Wheel Hop, Tires, Sand, Towing, Etc – The (no longer quite new) F250 FX4

Part 1 – Wheel Hop

Okay, that’s a new one on me. I’ve had a couple 4x4s, and driven a couple more. Never really experienced it before. I found an old thread on one of the Ford Truck Forums that dated all the way back to 2007 saying they just do that.

I put a fair number of sand miles on my 2007 Silverado 2500 (crew) and I got it stuck a few times, but everything was normal. I could feel slip and go, but I would just feather the throttle. When I got stuck I just jacked it up, filled in the holes, flattened the tires, and drove it out. Just like I was taught as a kid. With my 2017 Jeep JK Sport S it pretty much didn’t get stuck the places I went with it. I aired down a few times, but I don’t recall ever having gotten it stuck in the sand. Not even pulling a boat trailer down a sandy road between a field and the river.

I haven’t really off-roaded the 2024 F250 FX4 reg cab. I drove it across a few sand washes, but no bottomless sugar sand. A couple times in my yard off the driveway (sand) I put it in 4 hi, and locked the axle when it started to slip, but it was fine. Yesterday I pulled my gooseneck trailer (unloaded) around back of the shop and it was insane. I thought there was something wrong with my truck. It kept going, but the bucking was brutal. Is that really normal? Is that some sort of traction control or offroad mode? Would getting out and manually locking the hubs have made any difference? It was digging in, and I would have expected it to get stuck, but it didn’t actually do that. I just bucked violently and kept going. I saw the engine temp climb a little, but the transmission temp climbed a little more. After getting out and getting the trailer parked I let it idle for a little while and temps all came back to normal. I was concerned maybe something was wrong with my transmission or something. I’ve never experienced anything like that before. Is that really normal?

Yeah, I am still running the stock Michelin tires. I think they are only about 9.5+/- wide. I am just to cheap to throw away perfectly good tires to buy new ones. I’m planning on something around 11.5+ wide to replace them eventually. That was what I ran on the heavier Silverado (11.7) (Yes, I know a crew cab has better weight distribution), and they were perfectly acceptable. Aired down they would run sugar sand passably and wash sand without blinking. In fact they did some decently difficult rescues and snatch recoveries.

Really. It wasn’t until I read that old post on that forum I never even considered the possibility that the violent bucking was wheel hop and it might be normal. Normal?

This isn’t the first Ford 4×4 I’ve driven, but its the first modern one. The first one was a 1982 U150 Bronco with 31×10.5s, and it would run sand washes without airing down. Finer deep sand I had to air down but it was okay, and it didn’t even have axle lockers.

Please educate me on this. I’m not new to sand or 4x4s, but this is my first modern Ford FX4.

Aside: That Bronco was my dad’s. I have it now, but it needs some work. It’s been parked a long time. I plan to make it my main desert runner to replace my Jeep if/when I have time. I’ve also got to decide what to do with my dad’s old 42 Willys. It was crazy good in the desert. Even in 2WD. First time he drove it after restoring it he wasn’t happy with how it handled off road. Drove over dunes, and through washes and just kept commenting it didn’t handle like he thought it should. When we pulled up back at our workshop behind the family grocery store and got out he realized he hadn’t locked the hubs. LOL. He’d been doing it all with the rear. Also not locking.

Part 2 – The Tires

I keep reading that 35 12.5s will fit on my FX4 F250, but do I really need that much tire?  (Stock Tires are 245/75 (31.46 x 9.65 inches).

This is a regular cab, so I know weight distribution isn’t as good as a crew cab.

My last 4×4 truck was a Silverado 2500 Crew Cab, and I only ran tires that were nominally 11.7 wide. Running full unloaded pressure (55 front 45 rear) it could get stuck in deep sand, but running flat (12psi) It could dig holes in the sand on a snatch recovery, and then drive right out of its own holes to take another run.

Do I really need 12.5s on the Ford F250 FX4 Reg Cab, or is that just a thing where people just “want” the biggest they can get.

If you read the part above about wheel hop the other day, I drove through all the same areas without the trailer yesterday, and maybe 100lbs of stuff (cooler full of ice and beverages) in the back of the truck with no real issues. I did not air down. I had to take it easy and feather it, but at no point did it feel like it was going to get stuck. I could feel a little wheel slip, but it performed more like other 4x4s I have driven instead of that insane wheel hop I had the other day.

I am not dismissing the, “better to have it and not need it,” point of view, but do I really need 12.5s or is that just more about looking “bad/tough/cool”?

I hope this isn’t one of those over tired topics like sparkplugs and motor oil on a Harley forum. I’m not all about the looks though. I just want to consider handling driving down a sand wash or on old dry river sand, with the least amount of sacrifice on the highway.

Debating posting… ah what the heck. I’ll hit the POST button and see what happens.

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