Tire Buying Time -- Need Advice

[SKelly]

Hey y'all -- so I recently bought 2000 Ford Ranger and to get it through inspection, I need to put new tires on it. I've already done most of the other work it needed myself to save cash, but other than buying used tires (which I'd rather avoid for fear that they'll give out at the worst time possible), there don't seem to be too many ways to keep tires cheap. So I figure maybe the best thing to do is to look for tires that'll give me the best fuel economy and hope that over thousands of miles, those cents will add up. So.... anyone got any thoughts on the best tires for a little Ranger, with the goal of keeping fuel economy at its max? It's 2WD, XL, 4 cylinder engine and it's got 4.10 gearing. Currently fitted with 225/70/R15 size tires.

I've been working on this thing for a while to get it road-ready (needed front and rear brakes, parking brake cables, axle seals and more), and I'm really excited to get through this last step, but I wanna be smart about it. Advice welcome!

 

[Mark_88]

Howdy and welcome to TRS~!

I've always bought used tires from scrap yards and never had a problem with them...other than one that the steel belt shifted before I even bought them...and the yard took them back.

As for tread...I've also always ran Mud and Snow (all weather) tires without too many issues in winter...as long as there is good tread and weight over the axels they are all you really need...unless you live in deep snow country and they don't plow the roads often.

The trick is to learn how to read the manufacture date as it is stamped right on the tire itself. Buying tires older than 8 years (some say 6 maximum) becomes dicey...

Look at the sidewall for cracks (especially after they are mounted on the rim) and tread depth...

This video series is actually pretty good...short but three parts...I watched the first one and that should get you going...the second one contains more detail...didn't watch the third...



edited to embed link...

 

[Heavyfire14]

You should go up a tire size. 235/75/15 that will bring your rpms down a tad, those 4.10s are great off road but on the freeway they keep your rpms up a lil high

Sent from my LGLS885 using Tapatalk

 

[dcmorgan2004]

if you live in an area that doesn't get any snow, just go with whatever's cheap, but if you live in an area that gets snow, go with a halfway decent to good all terrain tire. check prices to see what you want to do. aggressive tread in deep snow makes it easier to get out of trouble when you are all by yourself.

 

[redhurricane]

best fuel economy is going to be the OEM tire size, not larger, not smaller. any decent all season P-metric will do well. Shop all the big tire stores if you want new, sometimes even the local guy has a deal that can't be beat.

I am NOT a big fan of mud terrain tires for snow. all terrain treads with lots of siping work better than a tire with block lugs and big voids.

 

[redhurricane]

I don't think they make them anymore, but Goodyear silent armor tires were great all around tires for me- snow, ice, light offroad duties, and lots of highway. Best wearing tire I have had.

I think the "armor trac" line is the replacement. when my ranger is due, I will be buying these. the dura-track was not great in the snow, and wore quickly (pictured on the bronco II in my avatar). If you spent a lot of time offroad I could see where there would be benefits. road duty, not so much.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

It really depends on where you live and what you do with the truck. If you live in an area that doesn't get snow and you don't really venture off the pavement, an all-season or highway tread tire is going to get you the best fuel economy and usually the longest wear.

I live where we get snow and working construction, I've spent a fair amount of time off the paved surfaces. With my 2wd Ranger, I went aggressive all-terrain and never looked back. My Ranger was a 2wd, 5-speed, 3.0L with 3.73 gears. Stock tire size was 225/70/15 and I went up to 235/75/15 with little change in performance or fuel economy. Not sure if the change would affect a 4-cyl more.

I haven't run my Ranger for a few years, I moved up to an F-150 for my work truck and the last time around for putting tires on it, I went with Mastercraft Courser CT tires, which have been awesome for getting me around. Sounds like you don't really need something that aggressive though, but Mastercraft has some other tires too. I've had them three years now on the truck, and the front tires are trashed because I was lazy and didn't rotate them, but the rear tires still have probably nearly half tread and I've put over 20k miles on them.

The tires I had on the truck before those were Nexen Roadian II or something like that. Total garbage. By 15k miles (with rotating them), they were nearly toast.

Of course, all the other tires I've liked over the years are no longer available (Remington Rimfire XT, Sport King AT, Remington MT, etc).

BTW, the Mastercraft tires are made by Cooper.

 

[adsm08]

You can also look around for sales and rebates. My dealership does buy 3 get the 4th on a permanent basis. You probably won't find a shop doing that everywhere, but buy 3 get the 4th sales are not uncommon. Pepboys does them a lot.

 

[black_demon69]

I don't think they make them anymore, but Goodyear silent armor tires were great all around tires for me- snow, ice, light offroad duties, and lots of highway. Best wearing tire I have had.

I think the "armor trac" line is the replacement. when my ranger is due, I will be buying these. the dura-track was not great in the snow, and wore quickly (pictured on the bronco II in my avatar). If you spent a lot of time offroad I could see where there would be benefits. road duty, not so much.

armor trac is what i have now and they are very nice mine are 235/75/15

 

[redhurricane]

I will say, you get what you pay for. the premium lines are pricey for a reason. the Chinese/Korean tires typically do not last as long. I have 8 cars and 2 trailers. I go through a fair amount of rubber. From 10ply for my 3/4 ton and toy hauler, to 6 ply for my other cars, and performance tires for the hot rods.

If you aren't going to rack up a lot of miles, buy tires that have the newest MFG date possible or you may be looking at dry rot in just a few years.

 

[Haywire6000]

I run 235/75/15 on my 2.3l 4x4 with 4.10's. They are more than fine. I just actually went back to the 15's after a trial with 16's.

 

[enjr44]

I put stock sized (225/70-15) Toyo Eclipse tires on my 02 the last time around. I think they are great. Good/very good in the wet. Quiet. Nice ride. And, my mileage went up about 10 percent.

And, I also found that that stock size is getting harder to find, especially in budget priced tires.

 

[hank857]

I just bought a set of 4 Goodyear wrangler tires at wally world for $425 out the door. Dont know what that equates to up your way but it was the best price I found. They were not the off road tires but a all season type of tire. 235-75-15 that is mounted balanced and with road hazard ($10 each). Pepboys and some others may have cheap car tires but these have a nice load rating to go with them and should work up in canada for ya. if ya need the details let me know.

 

[swynx]

i used www.onlinetires.com, paid 650$ for 4 33 inch tires to my door. pretty good deal if you ask me.

 

[naford]

If a pull a part is near by look to see if they have any Ford Mazda trucks. You could also just wander the place looking for your size. My brother never bought new for his old mini van.