Ranger with car tires

[jeedee]

Any of you Rangerettes out there use auto tires on your ride...? Don't do any off-roading or heavy towing/hauling....it's a 4 door,2WD with a Posi rear. Like to make the ride softer and more quiet. Any thoughts...? I've seen some moderately aggressive car tires...(not as much as truck tires)...thought maybe they'd work.
Thanx for any input. Charlie

 

[brokemechanic3000]

Yeah I see it a lot, for Wisconsin I still only put on truck tires, for the customers that come in where I work

 

[Mac]

Most of my 4x2's end up with good car tires. Been doing that for many years.
Dave

 

[MrRangerSir]

Nothing wrong with it except you will reduce your load rating. You likely can improve your ride. I use P235/75 15 on my truck.

 

[Andy D]

Get some 235 75R 15 or 205 75R 14s and glide around like you're on pillows. Most comfy riding, best mpg, easiest on steering and suspension. Sofa king out of style. I'm wanna get narrow white walls and baby moon hub caps on steelies for my next set of wheels

Modern tire fashions are :.I'm a boy racer ,road warrior, or : Mountain Man. Mud Crawler

Not being a dedicated follower of fashion , The Rat is shod in 2 pairs of mis- matched 235 75 15s. These tires inflated to 40 lbs helped me get 21 mpg going 70 in the Rat which is good for a 4.0 4 wd Ranger. My off road is tame stuff and I drive slow so as not to damage the truck or the terrain.

Rangers are cheap and plentiful enough to have a few them. Set one up for off road, and another for daily driving and parts runs. This what I do when I find a model of old car that I like. I get a few of them.

 

[Snoranger]

Car tires:

I ran 245/45ZR17s "car tires" on my last Ranger for around 10 years.

 

[adsm08]

I had some BFG Radial Long-Trails on my truck for a while. They were not "car tires" per se, but they were a very quiet unaggressive tread and they lasted long time.

 

[jeedee]

Hey Folks......
Thanx all, for the excellent info.....appreciated !!
Charlie

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

FWIW, all the P- series tires (P205/75/15, P235/75/15, etc) are technically classed as "car" tires. The LT series tires (LT235/75/15) are classed as "light truck."

Since Rangers typically come with P series tires on them, I'd say they come with a car tire.

Going to a less-aggressive tire will quiet out the noise from the tread. A larger tire like a P235/75/15 inflated to 30-35 psi will give a softer ride as the larger sidewalls allow for flexing to help absorb bumps. Going to a smaller, skinnier tire like a P205 or P215 will help with fuel economy. But I wouldn't be expecting anything significant for a change in anything. At the end of the day, it's still going to ride, sound, and suck down gas like a truck.

I ran P235/75/15 tires in an aggressive AT pattern on my Ranger. Not overly quiet, but I needed the traction and was happy with how it performed. My F-150 gets nothing but LT tires (currently running 31x10.50x15 tires) of an aggressive AT pattern which are pretty noisy. A P-series tire would probably be a good bit quieter, but I need the traction and I need the load rating since I use it like a 1-ton a lot of the time. So it's all in what you're looking for.

 

[Mac]

Get some 235 75R 15. Rangers are cheap and plentiful enough to have a few them. Set one up for off road, and another for daily driving and parts runs. This what I do when I find a model of old car that I like. I get a few of them.

Yep, exactly but one for the Winter and one for the Summer and the car for nice weather. Load rating for some 235/70-15 Goodyears is over 1600# so I wouldn't worry about that.
Dave

 

[wildbill23c]

My 84 Ford Ranger 4x2 always had street tires or all season tires on it, I never saw the point in putting aggressive tires on it which is all the shops carried in the LT series tires and I got around just fine in 18" of snow with standard tires. My 84 B2 has more aggressive tires on it, or well what's left of them I should say, but will be putting P215/75-R15's on it when I get some money saved up. I don't see the need for having aggressive tires unless you are offroad on nasty trails every day. My toyota 4x4 truck came with Michellin P275/65-R18's and were a 4 ply all season tire as well and that truck got me into places that I probably shouldn't have been but it got in and out just fine with a little 4WD help occasionally.

Unless you are going to drive offroad on really nasty trails you really don't need an aggressive tire. However, if you haul/tow a lot of heavy loads the LT tires have heavier side walls and better heavier tread to help haul those heavier loads. Other than that the LT aggressive tires aren't exactly needed.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

My 84 Ford Ranger 4x2 always had street tires or all season tires on it, I never saw the point in putting aggressive tires on it which is all the shops carried in the LT series tires and I got around just fine in 18" of snow with standard tires. My 84 B2 has more aggressive tires on it, or well what's left of them I should say, but will be putting P215/75-R15's on it when I get some money saved up. I don't see the need for having aggressive tires unless you are offroad on nasty trails every day. My toyota 4x4 truck came with Michellin P275/65-R18's and were a 4 ply all season tire as well and that truck got me into places that I probably shouldn't have been but it got in and out just fine with a little 4WD help occasionally.

Unless you are going to drive offroad on really nasty trails you really don't need an aggressive tire. However, if you haul/tow a lot of heavy loads the LT tires have heavier side walls and better heavier tread to help haul those heavier loads. Other than that the LT aggressive tires aren't exactly needed.

Neither my 2wd Ranger or my 4x4 F-150 see much off-road time, but I work construction and aggressive AT tires allow me to get off the road and not get stuck or tear up a customer's yard. Plus the F-150 sees plow duty in the winter. So just because someone runs aggressive tires does not mean they only do it for looks or off-roading.

My choptop is my current off-road toy until I get my project built....

 

[veefer800canuck]

If you are trailering or hauling heavy loads, LT designation tires are certainly a good idea.

Since my truck is a 2wd and I rarely haul anything heavier than an 850lb utility trailer, P-metric tires are fine for me.

My stock tires are 225/70-14 and for winter, I am using Goodyear Nordic 205-75-14 which are a little shorter but majorly narrow, like pizza cutters, for ice and snow. I have them fully studded and they work great.

Summertime I run the big tires purely for looks, 235/60-16 and 255/55-16s.

But they are all P rated and never a problem. As long as the tires load rating is not being exceeded you'll be fine.

 

[Frank The Tank]

I'm on and off road constantly. I also live in a rural area with a lot of gravel and dirt roads. I buy one set of aggressive 10ply MTs and wear them out.... Then replace with loud 10ply MTs.

Most ppl think MS rated tires are aggressive... That is what I run on my cars.

If I can help it I avoid P rated tires and LTs. I trust E rated tires, C's if its all I can get a hold of. I've gouged too many sidewalls on bean stubble.

 

[brokemechanic3000]

Frank LT tires include E rating.

P metric is 4 ply
Lt is 6-10 ply
Light trucks are everything from Rangers through F350 Super Duty
F450 through Tractor Semi-Trailer is medium duty
Bigger than that is heavy duty
truck tires can be either P-metric or LT

So while a car tire can go on a truck if the size is the same it will not have the carrying capacity or handling characteristics of a truck designated tire.P metric or LT. Plus LT tires always have more tread on them.