The pickup truck is America’s four-wheeled sweetheart.
It’s the most popular type of vehicle on American roads by far. And of all the pickup trucks on all the roads in all the nation, the Ford F150 is the most popular, and it has been for decades.
That’s also not a fact that looks to be changing any time soon.
By a plan of investment, careful tweaking to meet new challenges, and keeping an ear to what its customers need and want, Ford has been improving its F150 truck for generations of drivers, with the latest version adding improvements and options in both weight class and engine range.
The F150 is an American legend.
But you know as well as we do, any pickup truck – even the best pickup truck on the road – is only as good as the tires on its wheels.
And you also know it needs more than one set of tires to get through a year in America. Chances are you’ll need road tires, off-road tires, winter tires, all-year tires, and more besides.
They say a dog’s not just for Christmas, but for life, and the same is true of your F150.
Treat it right, put the best tires you can for the job at hand on it, and it’ll give you years – even decades – of the best, most faithful pickup service you could ask for.
Treat it wrong and it becomes the stuff of country songs, worn out before its time.
You have to make your mind up to it and fit the right tires on your F150, or you have to ask yourself whether you’re ready to drive an American legend.
So which are the best tires out there for your F150? That’s actually a more daunting question than you might think, with more than 20 big brand tire makers out there vying for business.
We’ve put together a selection that should see you through the year, no matter what you choose to do and where you choose to go.
In a hurry? Here’s our top pick.
Top 5 Best Tires F150
OUR TOP PICK
[amazon fields=”B004QGZDV0″ value=”thumb”]
Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza Highway Terrain SUV
EDITORS CHOICE
[amazon fields=”B00MY0QNDW” value=”thumb”]
Mastercraft Courser MXT Mud Terrain Radial Tire
BEST VALUE
[amazon fields=”B06ZXWHRX3″ value=”thumb”]
Sumitomo Ice Edge Studdable-Winter Radial Tire
OUR TOP PICK
Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza Highway Terrain SUV Tire P275/55R20 111 S
[amazon fields=”B004QGZDV0″ value=”thumb” image_size=”large”]
Of all the places and surfaces on which you’re going to drive your F150, it seems obvious to say that the highway is going to be one of the most regular.
That means you need a set of good, hard-wearing all-season highway tires.
The Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza Highway Terrains deliver most of what you need for a reasonable highway-driving price, which means you won’t weep if and when they need replacing.
Popular on some of the best-known pickups on American roads, they’re our choice for best tire for the F150 because, while there might well be better highway tires out there, you’ll pay through the nose, the ears, and any other available bodily outlet for them.
The Alenzas deliver you a smooth, quiet highway ride when fitted and properly aligned on the F150, which is at least half of the battle in a highway tire.
They also have a great reputation as a long-lasting tire. That means they instinctively feel right on the F150 – a truck that with careful handling will last you decades.
Unless you’re aiming for sharp things on the highway, the Alenzas will keep you trucking for mile after mile without complaint, and without developing the bald patches that can prove a slow death for some other tires.
Are they the roughest, toughest looking tires on the market? No, but you don’t especially need them to look rough and tough if you put them on the F150 – it has quite enough cool for both of you, and your little tires too.
Besides, while they might not look as though they’re about to rob a bank, they do have wide, deep treads that will make the tire-expert nod in appreciation.
Quality is in the performance, rather than the image, and that’s where the Alenzas score in spades.
Warrantied for 65,000 miles, if you look after them, the Alenzas will give you months or even years of highway driving, depending on how much road-driving you do in any month.
One word of caution. While they’re absolutely all-season tires, what they’re not is specialized Winter tires.
To make your F150 Winter-safe, you’re going to need a separate set of Winter-specific tires. Keep reading, we have one coming right up for you.
Long-lasting, noise-minimized highway tires with extremely decent treadwear, that perform well in most highway situations and are warrantied to give you at least 65,000 miles of wear – and all for a price that won’t make you sweat.
That’s why the Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza Highway Terrains are our top choice for the best tires for your F150.
Pros:
- Extremely quiet for highway driving
- Famously long-lasting tires
- Warrantied up to 65,000 miles
- Deep and wide treads for a look that’s stylish without being aggressive
- Price – these are within reach of most F150 drivers, and don’t come with the sticker-shock of some comparable tires
- All-season road tires
Cons:
- Not suitable for Winterizing
- Some drivers regard them as having a timid look on an in-your-face truck like the F150
EDITORS CHOICE
Mastercraft Courser MXT Mud Terrain Radial Tire – 32/115R15 113Q
[amazon fields=”B00MY0QNDW” value=”thumb” image_size=”large”]
Of course, owning a pickup truck is about far more than highway driving.
Part of the point of having an F150 is taking it off-road. If you’re just looking for a road warrior, you might as well get a Subaru and a desk job.
So which are the best tires to help you make the most of your off-road experience in your F150?
The Mastercraft Courser MXT Mud Terrain Radials might well be worth your time and your money.
