How wide is to wide?

[Beanmachine7000]

Yea, my mind was not working all too well the other night haha... Oops!

 

[MatthewT]

Damn!

Ok! That was a fun argument. Even though i am a little confused about there argument. From what i understand and tell me if i understand it right. I am going to do mostly mudding BUT i will only mud 2-3 times per month cause of time will not allow more. And when i am not mudding i will be driving around town and some traveling since the closest city is about 100 miles away i need decent tires that will last hence the AT2 mileage warranty. And Yes i will look at the DuraTrack sounds like what i want but not sure if they can last highway mileage, even if i dont travel alot.

Any way I want to keep about the same height cause i do not want to change my speedometer and get better mudding traction. So a Wider tire is better for soft surfaces like mud and skinny is better for like hard surfaces like dirt roads or rock crawling. The guy at Sears said the 265/70 would be close to factory as 245/75 and would not change and speed or anything And yall were arguing about tire size which confused me a little more. But i think i want a wider tire to fit my driving style which is at this time 60% road/highway(daily travel, occasional long travel) AND 40% off-road which is mostly mudd. So wider in this case is better than taller.And no deflating if it can be helped!

But for future reference(way in the future). I want a good offroad tire cause i plan to get a 6-8" long traveling suspension lift and when i figure out what i need for a V8 Conversion, cause of course i will not settle for a V6 when i can have a V8 but will wait till my V6 goes bad or starts to loss it. And i want a Good All Around tire for Everything from dirt trail, mudding river and Hill country with lots of dips and rugged terrian. So i want a Tall tire And Wide tire for the best of both worlds and accomplish the ends i want a True All Terrian Truck That is BAD ASS TOO!!
(MONEY is nothing and i will wait to get enough to buy what i want, But i want to do as much as i can do my self, to learn and become Self-suffecient...FREEDOM!!!!)

Sorry if that does not make sense but its hard to write what i want!

 

[Original_Ranger84]

Yes.

 

[Original_Ranger84]

Just messin with ya man... Um a skinnier tire will also give you better MPG's on the highway, so something you might wanna concider. How are your old tires doing? I would just get a set of good used Mudders and extra rims and then swap those on for play time and keep some like super MPG tires for every other time...

 

[Beanmachine7000]

Depends on what kind of mud it is... For 90% of off road applications the tallest tire you can fit (even if it is narrow) is best... I'd wait till you lift it, then change tire size... For now just get stock size in a good tread pattern...

 

[MatthewT]

Depends on what kind of mud it is... For 90% of off road applications the tallest tire you can fit (even if it is narrow) is best... I'd wait till you lift it, then change tire size... For now just get stock size in a good tread pattern...

OK what tire would You recommend based on what i want out of the tire?(for highway and weekend off roading in what ever New Mexico mud is, i think its part clay cause its slicker when wet than Ohio Mud, so not sure!?)
Cause i think i am leaning toward the AT2 based on cheaper price and Best mileage warranty i can find for that type of tire but not 100% sure yet.

 

[Beanmachine7000]

Well, if you're serious about the mud, I'd look at something with a more open tread than the AT2 or BFG A/T... I've heard great things about the new Duratrac, or the Wrangler Authority (only at Wal-Mart)... Those two are a cross between an AT and an MT...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I checked out the AT Authority at wally world... the price difference wasn't enough from a regular name brand tire to make me feel comfy with a Wal-Mart only tire.

If there is a packed base under the mud (like a sloppy road) skinny tires will be fine, deeper mud and you probably don't want to cut down there only to find nothing is there.

I think a 10 ply tire would seriously effect the ride quality of a truck as light as a Ranger.

I have always kind of wondered how well a 235/85-16 tire holds a bead, yeah it has a heavy sidewall, but it has a heck of a tall sidewall to move around on it. Maybe a Ranger doesn't have enough heft to matter anyway... I dunno

 

[Beanmachine7000]

I checked out the AT Authority at wally world... the price difference wasn't enough from a regular name brand tire to make me feel comfy with a Wal-Mart only tire.

