General Altimax tire blow out - need new tire suggestions

[98v70dad]

The tires may be a lot older than you think, look at the last 4 digits of the DOT code, the first 2 numbers are the week and the last 2 are the year. 14 inch tires haven't been OEM equipment for a long time so the tires may have been in stock for years before they went on your truck.
I would also recommend moving to a bigger wheel( a rim is only part of a wheel) but I'd forget 15's and get at least 16's. They were used on a ton of Rangers and Explorers so used ones should be readily available. My Mustang has 15 inch wheels and the 235/60R15's on the back are repro BFG's from Coker that cost way too much for what they are.
I sold tires from 1972 until 2017 and personally owned 2 sets of Generals. Both quit vibrating when I replaced them with something else.

Thanks. I know exactly how old they are. I just hadn't looked at the date code before I posted this thread. The tires are 6 years old. That's longer than I usually keep tires but I don't drive that truck often and they arent horribly old. Normally they wear out from miles before the sun ruins them. Used wheels are easily available but getting used wheels that are not all bent up or defective is not esay. People usually take off cast aluminum wheels either because they are porous and leak or they are bent. Buying a set of used wheels is a crap shoot in my opinion. I've done it before, btw.

 

[James Morse]

As noted check door jamb sticker if you have one. Absent that, Oasis report will tell you oem size. Ford may tell you "Research Div" although I've found for old trucks they don't know much.
Following may help, although Note it is '97 brochure info, probably same for '96.
For XLT:
Standard: P195/70R14SL BSW Diam 24.8"
With either pref eq pkg: P225/70R14SL OWL Diam 26.4
Optional: P235/60R15SL BSW Diam 26.1

Those are all season tires, no all-terrain tires offered for 4x2, naturally.

If 225's were oem, you would have indeed got deep dish aluminum wheels with that (in '97 anyway) as part of the pref eq pkg. In '96 the deep dishes were optional. Steel wheels were standard. Full face chrome was also optional.

I'd say do what the other guys said and get the 15" wheels and put a set of Coopers on them, that's a decent tire. I have that brand on the Mazda and they seem good. NTB has them.
Since 235's are almost the same diameter as what you have on there would be minimal change to power, ride height, or the speedo. You can check the speedo vs gps speedo app on your phone to see what it's reading now.

The 235's would be nice for highway on the 15" wheels, you wouldn't have to change out the spare, because the diameters are almost the same not only that you don't have the problem of 4x4 possible binding on the highway. Not sure if you have lsd, but even if you did you can drive for a while on a slightly mismatched diameter. Note there is a max size you can fit in the spare carrier so it might not even be possible to have the spare the same size if you go to 235/60.

Obviously I'm assuming bolt pattern is the same 14" or 15".

Or if you want to save money and just stick with the 14", you can get nice Coopers for them too. Shop 225/70R14 Tires | NTB
I have had decent luck with local NTB but it's just a suggestion, point it, you can get the tires for what you have, or you can, as recommended, part with some dollars and upgrade to 15". Maybe you could recoup something from the 14" aluminums you have now. Junkyards might have some 15" wheels, and if you're really trying to save money maybe you just go to basic steel wheel, those should be cheap at j-yard or ebay etc but the aluminum deep dish are of course much prettier.

Depending on what you like, 15" with less sidewall probably is a nice look and handling for a street truck. If it was off road, I prefer taller sidewall with more flex to it, but that's not an issue for you.

Here's the '96 brochure 1996_ford_ranger_brochure.pdf (therangerstation.com)
It looks like the same specs except the aluminum wheels were optional not part of pref eq pkg as in '97 as mentioned above.

To me since you can still get the 14" tires, you can get away with maybe $600-$700 for a set of 4, mounted. Maybe you want to replace the spare if it's lousy, as mentioned.
To go to 15", won't change the tire cost much if any, but you'd have to add something ($300?) for a set of 15" aluminum deep dish wheels (ebay). Not a huge increment especially considering 14" is getting rarer. And it would look good, handle good, and -if- the speedo was calibrated (gear) to the 225's, it should still be real close to correct.

Don't forget tires wear so their diameter changes over time anyway that's why the speedo specs have a range. My feeling is in general you don't want it reading low (or much high either) because if you drive 4mph over limit, which normally no one will stop you for, and your speedo reads low, you could be going 8mph over the limit then you could get stopped.

My 2 cents. Open to argument or criticism.

 

[James Morse]

Sounds like you don't want to go to different wheels, I understand, so then your best option is stick with what you have, run over to NTB and have them put on, and they'll check alignment for nothing. Not saying I'd want them changing anything on my truck, but it's free info, for what it's worth. If the tires are wearing evenly and truck drives good no reason to suspect alignment issues.

