Who's running 285/75r16?

[jsfordboy02]

Who is running 285/75r16 on their gen3? More specifically with the 4.6 and 3.73's? Im on 265/75r16 now and thinking about moving up. Wanting to know how much its going to screw my highway mileage and my towing capabilities.

 

[awarner]

put these on last year 285 75 r 16 and my mileage went from 14 mpg to about 10.5 mpg

 

[jsfordboy02]

That looks so nice! 4.6 with 3.73's?

 

[awarner]

yes

 

[jsfordboy02]

Well, guess Im going with the 265/75r16 Duratrac's!

 

[boominXplorer]

Same size/tire I'm running on my girl's 04. It has 1.5" lift rancho struts. Sorry for the poor pic, it's the only one I have at the moment handy from the hatch swap.

 

[Jeremy Liscum]

put these on last year 285 75 r 16 and my mileage went from 14 mpg to about 10.5 mpg

View attachment 96492

What lift do you have on that?

 

[Mr. Truckles]

I have a 4.0 with 285/75r16s and on average I'm getting about one mile per human soul.

 

[FatRat]

What kind of lift or spacer do you have? Any triming? Im planing to do the same. Looking for some help. As much detail as you can on the whole setup please. Thanks

 

[FatRat]

Mr truckles what did you do to fit those? Trim? Lift? Spacers? Gearing? Im thinking of doing the same.

 

[SPSully]

put these on last year 285 75 r 16 and my mileage went from 14 mpg to about 10.5 mpg

View attachment 96492

Andy, truck is looking good. We need to get together and hit the trails some time

 

[Mr. Truckles]

Mr truckles what did you do to fit those? Trim? Lift? Spacers? Gearing? Im thinking of doing the same.

When the suspension was stock I ran 265/75r16s and had to do some trimming of the fender liner and front bumper because I have baja rims with 3.73" backspacing and a zero offset. Since they poked out a lot more than stock they would sometimes hit the fender cladding and my snorkel pipe which runs through the fender at max flex. With stock rims the wheel tucks inside the fender at max flex.

Currently I am running 2" front and 1.75 rear spacers which I made myself along with BTF fab control arms. My net lift was exactly 3" with this configuration. I also installed 1.5" body spacers which I molded myself out of solid polyurethane due to convenience. My tires are 285/75/r16 (33") Guard Dog M/Ts which are still on the baja rims. With the trimming I had previously done I have no rubbing whatsoever turning lock to lock or at full flex even with my sway-bars disconnected. As far as gearing is concerned I have 3.73s with a rear locker, but I would like to re-gear down to 4.56 the next time I have my differentials out which will be pretty soon.

Just a friendly word of warning though. My explorer is a dedicated woods truck and not my daily driver. If you plan to go ahead with the lift and tires I would strongly recommend against trying to daily drive it unless you have significant resources to repair/replace suspension and steering components on what seems like a monthly basis. You also must buy the control arms if you add a spacer lift. If you keep the stock arms the ball joints WILL rip out of the control arms at some point (scary). The ride and handling on the road will be naturally terrible due to the unsprung weight of the wheels and unfavorable control arm angles. In the long run, the cost of lifting a vehicle is way higher than the cost of the components. I don't mean to be Mr. Negative but I thing it's better people know what to expect before spending their hard earned money.