# Weaksauce Super Duty Tires



## Moss Man (Oct 23, 2010)

I just bought a 2008 Ford F350 Ext Cab 4x4 6.4 Diesel and it has a set of BF Goodrich Rugged Trails or Terrains or something like that, size 275/65-18's. I ran a tape measure across them today and the diameter is 31.25"...........dayum, alot of half tons have taller tires than that today........right? I might suffer through the winter with them until I recover from the shock of buying the truck, but those low profile tu*ds need to go.

Any suggestions for replacements?


----------



## tjctransport (Nov 22, 2008)

Metric to Standard Result:
275/65/18 = 32.1x10.8/18


----------



## plowguy43 (Jan 2, 2008)

Moss I didn't know you stepped up to the 6.4! I should've went to the last meet to check that beast out.

Very Jealous.

You should check into some 285 or 305's, they'll be wider and a bit taller as well. Get ready for sticker shock though, friggin tires are expensive.


----------



## wizardsr (Aug 8, 2006)

Guys were putting them on before you could get bigger ones to replace the crap stock continentals. If you can swing it, go for the 305/65r18 BFG's. I'm on my third set of them on my 18's and love them. You can also downsize the wheels to 17" and have a much better selection of tires.


----------



## Tony350 (Feb 6, 2010)

I believe you can also get 275-70-18 if you want a little more height but don't want to go wider. I have goodyear silent armors in that size and like them.


----------



## Dublin Plow (Sep 4, 2012)

Get the goodyear Silent Armors..I have had them on 2 trucks now and get 45K out of them...just get ready for the $1k you will have to spend on them.


----------



## Ultra Duty (Jul 16, 2010)

Mickey Thompson ATZ's they make them in 33" or 35". imo anything less than a 35 looks small on the new trucks.


----------



## Moss Man (Oct 23, 2010)

Ultra Duty;1512476 said:


> Mickey Thompson ATZ's they make them in 33" or 35". imo anything less than a 35 looks small on the new trucks.


Yes, the 31's look real small on this truck, 35" is the size I'm after. I'm kind of stuck on the Toyo MT's at the moment.


----------



## Ultra Duty (Jul 16, 2010)

Go American! M/T's ATZ's they are more money up front but will outlast the Toyo. They make a 35R18 and we have them on several of our super duty trucks.


----------



## Moss Man (Oct 23, 2010)

I like everything about the AZT's except the price
.


----------



## Moss Man (Oct 23, 2010)

After a ton of research and reading about AT tires in any forum I could find, I have narrowed it down to two tires, the Toyo MT and the Mickey Thompson ATZ. I really don't need a mud tire, but the Toyo MT gets such rave reviews and a few people have them locally and they love them. The Mickey Thompson ATZ gets equally as many good reviews and I think the tread is better suited to my needs. And that reminds me what my needs actually are. I use my truck on the road 95% of the time, my days of four wheeling are just about gone at my age, especially considering the size of my truck. That being said, on the odd occasion that I use the truck off road or here on the farm, I don't want a tire that instantly fills with mud and becomes useless. I to a large dump trailer alot in the late summer and fall delivering seasoned firewood. I am out on the road a bit picking up items to sell and trade. In the winter I plow residential driveways, so snow traction is a must.......somehow I doubt the Toyo MT have ideal snow traction unless you add a considerable amount if siping and I'm not even sure anyone in my area offers that service. It would seem like the ATZ would have to be somewhat quieter on the road and have slightly better manners on the highway, no? I'm not going to let the price be the determining factor, I only put on about 8,000 miles a year so I'm could to be putting up with these tires for years.

The ATZ is considered a cross between an AT and a MT tire or an "aggressive" AT tire. Here are the two sizes nearest what I want and accomodate the stock 8" wheels I have;

LT325/65R18 or LT305/70R18 , the 305's is a match as far as my 8" wheel size, the 325's call for at least a 9" wide wheel, but you could probably get by with 8"

BFG All Terrains are probably one of the most popular AT tires of all time, but their just not for me for several reasons.

I looked over the Pro Comp Extreme AT's, but they look alot like the ATZ so meh.

In reality the Toyo AT would probably be a better tire for what I actually do with the truck, but they don't have the kool factor...........

