New tires for 96 splash question

[96splash!]

Blew a tire night before last. Now I'm tire shopping. Stock ride hight, soon to have a 2 inch front leveling kit installed. 15x7 splash rims.

Truck should have 235/60r15's
PO put on 215/70r15s

Can I run 235/70's or 225/70 or 75's?

Some posts say yes, some say no so I'm super confused.

Thank you in advance

 

[sgtsandman]

225/70R15 has come stock on later RWD Rangers and fit with no problem.

I’m not sure if 235/75R15 would fit without the leveling kit but from what I remember, it should but might have some rubbing. The leveling kit should eliminate that.

Quite a few 4X4 Rangers came with 235/75R15 stock. So, once the leveling kit is in place, any rubbing that might have been there before should be gone.

 

[96splash!]

Perfect! Thank you!

 

[Blmpkn]

I'm not sure if there's a ride height difference between a 96 and a 98 2wd truck but I had 235/75/15s on my 98 and they fit perfectly. Looking at my 96 it seems like they'd fit fine too

 

[96splash!]

Update: they sure fit, perfectly. They look really good too.

 

[JohnG]

I use this site constantly to check the differences in tire sizes:
Tacoma World
https://www.tacomaworld.com/tirecalc?tires=235-60r15-215-70r15

 

[James Morse]

I just put on 31x10.5-15's and no problems. But my oem tire was 265/75R15 which is that same size give or take a mm or so.
I have 3" 'lift' block in rear (in quotes because it's not really a lift, it's stock). I mention this because if I put the same tire on the '99 (2wd) it would probably not fit well at all.
On the '97 there's no rubbing in suspension and plenty of space for suspension travel. Which makes sense, as it was oem size.
It just depends how are you planning to use it, but for me the K02's so far seem terrific. I like the sidewall tread, and they're more aggressive than a plain old AT tire yet quiet on the highway. Pricey, but nice, and gives the truck its original clearance and they look agressive without being crazy nuts about it. But that's what works for me.
Aside from what fits you are probably aware your speedo was calibrated to oem size tires so if that's a concern you can gps against the speedo and see if it's high or low and then you will know what effect your tire size will have. Mine reads 1/2 mph high at 30 or 45 and dead on at 55 and 60.
Other guys know a lot more about these things but after numerous conversations about tires on here, that's what I settled on and I love them.
I had them mount the weights on the inside which makes for a nice clean look for the wheels.
It's not only oem size for me but it's the biggest tire I can safely put without mods and the biggest tire offered for that truck (it was optional).
I have no idea if the 'lift' block in the back came with all 4x4 or just if you ordered the bigger tires.