If there is a packed base under the mud (like a sloppy road) skinny tires will be fine, deeper mud and you probably don't want to cut down there only to find nothing is there.

I think a 10 ply tire would seriously effect the ride quality of a truck as light as a Ranger.

I have always kind of wondered how well a 235/85-16 tire holds a bead, yeah it has a heavy sidewall, but it has a heck of a tall sidewall to move around on it. Maybe a Ranger doesn't have enough heft to matter anyway... I dunno

I don't see why you guys are so worried about 235/86-16 being so skinny.. The Rover guys swear by them and I've never seen any more problems due to the width, and they aren't too much heavier (if any) than a Ranger... I don't see a wider tire working any better in super goopy mud anyway... Ever seen the Camel Trophy videos? Stock Discoveries on 7.50r16 (235/85-16), and they don't really have any tire problems...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IngZdOr5YVw

 

[strvger]

i'm running 10 ply AT's from Treadwright on my Geo Tracker. match the pressure to the weight of the vehicle (about 26-28 lbs in the Geo) and i have no problems with the ride at all. with suspension and body lift on it, probably couldn't ever tell the difference from the 10 ply tires vs. the standard 4 ply tires really and that's with the sway bars cut off as well. just a firm, solid ride.

ps: i'm running 215/85x16's. about 31" tall.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Wider is better in soupy mud, or loose ground in general.

I never said that 235/85-16's were too narrow for a Ranger, I made a general skinny vs wide statement. Mine gets around pretty good with 235/75-15 tires, a little bigger all around wouldn't hurt anything though.

Dad runs 235/85-16's on his service trucks, super common for 3/4 ton+ trucks and I can vouch that his F-350 will sink like the Titanic with them, my Ranger won't with its same width smaller diameter tires... which tells me width does matter vs weight when things get sticky.

I still think the typically heavy sidewalls of a 235/85-16 tire will make a Ranger ride like a lumberwagon as a dd though.

 

[strvger]

i think there is a common misconception about ply ratings. new tires really don't have 10 plies like the old ones did way, way back. they are rated based on the compounds used to make the tire and the calculated weight they will support. looking at the side wall on mine, they only have either 4 or 6 real plies (it's dark and cold out or i'd go look for sure), which surprised me at first. guess that's why i didn't notice much difference in them over the stock 205/75x15's that came off. and mine does double duty as a dd about 4 times a week on my 60 mile round trip to work and back.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

i think there is a common misconception about ply ratings. new tires really don't have 10 plies like the old ones did way, way back. they are rated based on the compounds used to make the tire and the calculated weight they will support. looking at the side wall on mine, they only have either 4 or 6 real plies (it's dark and cold out or i'd go look for sure), which surprised me at first. guess that's why i didn't notice much difference in them over the stock 205/75x15's that came off. and mine does double duty as a dd about 4 times a week on my 60 mile round trip to work and back.

Dad's load range E 235/85-16's have a total of 5 plys on the tread, 2 on the sidewall... the same as the P rated 255/70-16 tires on my F-150. Both tires are the same brand and model, and they act very different with a trailer in tow... mine are pretty mushy compared to the load range E tires... as they should be. The heavier the rating, the more stability is required to carry the load regardless of how many plys it takes to do it.

 

[Beanmachine7000]

Correct... Load Range E doesn't mean ten ply... I could see an F-350 sinking faster than a Ranger with most any tire, think about the weigh difference in the two... If you're going to stay on loose sand or deep snow wide tires would be better, but for most everything else skinnier and taller is better, ever wonder why Land Rover Defender/Series, Landcruiser, most every other off road light trucks always came with 7.50r16 or 235/85-16's?

 

[91rangerxlt]

factory my ranger came with 265/75/15 wich is a little biger than a 31''. id get some 265s put on ( whatever brand you prefer) and call it good. thats around 11'' wide and will work good for yer truck.