Posted by Jason Locke on 5/30/2022 to
Some guy, whose name won't be mentioned, once made the bold statement that 35x12.50" tires are a bit overrated on the F150s, and that fitting them on the 2011-2020 F150s was a juice that often wasn't worth the squeeze. However, is that still true in the year of our Lord 2022? Well, sort of, but not as much. Something major happened with the 2021-2022 F150s that have changed up the game a bit, and have made 35" tires more viable on the newer trucks: they got more wheel well clearance than previous trucks, as well as revised crash bar angles that don't interfere with big tires as much. Granted, fitting a true 35x12.50" tire on the 2021-2022 F150s is still kind of a pain, and literally nothing has changed for the 2011-2020 F150s. So, how do you fit a 35" tire on an F150? We break 35" F150 tire fitment down by year range below.
The first step to fitting a 35" tall tire on your 2021-2022 F150 is to add some lift. If you're not looking to go too wide and use something like a 295/65R20, 285/70R18, etc. you can generally get away with using a 2.5" leveling kit on most wheels with positive offsets. The look of an F150 leveled on 35s is pretty awesome, but you do still need to be fairly careful. Wheels with low backspacing and negative offsets are still going to cause you some issues, since wheels with low backspacing push the tire out to where the wheel well starts curving back in. 35x12.50" tires are also still a bit of a problem, since their widths are going to cause you some issues with your truck's crash bars and wheel wells. Crash bar removal and trimming can fix those problems on some wheel options, but using 12.50" wide tires on wheels with high backspacing and high offsets will limit your options when it comes to adding aftermarket upper control arms, remote reservoir coilovers, or complete lift kits in the future. In summation, fitting F150 35" tires on the 2021-2022 F150s is a bit easier than on older trucks, but 35x12.50" tires are still a bit of a pain, and you may want to stick with narrower options. If you are dead-set on 35x12.50" tires, your best bet will still be a 4" lift kit or something even taller. Now, 2021-2022 Tremors are a special case, and since they're already at a taller ride height, they can get away with less lift to squeeze on a 35x12.50" tire, however, you do still need to be careful with wheel backspacing and offsets to ensure no rubbing and suspension clearance issues.
How to fit 35" Tires on 2021-2022 F150s
Let's start with the good news. Part of the 2021 F150 refresh was redesigned wheel wells that have a bit more clearance than the 2020 trucks. Thus, fitting a 35" tire on a 2021-2022 F150 is a lot easier than on previous F150 generations. That being said, you're still going to need a bit of lift, and 35x12.50" tires are still a bit of a problem.How to fit 35" Tires on 2015-2020 F150s
While I am a huge fan of the 2015-2020 F150s, as previously stated, fitting a 35" tire is a bit of a pain in the ass. Not only are the wheel wells of the 2015-2020 F150s a bit smaller than the newer 2021-2022 F150s, they also have more intrusive crash bars which makes finding a "sweet spot" of wheel backspacing and offset with tire width a huge pain. Still, it is possible to fit a pretty narrow 35" tire on factory wheels or wheels with positive offsets with just a 2.5" leveling kit, and something like a 285/75R18 would likely be fine, or would only need minor valance trimming. Fitting a 35x12.50" tire gets pretty tricky, and will require at least decent amount of trimming, if not crash bar removal on a lot of wheel options. On our 2020 F150 Giveaway build, we fit a LT315/70R17 Cooper STT Pro M/Ts through the use of an ICON Stage 5 Suspension System set at roughly 2.5" of ride height, Black Rhino Ridge 17x8.5" wheel with a 0mm offset, and an ADD Bomber Front Bumper with more clearance than stock, along with a crash bar removal. The end result looks pretty awesome, it's about as much effort as a full 4" lift kit, and a 4" lift kit will give you a lot more options for fitting 35x12.50" tires on wheels with more aggressive offsets.How to fit 35" Tires on 2011-2014 F150s
The 2011-2014 F150s are somewhere in the middle when it comes to the ability to fit 35" tires. On one hand, they have very similar wheel well dimensions as the 2015-2020 F150s, but their lack of crash bars does mean a few less hassles when it comes to fitting big tires and getting a little more wiggle room when it comes to wheel offset and backspacing. If you're only looking to fit on a fairly narrow 35" tire like a 285/75R18, then you can usually get away with 2.5" of leveling and a factory wheel or a wheel with a positive offset. Once you start jumping into wheels with low or negative offsets, you're going to need at least some valance and/or wheel well trimming, even with some extra leveling. Fitting 35x12.50" F150 tires gets a bit hairier, and you're going to be even more limited in offset and backspace if you want to avoid major trimming. On our 2014 F150 Tremor Overland Build, we fit a set of LT315/70R17 BFG KO2 Tires in conjunction with a set of ICON 2.5 Remote Reservoir Front Coilovers and Method 17x8.5" NV Wheels with a 0mm offset, and we had trim the front valance and front wheel well liner a good amount. In general, fitting a 35x12.50" tire is doable with a leveling kit and the right wheel, but if you're looking to use aggressive offsets and backspacings, you'll probably want to jump to a 4" lift kit or something taller.