New Owner 02' XLT 2WD Auto 6 Cylinders U 3.0L - Help with wheel / tire choices

[sheliable]

Hey guys, just bought a super clean 2wd red XLT with 98k on it (absolutely jazzed about it) and I plan on making it look a bit more aggressive by installing new rims/tires, grill, bumper etc.

Here she is.

First things first I want to think about wheels so that I can plan for a suspension lift. I don't need anything CRAZY but I want them to look meaner than stock ya know?
My friend recommended K02's and Wildpeaks for tires. However I am an absolute noob as far as understanding rim/tire sizes and what would be compatible with my vehicle. Where do I start ? What do I need to understand before I dive into this? Can I upgrade the rims / tires prior to doing the lift?

Please give me some direction / articles or any other resource you know of to help make things a bit more clear.

Thanks in advance!

 

[MikeG]

What size tires/wheels do you have now? What engine, transmission, and gears in the axles? 2 wheel or 4 wheel drive?

If you don't know all the answers, a picture of the door tag would help answer some of it, at least.

Increase the tire size enough and you may have to re-gear the axles, FYI.

 

[RonD]

No, not usually a good idea to get the wheels/tires before lifting unless you are not going to put them on the vehicle, because if they are larger tires they will rub on the body without the lift

You should decide on the lift first, so you will know the largest tire diameter that will fit without rubbing
Good article to read on that here: https://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/TireFitment.shtml

There are two kinds of lifts
Body lift is the least expensive, right now your Ranger body is sitting on the trucks frame on "rubber" pads with bolts thru them
You can replace these rubber pads with thicker pads and use longer bolts and now the body is "lifted" higher
You can't go more than 3" as wiring between frame and body becomes an issue

Suspension lift is the more expensive option, you are redesigning the actual suspension, or someone else did and you are installing that kit
This is the better one for Off-Road because you are raising the ground clearance higher you can also get more travel in the suspension

 

[sheliable]

No, not usually a good idea to get the wheels/tires before lifting unless you are not going to put them on the vehicle, because if they are larger tires they will rub on the body without the lift

You should decide on the lift first, so you will know the largest tire diameter that will fit without rubbing
Good article to read on that here: https://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/TireFitment.shtml

There are two kinds of lifts
Body lift is the least expensive, right now your Ranger body is sitting on the trucks frame on "rubber" pads with bolts thru them
You can replace these rubber pads with thicker pads and use longer bolts and now the body is "lifted" higher
You can't go more than 3" as wiring between frame and body becomes an issue

Suspension lift is the more expensive option, you are redesigning the actual suspension, or someone else did and you are installing that kit
This is the better one for Off-Road because you are raising the ground clearance higher you can also get more travel in the suspension

Since mines a 2wd I imagine I won’t be doing a whole lot of offroading. Body lift that you’re referring to is what I know as a “lifter kit” correct? This should be sufficient to give my truck a more aggressive look by adding some modest, larger tires .. without needing to cut the body, change any gears/wiring, etc .. right?

 

[MikeG]

You may be able to increase the tire size a bit, without lifting the suspension at all, FYI. Ask if a particular tire will fit that year, someone here will know.

Leaf springs in the rear, relatively simple (but the rear is the least likely to have issues with tires rubbing). Front suspension most likely torsion bars, maybe coils, a bit more complicated to lift. It all just depends on what size tires you ultimately want to run.

 

[sheliable]

What size tires/wheels do you have now? What engine, transmission, and gears in the axles? 2 wheel or 4 wheel drive?

If you don't know all the answers, a picture of the door tag would help answer some of it, at least.

Increase the tire size enough and you may have to re-gear the axles, FYI.

Updated the post title with the relevant info! What is the best way to figure out what gears in the axles?

 

[MikeG]

A picture of the door tag will help. If you have the owner's manual, sometimes they are listed although there may have been options depending on if there was a towing package, etc.

 

[19Walt93]

If you put taller tires on it that will have the same effect as higher rear end gears, meaning less powerful and slower acceleration. To confuse things more, higher gears means a lower numerical ratio, 3.45 is higher than 4.10 for example. Once you know what gear is in there now you can figure it out from there.
If your current tires are 28" tall and you install 30" tall tires, 28/30=.933, meaning the rpms at a given speed will be 93% lower. You can then divide your gear ratio by .93 and find out what gear ratio would be needed. With a 3.0 I would look for a 4.10 geared rear end whether you swap tires or not. 3.0's were good, durable, doggy engines.

 

[pjtoledo]

before you slap on some bigger tires,,,,,,,,

take a good look at that long hill going up I 75 in Kentucky (when it re-opens) and ponder how much power you will loose with bigger tires.
then consider that bigger tires also REDUCE BRAKING while going down that hill.


