Nighthawk87

Can someone provide some insight on how much larger tires affect towing? I tow a 7000 pound travel trailer with my 2.7L Eco and it has plenty of power. Would adding larger tires hurt its towing capability much? I'm thinking is like 275/70/18 BFG or Nitto Terra Grapplers.

Towing is most important to me so I'm just curious if anyone has first hand experience on this with the 2.7L?

GoDuke1

Larger tires effectively lower your rear gear ratio. That being said, I went from the stock 18" wheels and tires to 20" wheels & 33's which is slightly larger than stock. I didn't notice much difference towing my RV which is about the same weight. But I do have the 3.5L and 373 gears

Edit: With the level (which I also have) you'll be nose high when towing but that's normal with a level kit.

Nighthawk87

I have the payload package so I have 3.73 gears with the 2.7. My stock size is 265/60/18

Steve Osborne

Subbing....want to to see the thoughts....you made changes to stock and .......i see to many lifted bigger tires towing more or same as a stock unit.....it may do it but safely and how long????....

BRUTE448

i had a problem when i went to get tires.

I wanted 295-70-18 toyo at'2 or somthing of the size, but i ride dirtbikes, and its more imp for me to ride and get to races/ camping/ towing then have a 4" lift on 35's.

so i opt for 275-70-18 BFG's . that coupled with my 5.0 and 3.73 gears i have droped to about 3.57-3.60 as far as gearing.

if i would have gone to a 295-70-18 that would have droped my gearing to 3.47, which to me was to far good accl. and towing. i do have a level which i towed with ( with 2" replace block" and all was well ( just a 16' flatbed bike trailer)

so it boils down to what u want, looks or perform. but with teh 2.7 you could tune it and be back with plenty of power but more fuel and more boost 9 mite blow the block).

but it sir, is all up to what you want.

hope this helps

pilotpip

The main reason I haven't leveled my truck is because I tow quite a bit. My previous truck was leveled, and it towed like crap. I didn't like how light the front end got with a relatively light (3000 pounds) trailer. Bigger tires are heavier, and due to rotational forces will impart a much greater impact on performance than you would think.

Towing a 7000 pound trailer with your truck is probably already overloading it in stock configuration. At the end of the day, it's your truck, do what you wish. If it were me, I'd leave my truck stock.

acadianbob

Lifting and bigger tires are never a good idea. You adversely affect handling, braking, acceleration, safety, fuel economy, etc.

Norotso

https://tiresize.com/calculator/

smokeywren

The math on tire size difference in the effective axle ratio is relatively simple. The percent difference in tire revs/mile of the stock tires compared to the tire revs/mile of the taller tires will be the same as the percent difference in the effective axle ratio.


275/70R18 tires have about 627 revs/mile.
275/65R18 that are part of the off-road pkg have about 651 revs/mile.


651 minus 627 = 24
24 divided by 651 = 3.7%


3.73 axle ratio minus 3.7% = 3.59


So going from 275/65R18 to 275/70R18 will reduce your effective axle ratio from 3.73 to 3.59. Not a huge change, but about the difference in Ford's 3.55 and 3.73 optional axle ratios. Definitely a difference you will notice when towing.


Your engine RPM at the same speed will also change by about that same 3.7%. And that means your speedo and trip meter error will change by that same 3.7% unless you have the speedo recalibrated to match the revs/mile of the new tires.

Aj06bolt12r

Bigger and heavier tires make your truck less capable in every aspect other than off-roading. I would not recommend leveling or larger tires if towing is indeed important to you.