Tires: Replacement Tires, ford f 150, tire placard

Question
I have a 1977 Ford F-150 Custom pick-up. 2WD and 4.9L motor. What tires are recommended for this vehicle. It appears that the ones on are P235/75/15. Also would it hurt to put on say a P215/75/15 tire on instead of the larger P235. I am on a pretty tight budget. Also truck will only be used for short runs and no heavy hauling. Thanks Barry for any/all help you can give me.

Answer
Jerry,

On every vehicle sold in the US, there is a sticker – commonly called the tire placard - that lists the original tire size and the proper pressure for that size.  The placard is usually located on a doorpost or in the glove box – but sometimes it is located in the trunk or on the fuel filler door.

My book says that a 1977 Ford F-150 came with H78-15's, L78-15's, and 7.00-15's.

I could give you the functional equivalent, but in the 30 years since this truck was produced there have been many lessons learned, so I think we should take advantage of them.

 Trucks such as yours evolved to use P235/75R15 XL (Extra Load), and after that started growing both in payload capacity - with accompanying increases in tire size, although in 16" and 17" rims.  I think it is prudent to follow this evolution and use P235/75R15 XL's for these trucks - and the cost differential for an XL, is minimal.