Tires are expensive if you want anything decent. I've got to get them for the XLT and I'm going from 235's on there now to the oem 265/75R15 (31" tire) so I'm mulling it a while before I shell out probably $1k for whatever I get.

On the other hand, it's your only contact with the road so you do want them good. Glad the blowout didn't result in collateral damage.

Edit: No I don't work for NTB, I just mention them because I had a decent experience in the local one, and they had a match to the 2 good Coopers that were on the Mazda, and they have your tire.
I still say 15" with the 60 aspect ratio tires would look better and ride better for street truck but the thing is you don't -have- to do it to get good tires on there.

 

[98v70dad]

As noted check door jamb sticker if you have one. Absent that, Oasis report will tell you oem size. Ford may tell you "Research Div" although I've found for old trucks they don't know much.
Following may help, although Note it is '97 brochure info, probably same for '96.
For XLT:
Standard: P195/70R14SL BSW Diam 24.8"
With either pref eq pkg: P225/70R14SL OWL Diam 26.4
Optional: P235/60R15SL BSW Diam 26.1

Those are all season tires, no all-terrain tires offered for 4x2, naturally.

If 225's were oem, you would have indeed got deep dish aluminum wheels with that (in '97 anyway) as part of the pref eq pkg. In '96 the deep dishes were optional. Steel wheels were standard. Full face chrome was also optional.

I'd say do what the other guys said and get the 15" wheels and put a set of Coopers on them, that's a decent tire. I have that brand on the Mazda and they seem good. NTB has them.
Since 235's are almost the same diameter as what you have on there would be minimal change to power, ride height, or the speedo. You can check the speedo vs gps speedo app on your phone to see what it's reading now.

The 235's would be nice for highway on the 15" wheels, you wouldn't have to change out the spare, because the diameters are almost the same not only that you don't have the problem of 4x4 possible binding on the highway. Not sure if you have lsd, but even if you did you can drive for a while on a slightly mismatched diameter. Note there is a max size you can fit in the spare carrier so it might not even be possible to have the spare the same size if you go to 235/60.

Obviously I'm assuming bolt pattern is the same 14" or 15".

Or if you want to save money and just stick with the 14", you can get nice Coopers for them too. Shop 225/70R14 Tires | NTB
I have had decent luck with local NTB but it's just a suggestion, point it, you can get the tires for what you have, or you can, as recommended, part with some dollars and upgrade to 15". Maybe you could recoup something from the 14" aluminums you have now. Junkyards might have some 15" wheels, and if you're really trying to save money maybe you just go to basic steel wheel, those should be cheap at j-yard or ebay etc but the aluminum deep dish are of course much prettier.

Depending on what you like, 15" with less sidewall probably is a nice look and handling for a street truck. If it was off road, I prefer taller sidewall with more flex to it, but that's not an issue for you.

Here's the '96 brochure 1996_ford_ranger_brochure.pdf (therangerstation.com)
It looks like the same specs except the aluminum wheels were optional not part of pref eq pkg as in '97 as mentioned above.

To me since you can still get the 14" tires, you can get away with maybe $600-$700 for a set of 4, mounted. Maybe you want to replace the spare if it's lousy, as mentioned.
To go to 15", won't change the tire cost much if any, but you'd have to add something ($300?) for a set of 15" aluminum deep dish wheels (ebay). Not a huge increment especially considering 14" is getting rarer. And it would look good, handle good, and -if- the speedo was calibrated (gear) to the 225's, it should still be real close to correct.

Don't forget tires wear so their diameter changes over time anyway that's why the speedo specs have a range. My feeling is in general you don't want it reading low (or much high either) because if you drive 4mph over limit, which normally no one will stop you for, and your speedo reads low, you could be going 8mph over the limit then you could get stopped.

My 2 cents. Open to argument or criticism.

Thanks for the detailed response.

I was the tire engineer for the only major airline in Atlanta so I know the technical stuff. The OEM size on my truck was 225/70/14R. Tires in that size are now few and far between and when you get one its likely to be OLD. Unless tires are stored in a warehouse at air conditioned temps they start degrading right away from age. I just got off a chat with a guy at Tire Rack and he's telling me tires are good for 10 years. I don't agree with that - 4 years and done is a good rule of thumb. My blow out happened on a 6 year old tire and it is pretty dry rotted. I always kept it properly inflated but the truck lives outside. The best choice for me based on my driving is probably a General Altimax 215/70/14R. The tire rack guy told me that tire in that size currently being shipped is over 1.5 years old before it even goes into service. That tire is made in Mexico and is probably imported into the USA through Texas where its also hot as heck. At the airline our tires were kept at about 65 degrees in an air conditioned room. I cant see a tire company doing that for car tires. The guy at tire rack didn't know anything about storage conditions at the warehouse. From my point of view those 1.5 year old tire rack tires have already lost 1/3 of their service life.

