Hey All

I just recently bought a 2001 F150 Extended Cab. Iam a Diesel engine mechanic by trade and have built several hot rods in the past but this will be my first 4X4 project. I dont want to go crazy but I would like to be able to throw a couple of big tires (35"??) on it without compromising too much or having to spend huge amounts of money. It will be going off road but just for a little bit of fun, nothing like what you see in the magazines. I live in a small town and take it out on the highway quite abit which is one of the reasons why I dont want to make it too big or sacrafice too much fuel economy. Is there a happy medium to the two? If anyone could help out with a few suggestions it would be most appreciated.

Thanks
Al

If you don't want to sacrafice fuel economy and it's gonna see the street almost eveyday and a little off road I wouldn't go bigger than 33" tires...once you get up to 35's you gonna have to regear and thats gets pretty pricy, especially for a 2001. That will give you a happy medium of moderate off road and good highway...

Just from my expierence (and it takes me awhile to learn and I always learn the wrong way) you would be better off saving up and getting an older truck just for off roading becuase it's addicting and your gonna want to get on the throttle and your gonna want to go bigger with lift/tires and before you know it you'll be sittin on 52's scratching your head...especially if your a mechanic!

...once you get up to 35's you gonna have to regear and thats gets pretty pricy, especially for a 2001.

you can buy a complete old school truck for the price of regearing the ford. solid axles, simple, cant go wrong:D

yeah, what they said...

But...

If you do go with this... Here's my advice:

Spend the money on the tires. Skimp anywhere else you want, but pay for the good-stuff when choosing the tires.

A high quality, first-rate set of 33" tires will for the vast majority of people outperform a standard set of 35's or 38's. - Now, I only say this because you have clearly stated that you are going to be using this truck on the streets more than trails. But if you've done hot rods before (and especially if you've raced them) than you're probably aware that the biggest and best thing you can do to any vehicle is upgrade the DRIVER. Being new to offroading, you won't get anything out of a 5 inch lifted truck on 38's that you woudn't get from a 2 inch lifted truck on 33's... That's nothing personal (how could it be, I've never met you..) it's just the answer to your question

Now as for what tires, that depends on what type of wheeling you have available. If you've got rocks, the rubber compound is very important. If you've got sand, then width is critical (but then fuel milages goes down as tire width goes up). If mud is all around, you want a tire with large void-area to get tread-cleaning. Forrest trails require really strong side walls for tear resistance. Swamps are trouble for almost anybody unless you have a specifically designed tread pattern. Combinations of these can, as you might imagine, get complicated. And since this is all predicated on a street-first rig, then you are goiong to be looking for a radial, either way.


Please dont' take this as discouragement, but in a nut-shell; our advice is that if you want to get serious about this, then you're probably starting with the wrong platform. ( AND, almost all of us who have got serious about this, started out saying the same "I'm just looking for some bigger tires" line that you put up top :D ) If you just want to play around, and are really not going any further with this, then any further advice depends on exactly what kind of environment you will be doing your wheeling in (mud, sand, rocks, forrest trails, swamp). But in general, "to throw a couple of big tires" on it, as you put, you should probably go less than 35's, since more than 33's will usually require that big sacrafice you're looking to avoid.



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