tire size??

[wake]

greetings,
I'm new to the site so please forgive me if this has been asked before.
I have a 06 ford e350 12 pass. van. It currently has 265/75/16 tires.
cruising at 65 mph it does drift somewhat. I would like to put a bigger tire, on/off road for gravel forest roads, that will have minimal effects on gas mileage, or true speedo reading. Also, will a 2" lift effect the transmission. I really don't see myself mudbogging or doing anything with the van that would require 4wd, but I will be using it in National Forest areas that have graded gravel roads. Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[Saiyan66]

Drift or wander at highway speeds is usually a function of tread pattern or ply rating. Going to any bigger tire, like say a 285/75R16 will give you a slightly off spedometer reading and decrease your fuel mileage. However you may deem that the extra size benefit is worth the trade off. I have had good luck with the 285/75R16 Hankook Dynapro AT's. They come in a load range E (10 ply) rating and are very nice on and off road. As for the lift, you shouldn't have much problem with only 2". Take a look at www.camburg.com. They offer 2wd suspension upgrades for vans. If you have any more in depth questions then Chris at www.ujointoffroad.com is the man to ask. Hope that helps.

 

[Buliwyf]

Bwah, hahahahahahah!

I've had 3 E350's as work vehicles. They all wiggle side to side on the freeway. The old fashioned front suspension is designed to create head on collisions and the longer whale tail models have improper wheelbase.

Especially when passing semi trucks. The blast of air off a semi truck passing me would blow on the whale tail which would cause the van to turn into the semi truck. All of these vans constantly try to commit suicide.

I lost the tread on one of the rear tires once. It felt like I had a blowout, the van rocked back and forth and it took all my skill (of which I have plenty) just to keep the van in 2 lanes on I75 and stop. When I got out i expected a shredded tire and wheel. Can you imagine my surprize when I found that the rear tire still had air in it.

There is little you can do to make it drive straight. Stiffer springs and shocks will help. I used airbags on the rear. I forget what shocks, but I'm sure bilstein has something decent.

If you can afford to sell it and get a safe truck, I'd do that instead. I WILL NOT put my familly in a Ford E350 van. If you can stay off the highways and drive slow the vans aren't too bad, but when you add speed, speed that a Superduty can handle safely, the vans fail miserably. No way would I lift one.

You can probally go up in size quite a bit and choose more aggressive tires without lifting.

Want to see hundreds of high quality excellent engines, rear axles, and brakes weeping in sorrow? Go to the staging area at the Ford van plant. Possibly one of the saddest things I ever saw. (excellent plant by the way, can't believe how much effort goes into these death traps) Rumor has it that the van plant will switch over and assemble custom work truck F450/F550's. I'm throwing a party on that day. Ya'll invited.