Looking for wheel/tire size advice

[hannah2001]

Hello everyone. I just bought this truck last week, its a 2002 automatic 2wd with the 2.3 in it. I really like the wheel and tire size thats on it now, but I was doing some research and read that the bigger tires can really strain the transmission and cause early failure. I'm aware of the MPG drop and strain on other steering parts, that doesn't really bother me. But I really dont want my transmission to fail on me as thats way more expensive than steering parts.

i'm a tire noob and don't know anything about wheel/tire size setups and configurations. Do I have anything to worry about damaging the transmission? The size on the truck now is 265/75/15, somehow they dont scrub, the truck is not too sluggish with them, and I *think* the gear ratio is 4.10? I included a picture of the tag on the rear end and also a picture of the truck for reference. Stock tire size according to the door sticker is 225/70/15.

Also any recommendations for other sizes that may work better would be appreciated, however if the size thats on there now really wouldn't hurt anything I would like to just keep them on there.

 

[Brain75]

a little more cleaning near the bolt head on your tag - there should be a 4 hidden underneath that grime.. here's a picture of my 3.45 7.5" tag, the 3 is dang near under the bolt head:

I'd say if that little 2.3 can push it around without you tearing your hair out over the loss of power, don't worry about the tranny.

 

[SenorNoob]

Agreed, if you don't feel underpowered it should be fine. No Ranger came with 5:10 gears. Were 3:10 a possibility? I've only heard of as high as 3:42. And that was only 4.0 trucks AFAIK. To be fair I've never owned anything but 3.73 geared trucks.

 

[Brain75]

I know the 9" came all the way down to 3.00 I own one of those, wish it was a 3.50 or 3.70.

 

[Brain75]

tech articles have everything... scroll all the way to the bottom for the ranger chart:

Ford 7.5-Inch Rear Axle History & Specs - The Ranger Station

Usage: The Ford 7.5-Inch axle came in a few different vehicles including the: Ford Aerostar (1985-1997) Ford Bronco II (1984-1990) Ford Mustang (1979-2011) Ford Ranger (1983-2011) For the purpose of this article, we’re only going to discuss the Ford Ranger … Continued

www.therangerstation.com

as high as 3.08 (man that must be a dog), and nothing else ends in .10 except 4.10...

 

[sgtsandman]

You should be fine with that size of a tire if the truck is handling it ok. Now if it was having a hard time getting up to speed and always seemed to struggle, that might be a different story.

As far as the tag, I do agree that would be a 4.10:1 gear ratio axle.