Winter tires

[Marcoux]

Hey guys,

Ordered an XLT with ER and have a scheduled build date of 5/2 and I'm starting to look at purchasing winter tires here in Canada since they usually have clearance sales around this time.

Spoke to my dealer and he recommended purchasing a tire with an 18inch rim for Winters...

Seeing as the originals will be 275/60/r20, I'm thinking that the 275/65/R18 is probably the way to go? I mean I could theoretically look at 275/70/R18 if I want something that does not have too much affect on the speedometer differences but there aren't a lot of tire options in that size.

I'm also aware of range loss and am wondering what would be best...stick with the original size or go with 65 or 70 on 18s?

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[beatle]

I'd go with the 275/65R18. It's only a 2.7% difference from stock. Your speedo will read about 2mph faster than actual at 70mph. Good tires are more important than a very slight speedo error.

 

[sotek2345]

Make sure you get tires with the appropriate load rating, The Lightning is heavier than other F150s. I would look at F250 tires.

 

[Marcoux]

Fair enough...lol

Any idea what that would be exactly? I know some people use 116 for light trucks, while others have used 120 all the way up to 125...

 

[beatle]

Even a 114 load rated tire in 275/65R18 (like the Blizzak DM-V2) is rated for 2,601 lbs per tire. That's 10,404 lbs total. GVWR for the ER trucks is 8,550 lbs so you should be good with most any truck snow tire.

 

[Marcoux]

Ok, so the blizzard tires that you mentioned : https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/tire...-tire-for-passenger-cuv-3083276p.3082583.html

They indicate CUV and passenger, but they do mention for light trucks in the description...so as long as I'm not doing any heavy towing for very large distances...these should be fine. Is that correct?

 

[My 2ND Ford]

Ok, so the blizzard tires that you mentioned : https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/tire...-tire-for-passenger-cuv-3083276p.3082583.html

They indicate CUV and passenger, but they do mention for light trucks in the description...so as long as I'm not doing any heavy towing for very large distances...these should be fine. Is that correct?

As long as you buy your tires from a knowledgeable dealer, they will tell you what will work with your vehicle. They will also not allow you to purchase a tire that may fail because of a wrong application.

 

[beatle]

Article on load rating:

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=195

You actually derate the tire's capacity to 91% of it's rating when using these on trucks. Even with that done, the overall rating for 4 tires is 9,467 lbs which is still higher than the Lightning's GVWR.

Tire Rack's listing of the DM-V2 lists light trucks as an application:

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...65R8DMV2&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

The stock 20" tires on the show trucks have been 115 load rated.

 

[Marcoux]

Ok thanks man!

I'll definitely look into a few different tires and see which ones come on sale. By the looks of it tho, keeping it to 114-116 would be the best way to keep as much range as possible, while going the 120-125 route would allow me to fully use the maximum towing capacity but would have a greater effect on range.

Still weird that they would sell the vehicle with a tire that can't get anywhere near the ER advertised max towing capacity out of the lot...lol

 

[gtotco]

Hey guys,

Ordered an XLT with ER and have a scheduled build date of 5/2 and I'm starting to look at purchasing winter tires here in Canada since they usually have clearance sales around this time.

Spoke to my dealer and he recommended purchasing a tire with an 18inch rim for Winters...

Seeing as the originals will be 275/60/r20, I'm thinking that the 275/65/R18 is probably the way to go? I mean I could theoretically look at 275/70/R18 if I want something that does not have too much affect on the speedometer differences but there aren't a lot of tire options in that size.

I'm also aware of range loss and am wondering what would be best...stick with the original size or go with 65 or 70 on 18s?

FWIW 275/65/R18 is a stock tire size in the ICE F150. This was the stock size in my 21 Lariat Sport. I’d be surprised if Lightning differed significantly for wheel size.

I’d probably just buy them mounted on a cheap rim so you can swap them manually. This is what I did with my last car, a GTI. I would DIY swap for years in the street (no garage) then I found out my local mechanic considered it a tire rotation and charged $10 (significantly less than the $100 or so for a full mount balance and TPMS calibration) so it pays for itself relatively quickly.

I personally really like Bridgestone Blizzaks in winter. They were unstoppable on our GTI and CR-V. This was my first truck and I bought 3PMSF Wrangler Duratracs after reading they were a good snow tire and while they are fine it’s truly Jack of all trades master of none situation. They are an okay snow but it’s less capable than CR-V with Blizzaks on. In summer they are okay but handling isn’t great, they produce a fair amount of road noise, took a noticeable MPG hit against OEM tire and just generally are okay but great at a lot of things.

This is going to be my last winter in the Duratracs. I think this summer going to put on Michelin Defender for summer and then in the winter put on Blizzaks. We have a cabin that gets a few hundred inches of snow a year with a steep driveway and Duratracs have gotten stuck a few times and I just don’t want to deal with putting on chains every time we get 4” anymore before the tractor can come to clear the driveway with a blower.

 

[beatle]

Still weird that they would sell the vehicle with a tire that can't get anywhere near the ER advertised max towing capacity out of the lot...lol

GVWR and towing ratings aren't the same though. GVWR is what can be loaded in/on the vehicle. Tongue weight is included in this measure, but tongue weight should only be 9-15% of whatever you're towing.

Curb weight is 6750 for the Lariat ER, and GVWR is 8550. That leaves 1800 pounds for cargo and passengers (including tongue weight). Tongue weight should only be 9-15% of the trailer's weight, so if you're towing 10,000 pounds, your tongue weight should be no more than 1500 pounds. Add a husky driver and you're coming close to 8550, but still not over it. Your tires are still rated for more than the GVWR anyway.

Plenty of people "overbuild" things for peace of mind, use in harsher than typical conditions, or just to show off, but that doesn't mean staying within the manufacturer's limits is unsafe. There is always a safety measure built into those calculations anyway (lawyers build trucks don't you know), and I think most people with a truck have overloaded it at some point and still been okay.

A tire rated for a higher load will ride harsher and will likely yield lower range. That's not a compromise I'd be willing to make, but to each their own.

 

[Marcoux]

Good to know. Thanks for the insight guys!

 

[Stubblejumper]

Look around for used winter tires/wheels that people are taking off. Last spring I purchased Take off 2020 Lariat rims/sensors with studded winter tires, all used for about five months, for $600. Even if you just buy take off rims, you can usually buy them on Kijiji for less than new steel rims. I bought 275 65-18 tires/rims, but the difference in size is less than 3%, so no big deal.

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