I know, I'm raining on your parade. we want you around to see future parades, so choose wisely.


for tire/wheel info my favorite is Tirerack.com they have full specs on tires.

 

[sheliable]

@MikeG @19Walt93 @pjtoledo

Here is a picture of the door tag. Tough for me to process all of this information Would you all mind helping me decipher my current gear situation?

 

[RonD]

At the bottom of the label under AXLE you have 86

According to this article: https://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/axle_codes.shtml

86 means you have a 7.5" axle, OPEN type with 3.73 rear axle ratio

3.73 was the most popular ratio used on Rangers, its "OK" for towing, and "OK" for MPG
4.10 is better for towing but lower MPG at highway speeds
3.45 is better for MPG at highway speeds but less torque for towing

OPEN type is the most common axle/differential, on ANY vehicle made
It means only 1 wheel will get engine power, the easiest wheel to turn, so in slippery conditions if a wheel starts to slip/spin it gets ALL the power, other wheel does nothing, lol, so easy to get stuck

L/S, Limited Slip(posi-traction) is the other type used in Rangers, it splits the engine power between the wheels so better traction in slippery conditions as BOTH wheels get power

 

[MikeG]

Ron got the axle, so here's a primer on tire size.

"P225/70R15" =

225 millimeter tread width, or divide by 25.4 to get 8.858...." etc. inches wide on the tread, or pretty close (there is some tolerance).

"/70" means side wall is 70% of tread width, or about 6.2 inches.

"R15" is rim diameter in inches, 15 inches.

So total tire height is 15 + 6.2 + 6.2, or a little over 27 inches tall.

BUT.... it will somewhat depend on tire inflation pressure, and how much weight is on it, because tires 'squish' down a little under load.

Anyway - bigger tires - a common size is 235/75R15, about 29 inches tall. Note they are '75' not '70' which means taller sidewall, better for running off road as there is more sidewall to give.

There are also old-style "inch" tires for off-roading, say 30x9.5 which is about 30 inches tall, and 9.5 inches wide (no matter the rim size but lots of them are on 15" rims).

So, personal opinion, going from say a 27" tire to a 29" tire won't be too noticeable in terms of robbing performance, but if you go crazy and want to run 31s or 33s, then yeah best budget in some $$ for a gearing swap to 4.10s, as well as speedometer correction.

I went from roughly 26" tires on my 97 to roughly 29" and it was fine, but my truck was purchased with a towing package, which gave it lower axle gears (3.55 vs. 3.27) but also I've got a 4.0 engine which has more torque, so I never had any issue with performance (well as much performance as one gets out of a 4.0 OHV engine, anyway).

I doubt you'd have to have a lift for 235/75 r15s. Might even be able to cram in 30x9.50s (I had them once, came with the wheels I bought) and they worked OK, although got a bit of rubbing on the sway bar at full turn).

 

[19Walt93]

If you live in a hilly area like I do, a 3.0 will struggle pushing 3.73's and will downshift a lot on the highway. Gas mileage could even improve with 4.10's because the transmission will stay in overdrive more and the transmission will suffer less wear. If your area is flat, give it a try with the taller tires and see how it feels to you. If you're happy with the power it makes that's what matters most. I usually figure that enough is good, more is better, and too much is just right.

 

[RonD]

3.0l Vulcan is also a HIGH RPM engine by design

Ford built it from scratch in mid-1980s, first used in cars in 1986
It makes best power(torque) at 3,500rpms, most engines do that at 2,500rpms
Best horse power at 5,200rpms, most engine do that at 4,200rpms

So if you drive it like "most" engines you will be very disappointed
This engine NEEDS to be driven at RPMs above 3,000, when you are under that there would be limited power

This is why the 4.10 rear axle ratio works well with the 3.0l, this ratio = higher RPMs in EACH gear

 

[sheliable]

Thanks all. This information was crazy helpful and saved me a lot of digging.

I don't plan on towing anything, so sounds like the only benefits to re-gearing / dropping in a 4.10 rear axle would be landing a limited slip since I live in the mid west, plus being able to stick on some giant tires.

I have a feeling some 235/75 r15s combined with a bit of a lifter kit will be enough to make solid appearance upgrade imo. Which is really all I'm looking for right now.

I wouldn't mind a bit of a lower effort performance increase. if there are easier mods than changing axle ratios, lemme know!

Only thing is that @RonD's comment about the 3.0 running with ideal power at higher rpms makes me question my thought process and whether it'd be worth the time and effort to upgrade to a 4.10. Think I'd prioritize MPGs at this point and give it a more serious look if I decide to start towing some things someday. What do y'all think? Anything i'm not thinking about?