Tire Predicament

[semperfidooordie]

I'm in kind of a pickle with my tire situation. I'm considering selling the stock wheels and tires and running 19.5/22.5s due to the longevity. Basically I have a stock F-350 CC DRW truck and the dealership I bought it at replaced the front two tires but not the back 4. The front two are pretty much brand new and 3 of the back 4 are in good shape and have a really good amount of tread and one had a wheel weight get knocked off and is all FUBAR'd. See poll for my potential courses of action.

 

[Corb@CorbinShipping]

I'm in kind of a pickle with my tire situation. I'm considering selling the stock wheels and tires and running 19.5/22.5s due to the longevity. Basically I have a stock F-350 CC DRW truck and the dealership I bought it at replaced the front two tires but not the back 4. The front two are pretty much brand new and 3 of the back 4 are in good shape and have a really good amount of tread and one had a wheel weight get knocked off and is all FUBAR'd. See poll for my potential courses of action.

I am all about the 19.5/22.5 options. If the front are new, I would not discard them. And the backs are going to last longer than the fronts anyhow. I would replace the rears, on stock rims, and bank money for a full set of rims and tires..... which are fokkin expensive..... but if you part with a few hundred now, for 4 rear tires, then bank for a year or 45,000 miles.... you will have had plenty of time to get sorted out. Also, the 10 lug rims off of a 450 will require adapters for your rig. And the 22.5s will require a DIFFERENT adapter.... the bolt pattern is NOT the same... a few companies, Vision Wheels, American Force, etc, make direct bolt on, 8 lug 19.5s for your rig. That is the cheaper way to go. No adapters (900 bones) required... I would stay with 19.5s. I have em, (stock) on my 450, and upsized to the 245 and 14 ply from the stock 225 12 ply, and after 41,000 miles, I can say that they are going to last me 100,000 miles..... Easy. But I would NOT get the mud terrain tires again. Horrible ride. At least, on the front tires, I will get highway tread, not even all terrains...

 

[semperfidooordie]

Pics

 

[Ad8 PRODIGY]

Corb hit it dead on. :thumbup:

 

[semperfidooordie]

Thanks for the insight Corbin. You know as well as I do the military pay scale isn't made for burning money haha. My only thought was I was wanting to up-size the tires to help offset the 4.30s a little but wasn't sure how long that would take to pay for itself. I attached photos so you get the idea...here's the last one.

 

[Ad8 PRODIGY]

Thats too much meat to just throw away. If you do so, at least keep them as spares.

 

[Denver]

My brother had put cheap tires on his dually and the fronts wore out in 12K miles. Horrible wear and showing metal. The rears wore even but got 20K miles out of them and the truck is driven empty. He put LT truck tires on it. The same tires as 22.5's in a 16" wheel size and those have worn great and are lasting very well. Here's a link to what he is running. You have a challange since your on 17's.
http://www.goodyeartrucktires.com/tires/details.aspx?prodline=160026

 

[Corb@CorbinShipping]

Thanks for the insight Corbin. You know as well as I do the military pay scale isn't made for burning money haha. My only thought was I was wanting to up-size the tires to help offset the 4.30s a little but wasn't sure how long that would take to pay for itself. I attached photos so you get the idea...here's the last one.

Yeah, I tried to offset the 4.30 gears too.... I effectively changed my final drive ratio by less than 4%..... so I now run the equivalent of 4.15..... all for 3,500 bones.... (2200 for me, best friend owns tire store...) not gonna feel the difference at the pump, as these tires are heavier. if you wanna change the gears, then change the gears.... or, if you wanna keep the gears, but gain mileage, then get a Gear Vendors Over drive. drop that 350 with 4.30s down to 3.73s, and you will likely have all you need for pulling power, and mileage.

 

[semperfidooordie]

That's not a bad deal. I'll have to see if those tires would work for me. The problem is I live out in the middle of the desert so some form of offroad capability is needed. Not saying Baja 1000 type capability but something that will fair okay in loose sand and on lots of dirt roads....wish bias plies lasted longer and I'd run some swampers haha.

 

[semperfidooordie]

That's a pretty good point...just not sure how involved/expensive swapping gears would be though. I do like the grunt of the 4.30s that's for damn sure but gotta remember it's been a wallet shocker for me since I am coming from a Dmax 4x4 on 33s and 3.73s that got 17-18 mpg mixed haha...should have stuck with my guns and got a SRW but I just loooove duallies.

 

[Corb@CorbinShipping]

That's a pretty good point...just not sure how involved/expensive swapping gears would be though. I do like the grunt of the 4.30s that's for damn sure but gotta remember it's been a wallet shocker for me since I am coming from a Dmax 4x4 on 33s and 3.73s that got 17-18 mpg mixed haha...should have stuck with my guns and got a SRW but I just loooove duallies.

Gears on a 350 arent bad... gears on my 450 are 2700 bones, just for the rear.... Dana 110 axles..... not switching them bad boys! I got a gear vendors though....

