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

[19Walt93]

The taller tires will make the 4.10's act like higher(lower numerical) gears because they will reduce the revolutions per mile. If you want taller tires, put some on and try it. You can always swap rear ends later. Keep in mind that taller tires will make your speedometer read slower than you're going and you may need to have your PSOM reprogrammed. That's "Programmable Speedometer Odometer Module", the instrument cluster in Ford speak.

 

[96 Danger Ranger]

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.

View attachment 52202

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!

I recently purchased a 96 Ranger and put 31x10.5r15 tires on it prior to lifting it (now has a 2-inch lift in the front) but the tires fit fine in the rear as well as the front. The only rubbing I experienced in the front was at full lock when turning if I went over a bump, so turning to full lock on a smooth road no issues, and slight rubbing to the top of the fender if I went over a dip or speed bump too fast but other than that it worked fine and made the truck way more aggressive.

 

[JohnnyO]

3.73 to 4.10 isn't a big jump or worth the cost IMHO. Frankly it would be easier and cheaper to go to a junkyard and get the rear out of a 4wd that already has a 4.10 limited-slip in it. 2wd lifts cost less too, some blocks on the rear and dropped spindles in the front. Tires up to 31x10.50-15 would be fine and look good on a 15x8 wheel with 3.75" backspace.

 

[JohnnyO]

Also if you get dropped spindles for the front, late model 2wd Rangers have two different front suspensions, the regular XLT with coil springs and the Edge that uses torsion bars. You say you have an XLT so make sure you get the right spindles if you decide to go that route.

 

[19Walt93]

Dropped spindles will lower the truck.

 

[JohnnyO]

Dropped spindles will lower the truck.

No, raised spindles lower the truck. Drop spindles and dropped spindles are not the same thing. When the hub is "dropped" in relation to the rest of the spindle, it will lift the truck. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[09fx4guy]

JohnnyO has a point. If you wanted to try and locate a 8.8 rear axle with 4.10 gears and perhaps a limited slip, that would be a big improvement. There is nothing wrong with the 7.5, but if you do want to get the most out of the truck, the 8.8 would help with that. If you can find an FX4 truck, some of them had Torsen limited slip diffs in the rear with the 4.10 gears. That is what I have in my truck and can say I am quite satisfied with the performance and behavior on road.

Another benefit is that since you are 2wd, you do not have to worry about switching the front axle to match the gearing of the new rear axle.

If it were me, for right now, I would look at the 235/75R15 or perhaps the 30x9.5x15 at the largest, if you were willing to upgrade the axle or do a small lift relatively soon.

 

[masanders]

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).

This is a fantastic explanation!

 

[pjtoledo]

but it's partially wrong.

225/70-15

the 225 is SECTION WIDTH,,,, the widest part of the tire,, the sidewall bulge.
it does not designate the tread width. actually tread width varies with the brand and type of tire.
the section width is spec'd by the manufacturer at a specific rim width for each tire. the measured section width varies with different rim widths.
70 is aspect ratio, the side wall is 70% of the section width.

the math is correct, 225/70-15 usually spec out to about 27.4"

 

[MikeG]

Appreciate it, probably knew that at some point - but been a long time since I looked it all up.

 

[sheliable]

Y’all are great

 

[justlexi]

Have you been able to determine which tire and tire bundles to use? You may want to check out online shops like 4wheelonline since they offer an extensive selection of packages to choose from. Some good deals can only be found on the internet.