I had considered the Goodyear Wrangler Duractracs after hearing so many people say how much they love them, but when I dug in at Tire Rack and read the reviews I realized those are not the tire for a heavy towing rig such as mine.

The tires I have a fine for now, but I ain't got the patience to run them for months.


----------



## Mark13 (Dec 3, 2006)

I'm running 295/70/17 Toyo M/T's on my 2500HD on my summer wheels and 235/85/16 Toyo M/T's on my stock wheels for the winter. Their definitely not snow tires but for being mud tires they do pretty well.

Overall I'm happy with both sets. Most of my driving is on the road but it still sees plenty of off highway driving as well being mostly a farm truck. Neither set has ever let me down in the mud or other situations where an A/T tire would have most likely plugged up. For being mud tires they have a hum while on the road but nothing to terrible compared to most others. 



A friend of mine has Duratrac's (I think 295's) for his 6.4 F250 and he swaps them out as soon as winter is over. Most of the time he runs Nitto Terra Grapplers. He found the duratracs to be very unstable on such a heavy truck. 

Another friend of mine has been running Toyo A/T's on his 6.4 F250 and seems happy with their performance but they definitely don't look as neat as the M/T's.


----------



## plowguy43 (Jan 2, 2008)

My buddy in mass is running mastercraft coursagias (i think that the name) 35/12.5/20's. He did a bunch of research as well and almost went with toyos till he found these. They were also a tad cheaper. This is on his 08 F350 Crew diesel.


----------



## bigbadbrad (Mar 1, 2009)

I have been running 325/65/18 nitto terra grapplers on my work truck. I have only had them on it this summer, good tire on the hot top, good for moderate off road, all though i did get stuck with them once this summer pulling my dad's tractor out from a bog. but any tire would get stuck where i was! haha I have not tried them in the snow cause i run a dedicated snow tire in the winter (265/75/16 winterforce 10ply studded, love them!) I have heard they do good in the snow, but these nitto's dont come cheap! around a piece!


----------



## linckeil (Sep 18, 2007)

it seems like there are more threads about tires on this site than most other topics. being a site dedicated to snowplowing, i am always amazed about how few times in all these threads about tires that plowing is actually even mentioned. 

tire sizes from 285s to 325s are being thrown around. those are some seriously wide tires for a pickup. I know thats the style and to each his own. but the fact of the matter is that a narrower tire is better for plowing snow. i plow with a 235 tire. anything wider than a 265 i would never dream of using for plowing. 

get a nice set of wheels and fat tires to run the spring/summer/fall if thats your style. and have a set of dedicated tall and skinny tires for the winter. 

guys that say their truck plows just fine with a 285 tire have obvoiusly never plowed with a narrow tire. traction is everything in the snow and a narrow tire will give you more of it. in the off-winter months, run the fat tires.


----------



## plowguy43 (Jan 2, 2008)

Very True, I switched from 285/70/17's to 265/70/17's on my 04 Ram (currently am running them on my 99) and love the added traction. They are Goodyear Authority's from Walmart, came in around $860 installed but they have been worth it.


----------



## Ultra Duty (Jul 16, 2010)

Since we have a good thread hear I will continue to chime in. I agree with the thin cookie cutter tires for better traction. However only in circumstances where chances of getting stuck are minimal. I have switched our trucks to larger more aggressive Mickey Thompson tires because I was tired of getting a call from one of my guys that was stuck or myself even getting stuck. As far as traction typically each truck has 2500lb of salt in the bed so that doesn't become an issue. Again, just my $.02


----------



## linckeil (Sep 18, 2007)

i'm not sure what you mean. how would narrow tires be good for traction in condition where you are less likely to get stuck, but wider tires better in conditions where you would be likely to get stuck?

when it comes to snow, where will you get the traction? you will get it at the road surface. what tire will allow you get to that road surface with greater ease? a narrow tire will.

now when it comes to mud, you want a wide tire. a narrow tire will just sink you further and further. 

you want to float on mud with a fat tire. you want to sink into the snow down to the road surface with a narrow tire. 

the narrower the tire, the easier it can displace the snow and get down to the pavement or gravel. the wider the tire, the less likely you are to get down to the road surface as a wider tire will have a much greater tendency to "float" on the snow. 

adding weight will help with a wider tire getting down to the pavement, but it would also help a narrow tire. 

all things being equal (truck, weight, tire tread, etc) a narrow tire will outperform a wider tire in the snow. i'd say this is my opinion, but really it is fact. 

now i've heard some people make a ridiculous statement like "well if thats the case i'll run bicycle tires on my truck"....