When you’re driving off-road, even more than when you’re on-road, the key to a great experience is a combination of confidence and exhilaration.
The Mastercraft Mud Terrains can certainly give you the confidence, delivering a sense of safety in the mud.
Designed to grip around the edges and help you get the most out of your 4WD control, they’re a combination of your drunk cousin Ed who never saw a dumb, exciting thing to do without yelling “Let’s do it!” and your bank manager, looking over your adventure plans, giving a slight smile and saying “Go ahead, do it, we’ll cover you.”
In other words, the Mastercraft Mud Terrains inspires you to let your adventurous off-road side off the leash, while giving you the confidence to know you’re well-protected against the worst consequences of such a wild ride. That’s what’s known as the best of both worlds.
The Mastercraft Mud Terrain tires bring that “best of both worlds” philosophy to every aspect of their ride.
Neither the most expensive off-road tire you can get, nor one that makes you nervous to use them because you didn’t pay “enough,” they sit in the market at just the right point to encourage use, and fun use at that, without fear of the hole they’d punch in your monthly budget if you had to get them replaced.
Their look has a satisfying heavy metal grunt, in particular because the sharpness of their tread pattern feels like it’d be good in a fight, but they bring a performance as quiet as a country love song.
They’re solid on asphalt, but don’t bat an eye at rough roads either. And when you let them loose off-road, there’s that combination of “toddler in a mud puddle” exuberance and guardian angel stability that lets you and your F150 rip.
Sometimes being the best of worlds doesn’t mean you’re a mediocrity.
In the case of the Mastercraft Mud Terrains, it means you’ve achieved a point of balance that takes fun and safety into equal consideration, and delivers a tire that enhances your life, and the adventures your F150 is designed to take you on.
Pros:
- Designed to grip around the edges for off-road safety
- Tread-design gives you the traction your 4WD needs
- Encourages off-road fun
- Good grunt in the look of these tires
Cons:
- No warranty – because you and your driving don’t come with one
BEST VALUE
Sumitomo Ice Edge Studdable-Winter Radial Tire – 195/60R15 88T
[amazon fields=”B06ZXWHRX3″ value=”thumb” image_size=”large”]
Remember we said we had a set of winter tires for you?
Winter is coming.
The Sumitomo Ice Edge tire is ready for it.
It’s as ready as any winter tire can be ready for icy roads, snowy conditions, and the sometimes sudden sensation of driving on buttered marble.
You can of course add chains to the Sumitomo Ice Edge – but where it scores extra Winter points with us is that if you happen not to be a fan of driving rounds with chains on your tires in the land of unironic freedom, the Sumitomo Ice Edge tires give you the option for the harder, road warrior look of studding them.
That’s an option that puts the Sumitomo tires ahead of much of the competition.
The Sumitomo tires are radial too, which gives them the best chance of gripping the road in even heavier snow, and a special chemical treatment means they’re able to withstand harsher temperatures than standard tires.
Overall though, it’s the studdable option that makes the Sumitomo tires stand out and puts them firmly in our list of best tires for your F150.
When Winter comes, if you’ve got a set of Sumitomo in your garage, you can go about your business without any of the usual worry.
And while Winter tires are an extra expense whichever set you get, the Sumitomo tires are priced to let you buy them with a clear conscience, knowing they’ll keep you trucking through the snow (in an F150 sleigh?) all winter long.
Pros:
- studdable tires, for those who have trouble driving with chains on
- Chemically treated to endure harsh temperatures
- Radial tread pattern for maximum grip in slippery conditions
- Priced to make safety the worthwhile economic choice, as well as the right thing to do
Cons:
- Mostly a single-season tire
RUNNER UP
Firestone Destination LE 2 All-Season Radial Tire Only – 265/70R17 113T
[amazon fields=”B008ZD9VHW” value=”thumb” image_size=”large”]
All-season is a simple term that just occasionally hides a wide spectrum of definitions.
If you’re looking for a tire that’s absolutely all-season though, you can do a lot worse than check out Firestone’s all-season Destination LE 2 Radials.
They’re light truck tires – which means they’re more or less designed for trucks like the F150. Imagine having a suit of clothes or a pair of shoes tailor-made to fit your shape, your feet?
That’s what the Destination LE2 Radials are like for the F150. And whereas the truck itself won’t care, you’ll feel the difference when you drive.
There’s a combination of long wear and smooth riding in the Destination LE2s that will make you wonder why you haven’t tried them before.
More than that though, you’ll appreciate the all-season bonuses the Destination LE2 Radials bring to your truck driving experience.
They have a silica-enhanced compound molded tread design. You’ve never known you’ve needed…one of those before, have you?
Why do you need one now? Because it helps the Destinations grip the road like they’re afraid of falling off into space.
Wet conditions? No drama – the Destinations have notched shoulders and sweeping treads. Imagine having windshield wipers on your tires – that’s the effect of the sweeping treads.
They get rid of the water under the surface of the tire before it can cause slippages and control loss.