 

[semperfidooordie]

Gears on a 350 arent bad... gears on my 450 are 2700 bones, just for the rear.... Dana 110 axles..... not switching them bad boys! I got a gear vendors though....

Couple of questions...if I could find someone to swap with would it have to be another 350 with a D80 in the rear or could it be any 250 and up? Also what did the GV run you? And to follow on how long till you think it will pay for itself? lastly what kinda MPG gains have you seen?

 

[Corb@CorbinShipping]

Couple of questions...if I could find someone to swap with would it have to be another 350 with a D80 in the rear or could it be any 250 and up? Also what did the GV run you? And to follow on how long till you think it will pay for itself? lastly what kinda MPG gains have you seen?

I havent installed the GV yet. Waiting on a few more parts to arrive. I am expecting to gain 3-4 mpg. that is about what HeavyHaul is getting with his, and I will be on a similar setup, with 4.30s instead of his 4.88s. I got it used/refurbished for 1600.

you are gonna have to research the gears on your own. I would call ford for part numbers on 250, 350 SRW, and 350 DRW, and see if the gears are the same part numbers. I am not familiar enough to advise on that one. But your gears, even new, wont cost what mine cost. not even close. so If you dont NEED 4.30s for seriously heavy pulling, I would explore that option first. 3.73s will do you a WORLD of good.... and a lot of folks pull pretty heavy with 3.55s on 34 inch tires. which would be less gear than your setup with 3.73s and 32 inchers....

 

[semperfidooordie]

Definitely something I will start looking into...if I could get 15 or 16 mpg out of my truck I'd be happier than current (with H&S tuning at least) was 12-12.7 mpg. Haven't got a good number with the Spartan yet

Edit: After looking at Randy's R&P it appears the gear sets only run about 280-300 a piece...going to call them and see what all else would be involved cost wise that I'm not looking at

 

[Corb@CorbinShipping]

Definitely something I will start looking into...if I could get 15 or 16 mpg out of my truck I'd be happier than current (with H&S tuning at least) was 12-12.7 mpg. Haven't got a good number with the Spartan yet

Edit: After looking at Randy's R&P it appears the gear sets only run about 280-300 a piece...going to call them and see what all else would be involved cost wise that I'm not looking at

The gears are cheap, and the REBUILD KITS are usually about 75-125, depending on application, and bearing preferences. That is for each differential (front and rear) and labor for them isnt bad, especially if you do it yourself. I ran into issues with my rear end. the front was easy as pie. the rear was off. We called the company, and got the lowdown. So I would say either deal with Ford to switch them, or be REAL SMART on who you let do the work.

 

[semperfidooordie]

That's not too bad...I can call Ford but the only thing is the closest Ford dealer to where I live is close to an hour away. Would you say 3.73s or 3.55s? I don't tow a lot but bought this truck 1) cause I wanted it lol and 2) so later down the road when I can afford a nice travel trailer I can haul it anywhere...just didn't realize it had 4.30s till after buying it haha

 

[Corb@CorbinShipping]

That's not too bad...I can call Ford but the only thing is the closest Ford dealer to where I live is close to an hour away. Would you say 3.73s or 3.55s? I don't tow a lot but bought this truck 1) cause I wanted it lol and 2) so later down the road when I can afford a nice travel trailer I can haul it anywhere...just didn't realize it had 4.30s till after buying it haha

If you are not hauling a ton of weight, the 3.55s are gonna give you the best mileage.... But, With the weight of the rig, and any trailer you put on there, you are going to be working your transmission to death... I like the 3.73. it is a great, all around gear. esp on a dually that does not see upwards of 15 K behind it. If you dont ever plan on going over 10 K, then the 3.55 is a very viable option. Only thing with that is you will blow a ton of smoke when you have a load, and you fall under your turbos...

 

[semperfidooordie]

Hmm...plan on a hell of a travel trailer someday..maybe I'll do the 3.73s then...although I think it would be nice if I could pull some impressive #s outta this beast...really wondering what the gain would be over my current setup

 

[Corb@CorbinShipping]

Hmm...plan on a hell of a travel trailer someday..maybe I'll do the 3.73s then...although I think it would be nice if I could pull some impressive #s outta this beast...really wondering what the gain would be over my current setup

Well, I will say that as much fun as modding my 250 has been, the 450 will stay muuuuuuuuch closer to stock.... Highway, 40 foot toy hauler, 5 states away, is a ****ty time to see weak points in your build....

 

[semperfidooordie]

Definitely agree with you man. I'm thinking 3.73s would be decent for my setup. Think I could recoup anything with my 4.30s? Also only thing keeping me considering the 3.55s is the fact that the closest things to me are 45 mins to an hour away on the freeway....but I think I wouldn't like the low end grunt I'd lose compared to the 3.73s though. Wish i could find better answers to guys running 3.73s on these duallies with real world MPG figures.