----------



## Moss Man (Oct 23, 2010)

linckeil;1514573 said:


> i'm not sure what you mean. how would narrow tires be good for traction in condition where you are less likely to get stuck, but wider tires better in conditions where you would be likely to get stuck?
> 
> when it comes to snow, where will you get the traction? you will get it at the road surface. what tire will allow you get to that road surface with greater ease? a narrow tire will.
> 
> ...


Your logic is mostly correct. When actually plowing, the tire width shouldn't come into play much, you are mostly driving on the scraped surface you just plowed. Now, driving to the plow accounts on roads that aren't well plowed, that's a different game and the narrower tires win. With the weight of the rig I drive with the plow attached and a 1000 lb ballast in the rear.......I think the 9.8" tread width I am looking at will do just fine. I'm not looking at 13.50 tires, I want the narrower tread of the 305/70R18'S which are 35" in overall diameter and have a tread width of 9.8" which probably isn't much wider than a 265.


----------



## Tony350 (Feb 6, 2010)

Maybe the tires don't measure true but wouldn't a 305 tire be about 12'' wide. 25.4 mm to an inch. 305/25.4=12. A 265 would be about 10.5''. That is assuming the tire is made to specs. Most tires always run short and narrow from what they claim. This is how it was explained to me, but I may be wrong on this tire stuff. Also like someone else mentioned siping has a lot to do with winter traction.


----------



## plowguy43 (Jan 2, 2008)

I had 305's on my Dakota and they were around 10.5"s wide these were general grabber at2s


----------



## forbidden (Dec 22, 2010)

I run the Duratrac on my 08 F350 with the 6.4 in a 20". I plow heavily with them and pull a trailer year long as well. Here we get alot of compacted snow so we are never scraping to pavement yet we are getting incredible traction on a now polished icy surface. Consider these tires, they have not let me down for almost 5 years now.


----------



## Moss Man (Oct 23, 2010)

Tony350;1514885 said:


> Maybe the tires don't measure true but wouldn't a 305 tire be about 12'' wide. 25.4 mm to an inch. 305/25.4=12. A 265 would be about 10.5''. That is assuming the tire is made to specs. Most tires always run short and narrow from what they claim. This is how it was explained to me, but I may be wrong on this tire stuff. Also like someone else mentioned siping has a lot to do with winter traction.


The widest part of the tire, the sidewall, is 12.2 inches, thus the 305(mm) designation. The actual tread width is 9.8".


----------



## linckeil (Sep 18, 2007)

Moss Man;1514830 said:


> Your logic is mostly correct. When actually plowing, the tire width shouldn't come into play much, you are mostly driving on the scraped surface you just plowed. Now, driving to the plow accounts on roads that aren't well plowed, that's a different game and the narrower tires win. With the weight of the rig I drive with the plow attached and a 1000 lb ballast in the rear.......I think the 9.8" tread width I am looking at will do just fine. I'm not looking at 13.50 tires, I want the narrower tread of the 305/70R18'S which are 35" in overall diameter and have a tread width of 9.8" which probably isn't much wider than a 265.


in a perfect world you would be driving over a plowed surface, and that surface would be bone dry. but we all know that many road surfaces are far from perfect. many require tight turns where your tires inevitably cross unplowed snow, many are uneven, and many have ruts. if you're in smooth, level parking lots all day you won't notice a difference from say a 305 to a 245 tire.

a 305 is technically 12 inches wide, although actual tread width varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. my 235s are technically 9.25 inches wide, but measure 7 inches across the treads. but put those discrepancies aside, the fact remains a narrow tire will outperform a wide tire in the snow - whether plowing or traveling down an unplowed road. my F350 has 235 snow tires and carries about 1,000 ballast as well. the truck will be over its gvw long before the tires reach their maximum load. i have 12.5" wide tires i run in the summer, but in the winter on go the 235s. why not maximize your traction when plowing? if i was forced to run only one set year round 265 would be the maximum i would ever consider. i perfer the look of a wide tire, but if it means less traction when i really need it, function trumps style in my book.


----------

