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[gmtech16450yz]

Haha.

Ok the first thing my wife and I noticed the very first time we saw a Vegas was the wimpy little tires. The next thing we noticed was how retarded the front wheels looked being half a foot inside the width of the body. My wife couldn't wait for me to get rid of the tires and put something safer and stronger on it. I certainly wasn't looking forward to changing them on the side of the road when they blew out from being too small.

So I finally got around to doing it. The end result will be (should be) better gas mileage, higher load capacity, far better handling, less tire noise, drastically reduced chance of blow-outs, way better brake cooling, less stress on the entire chassis, less unsprung weight and finally better looks. The downsides? Cost and some labor on my part.

Here's the part that's a little outside the box... The front wheels. They're what would come on an F350 without duals. All the tires are 235/85/16's, Michelin XPS Ribs. They're about 1.5 inches taller than the stock 225/75/16's. The wheels are Alcoa forged aluminum, 16x6 in back and 16x7 in front.

The reasons for using the SRW fronts? First of all, the offset is a little over 4" difference. That means I widened the track by almost 9"! Another reason is the fact that the SRW wheels are stronger. The load and max air pressure ratings are higher than the rear duals. The biggest difference is that the duals are hub centered and the singles are stud centered. That means I had to use tapered lug nuts on the front wheels, not a big deal.

So what happens if I get a flat? The rear duals will still fit on the front, I can pull one off the rear and put it on the front if I get a front flat. If I get a rear flat, I'd just run one wheel on one side anyway. The front wheels would actually fit and work fine on the rear also, since they're meant to be used on the same full floating axle.

The hardest part of the swap was enlarging the front wheel wells. (The taller tires fit fine on the rear.) I literally took a sawzall to the body! That was fine with me since the front wheel wells were too small anyway. After massaging the wheel wells, the taller front tires set out 4+ inches further out clear fine. And it looks "normal" now instead of looking like a Class A from the '80's.

I've actually only finished the one side, I need to do the other side before I can give a ride/drive report. I think the combination of a taller tire, but one that is stiffer overall will end up being a wash ride-wise. Rolling resistance should be WAY less. Road/tire noise should also be way less. The Alcoa wheels with the way heavier XPS tires are actually 3lbs LESS than the stock steel wheels with lighter/smaller tires and wheel covers. Winding road handling and heavy wind control should be greatly improved. I can't wait to try it out! If nothing else, I know I've drastically reduced my chances of being on the side of the road with a blown-out tire.

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