HELP WITH TIRE? FORD 1991 7.3 DIESEL WITH CAMPER

[csthier]

Hi all,
I am new to the group and my first time posting on a forum. Have always been the lurker. Need some serious tire recommendations. Here is what I am diving now 1991 Ford crew cab 8' bed with the 7.3 diesel stock with a soft sided camper with a dry wt of 1266 lb. Maybe I should have a CDL to drive this Rig. Haha. Also be included is we are a family of 4 so add some weight for everyones ****. Living in Bend Or so trips to the Alford desert or the coast and ski trips so snow.
Currently the truck has a 255/85R16 I like the reduced side wall pizza cutter look but I was told a 285/75R16 would give me more weight ability. Thoughts?? In the future I may have a trailer housing our BMW 650's X2 Thanks for the help. Cheers Chris

 

[Regcabguy]

That's a good compromise tire. Just be certain it's E-rated.
I ran BFG and Bridgestone in that size with lousy luck and have changed to Toyo in my last truck and the present one. No issues.
Changing a tire on these big ******** trucks is a chore.
A three ply sidewall is peace of mind.

 

[rlyoung112]

I'm on my second set of General Grabber AT2's in the 265/75/16 flavor. They're on my 04 F350 that weighs in a touch under 8k empty. I've had zero issues with them while unloaded or towing my 5th wheel.

As far as a higher weight rating with a 285 I believe that's a myth. My 265's are E rated, and I think the same tire in a 285 is only D rated. This is probably GT specific as I just did a little research and it seems the other big name all terrains have E rated in both sizes with very similar weight ratings. If you have your eye on a specific tire, go to tirerack.com and compare the different sizes. Max load per tire is listed under the "specifications" section.

Anyway, for the price of the General AT's I can get online, I've been very impressed. I live in the southwest, so plenty of desert exploring, monsoon rains, and towing quite a heavy 5er and I have no complaints.

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[Rot Box]

91 Ford cc diesel with camper?? Hey me too :coffeedrink: I really liked my 255/85 BFG KO2's however earlier this spring I was on a trip to central Utah and one developed a massive bulge (for whatever reason). I called all over trying to find another 255 to replace my bad one. Yup I wasn't surprised to find nobody had one in stock---and I was also informed they were discontinued


I ended up buying a full set of 285/75E's (KO2's) and haven't looked back. Not sure on load rating/weight carrying differences. My 255's and current 285's have an E-rating.. I will say the 285's seem to handle better on the highway although that could be my imagination. For me it is nice knowing nearly every shop around has a 285 in stock.

 

[snowaddict91]

91 Ford cc diesel with camper?? Hey me too :coffeedrink: I really liked my 255/85 BFG KO2's however earlier this spring I was on a trip to central Utah and one developed a massive bulge (for whatever reason). I called all over trying to find another 255 to replace my bad one. Yup I wasn't surprised to find nobody had one in stock---and I was also informed they were discontinued


I ended up buying a full set of 285/75E's (KO2's) and haven't looked back. Not sure on load rating/weight carrying differences. My 255's and current 285's have an E-rating.. I will say the 285's seem to handle better on the highway although that could be my imagination. For me it is nice knowing nearly every shop around has a 285 in stock.

Availability was a big reason I went with 285s over 255s on my Powerstroke. I also found that the wider 285s feel better on the highway than my old 235s, but I've never ran 255s to compare.

 

[Regcabguy]

I'm on my second set of General Grabber AT2's in the 265/75/16 flavor. They're on my 04 F350 that weighs in a touch under 8k empty. I've had zero issues with them while unloaded or towing my 5th wheel.

As far as a higher weight rating with a 285 I believe that's a myth. My 265's are E rated, and I think the same tire in a 285 is only D rated. This is probably GT specific as I just did a little research and it seems the other big name all terrains have E rated in both sizes with very similar weight ratings. If you have your eye on a specific tire, go to tirerack.com and compare the different sizes. Max load per tire is listed under the "specifications" section.

Anyway, for the price of the General AT's I can get online, I've been very impressed. I live in the southwest, so plenty of desert exploring, monsoon rains, and towing quite a heavy 5er and I have no complaints.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

285's come in D and E rating.
Two and three plys also.

 

[rlyoung112]

285's come in D and E rating.

Of course. All I was saying was when I bought my tires the only General Tire AT2's in a 285 were D rated.

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[eggman918]

I'm running Cooper ST maxx's in 295-70/17 on my '68 highboy Crewcab no camper but it tips the scale at 8,000# before I start loading it and have ~15,000 miles so far on them I an very happy with them they are fairly quiet and have little sign of wear at this point I am running them at 55psi front and 50 rear drives like a dream on the highway and traction here in N. AZ. between the snow and mud of the monsoons has been outstanding best tire I have ran in the 25 years I've owned this truck!
Will buy them again.

 

[bfdiesel]

265/75r16. Good towing tire and everyone has one. 255/85 are awesome, but hard to find. With what you haul it sounds like any e rated tire will be fine. I have seen a set of d rated 285's blow up in the yard on my cclb. One was bubbling and the other had blown sitting in storage when I bought it. Only the front ones.....

 

[goodtimes]

I really liked my 255/85 BFG KO2's however earlier this spring I was on a trip to central Utah and one developed a massive bulge (for whatever reason).

Interesting.

The last set of BFGs (255/85r16), that I had on my truck ('99 Dodge 3/4 ton, Cummins, FWC) had 3 sidewall failures - all fitting the general "massive bulge" description. Due to the ongoing failures & relatively short tread life, I gave up on BFG.

Again.

*edit to add: Those were KM2s.

 

[Cummins_expo]

I'm running Cooper ST maxx's in 295-70/17 on my '68 highboy Crewcab no camper but it tips the scale at 8,000# before I start loading it and have ~15,000 miles so far on them I an very happy with them they are fairly quiet and have little sign of wear at this point I am running them at 55psi front and 50 rear drives like a dream on the highway and traction here in N. AZ. between the snow and mud of the monsoons has been outstanding best tire I have ran in the 25 years I've owned this truck!
Will buy them again.

I am running the same tire 03 Cummins with a 4wheel camper. So far they seem great. Good traction off road and minimal noise.