Tires for 2016 Expedition

I have a 2016 FORD Expedition Limited that i bought several months ago. i am looking to replace the tires and i want to go with a more aggressive tread this time. With my previous vehicles, i have gone up 2 or more sizes but i want to stick with the factory tire size this time (275-55-R20). The vehicle currently has Hankook "passenger car" type tires but i want something more aggressive, primarily for snow (I live in Minnesota and we get A LOT!). I have narrowed the field down to two tires - the BFG All Terrains and NITTO Ridge Grappler. I have owned 3 set of the BFG's and had a set of NITTO Terra Grapplers on previous vehicles. I have two questions: 1.) how will these tires affect the ride quality and noise given that they are load range "D" and "E" respectively 2.) The Speed Rating for the the BFG's is 112mph; the Speed Rating for the Nitto Ridge Grappler is 100 mph; i dont plan on going that fast but my question is what explains the difference in the speed rating? Does that mean that the Ridge Grappler performs badly at 80 - 90 mph? the NITTO has a slightly deeper thread depth and - i'm sorry - looks really cool. if i dont need to be concerned about the speed rating i will probably get the NITTO's. I have also had the GOODYEAR DuraTrac; they were a great tire but they were super noisy.

Any tire that is blocky like this one will be noisy. I ran Cooper Zeon LTZ on my 05 there were incredibly noisy and got louder as the wore down.



I'm currently running Firestone Destination ATs which are very quiet at highway speed. They got a great rating in TireRack for ice and snow. I have not had any trouble driving through wet or dry snow. Granted the most snow that I have driven through is is about 6" of snow.

I'm glad you mentioned DuraTrac, they are IMO the best off-road, all-around tire. I rocked 2 sets on my Tacoma back in the day, and I'm buying a set for my Expedition this weekend for winter (winter tires are required in Quebec Dec-Mar).

anybody ever go up a size from standard 275-55-R20? i have on my previous vehicles (Montero, T-100, '97 Expo, '08 Sub) usually with good results but not sure i would do that with this vehicle. Went up two sizes and put BFG's on my Suburban with mods. rubbed on the fender liners a little b it but otherwise ok.

To answer two questions above, I replaced the Hankook tires with BFG T/A KO2's, load range D. I kept about 45 lbs. in the Hankooks. The shop that put the BFG's put 35 in them. Still, the BFG's had a notably stiffer ride. It was like I went from Lincoln Navigator to F250. Felt a lot more of the road.

With regard to size, I went with 275/60/20's, which are about one inch taller. I also put in a 2.25" lift at the same time, so I can't answer about rub with a non-lifted vehicle. I have 3.73 gears. I think I can tell that the acceleration is a little slower with the taller tires, but the EcoBoost still rocks. If you have 3.31 (I think?) gears you might notice more of a decrease in acceleration.

I have an XLT with the 18" wheels. I went from the P rated Goodyears to E rated Mastercraft Courser AXT. I actually prefer the ride of the E rated tires to the OEM Goodyears. In a truck this size the E rated tires feel more stable than the P rated tires.

Michael McC said:

To answer two questions above, I replaced the Hankook tires with BFG T/A KO2's, load range D. I kept about 45 lbs. in the Hankooks. The shop that put the BFG's put 35 in them. Still, the BFG's had a notably stiffer ride. It was like I went from Lincoln Navigator to F250. Felt a lot more of the road.

With regard to size, I went with 275/60/20's, which are about one inch taller. I also put in a 2.25" lift at the same time, so I can't answer about rub with a non-lifted vehicle. I have 3.73 gears. I think I can tell that the acceleration is a little slower with the taller tires, but the EcoBoost still rocks. If you have 3.31 (I think?) gears you might notice more of a decrease in acceleration.

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I had 275/60/20s Cooper Zeons on my 05 unlifted. The only time it would rub was when you were at full lock either left or right when pulling in a parking space. I never trimmed anything because it rubbed so infrequently. I switched to Firestone Destination ATs and they didn't rub at full lock.

I run Michelin LTX MS/2 on most of our vehicles.

Thanks for your replies, guys... Michael McC - the 2.5" lift you did - what kind of lift did you do? was there a kit that you bought? what did it cost?

Traxda makes a 2.75" front/2.25" rear lift for $300. My local shop custom ordered it from Traxda with 2.25" front and back instead. Same price. Installation including alignment and toe adjustment (very important) was $300. Came out great.