Anyhow, I agree that buying bigger wheels is a solution but in my experience buying used is a gamble due to porosity and possibly being bent. I have bought used aluminum wheels before and getting something that wasn't garbage was a challenge. Its easy to buy crap for a good price. Getting something good that someone didn't get rid of because it wasn't quite right is a lot harder. Also, I have no idea if a 16" wheel will fit without rubbing, how it affects the gearing and how much it affects the speedo reading. Anything different than the original will affect all of that.

Anyhow, the whole thing is thoroughly frustrating. If this was my "good" truck I would do the research, probably buy the bigger wheels and be done with it. But this truck is 27 years old and new tires and decent wheels will cost 1/3 to 1/2 of what its worth.

I had hoped there is a good solution but apparently not.

 

[98v70dad]

Sounds like you don't want to go to different wheels, I understand, so then your best option is stick with what you have, run over to NTB and have them put on, and they'll check alignment for nothing. Not saying I'd want them changing anything on my truck, but it's free info, for what it's worth. If the tires are wearing evenly and truck drives good no reason to suspect alignment issues.

Tires are expensive if you want anything decent. I've got to get them for the XLT and I'm going from 235's on there now to the oem 265/75R15 (31" tire) so I'm mulling it a while before I shell out probably $1k for whatever I get.

On the other hand, it's your only contact with the road so you do want them good. Glad the blowout didn't result in collateral damage.

Edit: No I don't work for NTB, I just mention them because I had a decent experience in the local one, and they had a match to the 2 good Coopers that were on the Mazda, and they have your tire.
I still say 15" with the 60 aspect ratio tires would look better and ride better for street truck but the thing is you don't -have- to do it to get good tires on there.

Forgot to mention that every NTB anywhere close to me has closed and been replaced by Mavis. NTB may still be around but I haven't seen one within a 25 mile radius. They merged with tire kingdom around here and their service went drastically down hill. They were gone shortly thereafter.

 

[James Morse]

ok, thought you said in o.p. you didn't know oem size.
I've never considered age of tire before mounted so you have good and valid points about that, I really don't know about aging prior to use. It prompts me to go look at mine, especially the ones on the Mazda; XLT I don't really care as I'm replacing them.
Shops are hit and miss. For XLT I'm going to take off the wheels and put them in the Mazda and just have them (whoever them is) mount/balance and not f with my truck at all (i.e., damaged wheels/caps, overtorqued bolts, etc). Kind of nice to have 2 trucks.

I'm sorry but I fail to see the reason for frustration when you can get the 14" tires in your oem size, that's the cheapest thing you can do and be safe. You can check date codes, but, if they are all really old then you kind of are stuck then asking date codes on 15", if they are a lot newer, that would push you to 15" wheels, but I get your point, truck isn't worth much for resale, on the other hand, what's it worth to you to be safe on the road? You're not selling it, right?

Ran into same problem with other half's Rabbit, new tires all around required for inspection, but car isn't worth probably/maybe 1500 so 1/3 of that was cost for tires. Plus it has brand new $260 battery (ok, replaced for free) so if I were in a position to do it, almost better to part it out. The "good" stuff on it doesn't really increase the value - selling point, maybe, but this is the thing with old vehicles, if you're keeping it, make it safe/reliable, if you're not keeping it then let the next guy do it.

I'm not arguing with your expertise about unmounted tires storage/age issues. However it does seem to me, if it were a big issue, there would be limits on the age of unmounted tires they could sell, but maybe not.

Coopers are decent tires all else aside. They ride good, quiet, good in rain. Try to find them with "recent" date code. If you can't and refuse to get old ones, back to square 1 I guess.

I tried to find date code on my Mazda tires but I can't see anything that seems like week/year. Is it the really small numbers or where is it? Is it always 4 digits?

 

[James Morse]

Found no date code on Mazda tires. There is the DOT info and "W116" are the last 4 characters. I read that the week/year code started in 2000. If I'm -not- looking at a date code there, that means those would have to be 24 year old tires?

On the XLT there is a date code 0318 for all of them. That would make sense because I think the second owner bought it about then. (I'm the third owner)

This age issue opens up a can of worms because now when I get tires I'm going to asking for the date code first.

If the date codes aren't to your satisfaction maybe you could point that out that they are selling far outdated tires, and tell them you'll pay half. Worth a shot maybe. I think they'd still be safe and worth it at a discount.
I think what you are saying is even if the rubber doesn't appear cracked/damaged, its age is such that the rubber has degraded compared to new and so you can't expect it to go much before defects start appearing, that would not have if they were freshly made. I never really thought about that, but for sure I'd agree that just about all rubber or plastic over time degrades just by its nature. If the tire is setting in an intense sun all day and heating up that would affect it.

