 275/65 R18 BFGoodrich*Rugged Terrain T/A

All Terrain KO BFGoodrich*All-Terrain T/A KO

Dueler AT Revo: Bridgestone*Dueler A/T Revo 2

DuraTrac (might be too hard-core offroa for my needs?) Goodyear*Wrangler DuraTrac

Any other suggestions? Any advice is MUCH appreciated!

DROdio

[Brew_WY]

If you are looking at All Terrains. I can't say enough about the Hankook Dynapro ATM's. I had a set on my Toyota FJ, and will be ordering a set for my Excursion next week.

Hankook Dynapro ATM

Cheers,

Brew

[drodio]

Thanks -- what is it about the Hankook that you really like?

[Brew_WY]

For one the tread life of the tire. Admittedly an FJ-Cruiser is quite a bit lighter than an Fseries/Excursion, there were plenty of reviews by people getting 60,000 Miles out of a set of these. I plan on doing a five tire rotation again as that is key to getting high mileage out of them. I had 50,000 miles on the set I had when I traded it in, you couldn't even tell. They also perform excellent in the snow, factory siped extremely deep. I don't know if snow is an issue for you or not. They also perform very well off road for an all terrain. Hope that helps. Oh and they are priced very well.

Cheers,

Brew

[Eric]

+1 on the Hankook ATM. I've got a set on my Explorer. They've got 20k on them now and I expect to easily get 60k miles out of them I've got the Hankook M/T's on my truck and am happy with them as well

[Brew_WY]

Originally Posted by Eric

I've got the Hankook M/T's on my truck and am happy with them as well

Not to go to far off topic, but....I have them on my truck as well 1983 GMC K2500. Its getting a '93 Cummins once I get some other projects taken care of.

[Eric]

Originally Posted by Brew_WY

Not to go to far off topic, but....I have them on my truck as well 1983 GMC K2500. Its getting a '93 Cummins once I get some other projects taken care of.

Sounds like a cool project

[drodio]

Hey everyone, so I went with the 285/65/R18 Goodyear Wrangler SilentArmor tires, and I love them so far. They're definitely way less aggressive than the Mickey Thompsons on the truck before, and they make the truck look a bit funny with the lift & smaller tires, but man they are QUIET -- completely quiet, and still have a good offroad trail tread on them. I'll update here as I get some use out of them, but for now they're great.

Old Tires:



New Tires:

[Eric]

I love the color of your truck

Sent from my DROIDX

[AMSOILdealer]

Originally Posted by Eric

I love the color of your truck

Sent from my DROIDX

X 2 on the color. The MT's look better but they wear quicker. I had a set on a 86 K-5 Blazer and I miss the "hum".