new tires

[myranger26105]

i have a 03 4x4 edge 5 speed i just put some 265s on it and i have noticed that highway driving really sucks now i knew it would change it some but didnt think it would be this bad or is it just my truck stock gears are 410s and it had 245/65s/16s stock

 

[nate09]

i dont think its a tire issue. going up that little in size should not have a noticeable affect given your engine size and gearing.

 

[myranger26105]

that is what i thought. i just did a tune up so i am hoping that will help but i cant figure out what it could be

 

[Original_Ranger84]

Did you switch the type of tire you had on there? like going from the stock street tire to a more agressive A/T or M/T?

Cause I stepped up from 28's to 31's with 3.73's and it didn't affect my driveability that much.

 

[myranger26105]

went to a couser at2

 

[Original_Ranger84]

The wider tire is probably causing alot more resistance then the factory street tires. both in width (road contact and wind resistance) and tread design (different traction)

 

[JohnnyO]

I went to 265/75's on my old Sport Trac and they slowed it down a lot. Also it had 3.73 gears.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

There will be a difference, it will make your truck different than you are used to. If you had 5.18 gears and 215/75-15 tires and were used to it, you would still notice a difference going to 235/75-15's.

I noticed going from 235/70-16 to 255/70-16 on my F-150, I got used to it and life went on until recently I got some 265/70-17's... same thing again, it took me a little bit to get used to it but now they are "normal"

It isn't the extra less than an inch in width you are noticing so much as the extra 3" in diameter (provided your 265's are 265/75-16s)

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/tire_and_speed_calc.html

 

[myranger26105]

thanks guys for all the info its just going to take me awhile to get use to it and what gears would i have to goto to make it go back to the same as stock 4.56s?

 

[Whisky]

I went from the factory 245x75x16 to 32x11.50x15 and I didnt see much of a loss of torque or mpg. 4.10 gears and a 4.0

 

[JohnnyO]

thanks guys for all the info its just going to take me awhile to get use to it and what gears would i have to goto to make it go back to the same as stock 4.56s?

4.56's would be overkill and the truck would turn higher rpm at the same road speed than it did with the stock tires and gears. I don't think there is anything available for the front between 4.10 and 4.56 and besides, it will cost you about $1000 to change the front and rear gearsets. Not worth it IMHO. When I had 265's on my old Sport Trac I just allowed that I was going 10% faster than the speedo said and verified that with a radar speed display at a toll booth I often use. I also figured that with the bigger tires the odometer was tallying up 10% less miles than I was actually putting on and since I lease my trucks I didn't regard that as a bad thing.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

4.56's would be overkill and the truck would turn higher rpm at the same road speed than it did with the stock tires and gears. I don't think there is anything available for the front between 4.10 and 4.56 and besides, it will cost you about $1000 to change the front and rear gearsets. Not worth it IMHO. When I had 265's on my old Sport Trac I just allowed that I was going 10% faster than the speedo said and verified that with a radar speed display at a toll booth I often use. I also figured that with the bigger tires the odometer was tallying up 10% less miles than I was actually putting on and since I lease my trucks I didn't regard that as a bad thing.

A couple bucks at your friendly Ford dealership will get your speedo reflashed so it will read correctly.