 

[Lefty]

225/70R14 is an optional stock size on some Rangers. So, the size isn’t out of line.

If you don’t want to change rim size, another option is to change tire size. The other tire sizes that came on the older Rangers were a more narrow tread width. I think (but you’ll need to verify - should be something in the tech articles) are 215/75R14 and 205/75R14 or something along those lines.

Once you narrow down what those alternate sizes are for sure, you can see what is out there in those sizes.

As far as brands, you could look at Cooper or Mastercraft. Both have a solid reputation in general and aren’t expensive. I had a set of Firestone, owned by Bridgestone, tires on my last Ranger and was quite happy with those. So, that might be another pair of brands to look at.

I am pleased with Cooper All Terrain.

 

[98v70dad]

In my original post I didn't know OEM size because I hadn't checked it before I wrote the post. I went out and looked at it afterwards. Now I know what it is 225/70/14R. I got the truck used and I know whats on it but the door jamb tells you what it came with from the factory. Someone told me to check that.

Tire vendors can legally do whatever they want... There's no law that says tires have to be no older than X when they're sold. Its only a problem for tires that aren't in demand. Otherwise they're usually only 2 or 3 months old before they sell due to demand. Being only willing to buy newly manufactured tires in 14's isn't really practical. 14's and any other low volume tires are made in one big run and they sit on the shelf until they all sell. Asking for newer won't help you because its likely there aren't any newer ones. I went to everyone that sells tires around me yesterday and nobody even has anything in a 14 in stock. They have to order it from the warehouse. Tire rack is a major player and they told me today all of the General altimax's they have that fit a ranger are 1.5 years old and have been stored on a shelf for that long.

I've had two blow outs in 50 years of driving and they were both on old tires. So that is why it matters to me. My blow out Wednesday was at 70 mph in the middle lane of 5 lanes of traffic in a bad area of Atlanta. if it happened in my hometown where we have nothing more than two lane roads and only 5 traffic lights in town it would be no big deal. In Atlanta people routinely get killed changing a tire on the edge of a highway (two last week) because people are idiots and not paying attention.

I'll figure something out. But whatever solution I come up with is not going to be ideal. I'm either going to have to buy tires that have been sitting for years or I'm going to have to buy new rims that may be damaged and will definitely ensure that my truck no longer functions quite right. Spending a lot of money to be not as good as before is not a good option for me. Its probably the only option for me though.

 

[sgtsandman]

One thing that may help with the cost some if you do decide to switch to 15" rims is that most of the RWD Rangers I've seen had 225/70/R15 tires on them. Vehicle tire prices are weird though and there are times a bigger tire is cheaper than a smaller one instead of the other way around but it is an option that might help the bitter pill go down easier.

 

[sgtsandman]

I am pleased with Cooper All Terrain.

I've only had one bad tire by Cooper that was an All Terrain. The rubber go hard and was scary on wet roads after they got a few years old. That line was discontinued. Otherwise, I agree, they have been a decent tire in p-metric and winter tires.

 

[Lefty]

I've only had one bad tire by Cooper that was an All Terrain. The rubber go hard and was scary on wet roads after they got a few years old. That line was discontinued. Otherwise, I agree, they have been a decent tire in p-metric and winter tires.

Well, I certainly hope Coopers are better now. It's been a year and a half for me. They seem very sure footed, but I will watch for that.

 

[Blmpkn]

It's kinda hard to buy 'new' rims that are damaged. All you really gotta check for are cracks, dents, and rust.. and cracks would pretty much be an alloy wheel thing. If bottom dollar budget is the name of the game then you'd most likely be after a set of steelies anyhow.. where dents&rust would stand right out.

Theres no shortage of used 15" and 16" 5x4.5 wheels out there.. it's definitely one of the most common bolt patterns.. at least was. Millions upon millions of vehicles were sold with wheels that would fit. To make it even easier, a lot of the vehicles that have that bolt pattern ran tires roughly the same size as the ranger AND had similar backspacing/offset.. so with even a meager amount of luck a guy could probably find himself a set of wheels wrapped in good tires on CL/marketplace for just a few hundred bucks.

 

[James Morse]

....still wondering about my "date code" on the Mazda tires, W116. Do you think those are pre-2000? The 2 good ones on there and the 2 new ones are the same.
If I wanted matched tires chances are whatever I got are probably the newest I could have found.
Interesting thing about the dates, I never even knew that.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

....still wondering about my "date code" on the Mazda tires, W116. Do you think those are pre-2000? The 2 good ones on there and the 2 new ones are the same.
If I wanted matched tires chances are whatever I got are probably the newest I could have found.
Interesting thing about the dates, I never even knew that.

Pic of tire. That sounds like a speed rating.