It won’t absolutely guarantee you never hydroplane, because nature is capricious and wants to hurt you.
But it’ll do the best job of keeping you safe in all actual seasons, currently available at prices to suit the non-billionaire truck enthusiast.
Warrantied up to 60,000 miles, and priced in the middle of the market despite their clever treads, the Destination LE2s are a strong contender for the all-season crown in a crowded pack.
Pros:
- Silica-enhanced compound molded tread design
- Sweeping treads to minimize hydroplaning
- Notched shoulders for grip in dry and dusty conditions
- Warrantied up to 60,000 miles
- Light tires designed specifically for the class of truck to which the F150 belongs
Cons:
- Arguably takes some out of the fun of driving in the wet while ensuring you get home alive
RUNNER UP
General Grabber AT2 Radial Tire – 235/70R16 106T
[amazon fields=”B00521F4MG” value=”thumb” image_size=”large”]
We know you’d like a simple life. We would too. But sometimes, you find the best things in places where simplicity disappears under complication.
The General Grabber is an example of that.
Where’s the complication? Well, it’s almost too much of a good thing, and it defies simple classification. It’s both a great all-season tire…and a great off-road tire…at the same time.
That’s not entirely fair to those of us who want an easy life, but the upside is that it’s a kickass tire for more people than arguably any other on our list.
What do we have here? The Grabber’s made of a compound that shrugs off chips and laughs in the face of tearing.
So what we have here in the first place is a tire that, if not exactly as tough as nails, at least nods slowly to nails in a bar, to signify if they want to make a thing of it, the Grabber’s ready to take them on.
That compound is molded into five rows of tread blocks, which is a pattern that’s been optimized by a clever computer so that in effect they clean themselves. Welcome to the age of the Smart Tire!
Tough, cleverly designed, and with long-term wear and all-season reliability engineered in, the Grabber has everything you could need in an all-season tire.
But there’s more. On top of a dual-layer polyester core, these bad boys have nylon reinforcement and dual steel belts. Did someone say off-roading?
The Grabber takes the best of both worlds philosophy of the Mastercraft and turns it up to 11, while heading into the mud!
Warrantied up to 50,000 miles, they combine that reckless off-roading itch with a safety underpinned with legalities, so you can feel free to ride wherever you want to go and make the most of your F150’s stallion heart.
For smooth road driving all year round, with the bonus of off-roading without having to change your tires, it’s simple – grab yourself a set of Grabbers.
Pros:
- Tough tires with anti-chip and tear-resistant compound
- Computer-designed to be self-cleaning
- Off-roading without changing your tires
- Warrantied up to 50,000 miles
Cons:
- Addictive. If ever you try other all-season tires after these, remember to change out to off-road tires when you want to go off-roading
Best Tires F150 Buying Guide
When you’re buying tires for your F150, there’s no one set of rules of what to look for, because of course, you’ll be buying several sets of tires – all-season, off-road, winter, and so on.
But there are at least a handful of things to keep in mind before you click the ‘buy’ button.
Safety First
Whether you’re looking for all-season, off-road, or winter tires, always look for factors that keep you extra safe.
Be it sweeping treads that reduce the risk of hydroplaning in an all-season tire, design to grip around the edges for hardcore off-road stability, or studdable options in your winter tires, be on the lookout for anything that makes your awesome pickup stay an awesome pickup, and helps you stay safe at its wheel, whatever the terrain or the weather throws your way.
Don’t Be Oversold
With over 20 major tiremakers in the market, beware flim-flam and flapdoodle. Look for explanations of where your tire-money’s going, and be sure the features of any particular tire are appropriate to your situation and your needs.
We’ve chosen a handful that bring you clear benefits in the conditions when you’ll need them. If you go outside our list (How could you?!), apply the same criteria – make sure you know what you’re buying, and exactly why it will improve your F150 driving experience.
Don’t Skimp On The Seasons
Weather is more serious than most people give it credit for. Respect the weather, or there’s every chance it won’t respect you right back.
It’s bigger than you are, and it hits harder. Don’t hem and haw over the price of Winter tires. Get them. Fit them when you need them. Chain them or stud them, depending on the options you have. Make sure your all-season tires can genuinely help you in all seasons, rather than just letting you get by in them.
If you’re going to own America’s sweetheart of pickup trucks, respect it, respect yourself and respect the lives of those who ride along with you – buy the tires you need all year round, and fit them when appropriate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to change my F150’s tires regularly?
Yes. It’s part of the care and maintenance regime of owning the best pickup truck in history.
You want to equip it for everything it’ll face. Bite the bullet. Buy the tires.
Can I just fit cheap tires to the F150?
Sure, you can. You can wear bedroom slippers to work too. It’s a free country. But if you’re going to own the F150, it makes sense to fit reliable tires to it.
Sure, they may cost slightly more than the cheaper ones, but you want the feeling of security that lets you take pride in your F150.
That’s going to need a commitment to good, reliable tires on your part.
You might like to read: Best Tires For Rav4