Tires

[Wayno666]

I have a 94 XLT 4 x and looking for tire suggestions. I have 255/70 15's now.
They look a bit wide on my wheels. The wheels are aftermarket and think they are correct size. The man at the tire shop thought so.
He told me the options for that size was limited
He suggested Cooper Cobra P255/70R
which are on it now.
He said more options for the 235/75R
Ironman All Country, Toyota Open Country,
Cooper Discoverer Trail, Fallon Rubitrek, and Fallon Wildpeak 4W.
I live in the country but don't do much off-roading
Asking for opinions
Thanks

 

[Uncle Gump]

I moved this to the wheel and tire forum.

I would consider your axle ratios. I've owned a few Gen 3 Rangers... all 3.73 or 4.10 gear and i always ran 31x10.5x15

 

[Uncle Gump]

You will likely get other opinions...

 

[sgtsandman]

What kind of roads are you driving on? What kind of look are you going for? Both kind of dictate whether you want to look at an all terrain, all season, or a highway terrain tire.

 

[Wayno666]

What kind of roads are you driving on? What kind of look are you going for? Both kind of dictate whether you want to look at an all terrain, all season, or a highway terrain tire.

We have a lot of dirt roads. Not gnarly ones that I drive. Main concern is size. I like the semi off road tread.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

235/75-15 or 30x9.50-15 (it’s the same size usually because most tire companies use the same molds for both) is a decent size. Actually my first Ranger had 225/70-15 from the factory and when I was trying to pick a new tire, most of what I liked was in that larger size. I actually called Ford back then and they said you could go up or down a size without significantly affecting anything so 235/75 is just fine. That’s the size I ran on that truck after that.

 

[Brain75]

If you look at the specifications page of the sales brochure you can see the tire sizes are all over the place even in just one generation.. I think they started using 235 as early as 3rd gen in the options packages.

 

[RobbieD]

If you look at the specifications page of the sales brochure you can see the tire sizes are all over the place even in just one generation.. I think they started using 235 as early as 3rd gen in the options packages.

Yes, third generation. P235/75R15 is first listed in the 1993 sales brochure, with P265/75R15 as optional. The 1994 Ranger sales brochure lists P235/60R15 as standard on the Splash, but that size was not listed in specification book for that year, so even info straight from Ford can be conflicting or have holes in it.

 

[Brain75]

just try going back to 1948 and making sense of Ford's info from that era.... the F-1 was made in 30 different plants, just about one every other state.

 

[racsan]

My 93 4.0 4x4 had 3.73’s with 235/75/15 tires stock, I did have a set of 255/70/15’s once, same overall diameter as the 235/75 but wider. Not great in snow, even with 4wd. Its a good summer size though, with sway bars it handled tight on/off ramps well.

 

[Brain75]

Mostly everything 80's I drove had 185 wide tires on it - it's just what cars came with back then... my first "wide" tires were on the pontiac when they were hyping the widetrack and their "wider is better" commercials everything pontiac had wide tires on it, and can vouch for that as well, on snow a narrow tire will bite through it and get some traction, wide tires pack it down to basically ice and you are skating... On ice however you are skating no matter the width. The narrower tire should get you better MPG fwiw, at the cost of handling and and... everything is a compromise.

 

[sgtsandman]

We have a lot of dirt roads. Not gnarly ones that I drive. Main concern is size. I like the semi off road tread.

Then all terrain it is. You could get a rugged trail (RT) tire but you are entering into the mud tire realm where tire compunds are softer and the tread pattern tends to be less friendly to ice and snow and tend to have more road noise.

The Wildpeaks have had good reviews and wouldn't be bad choice. The best I can suggest is to pick a tire you think you would like and see what a google search on reviews and youtube videos have to say. I went with the Wildpeaks for the winter months on my 2019. Every tire manufacturer makes good tires as well as junk.

As far as size, 235/75R15 is a good fit as is 30x9.5R15. A lot of Rangers came in the first size and the equivalent of the second. Both would fit well without any modification as long as your springs aren't worn out.

 

[SenorNoob]

235/75R15 has the advantage of being very common. Driving price down. I've been happy with even cheap asian ATs in that size. Though some of them did take more balancing than others.

 

[Rick W]

My 1987 short cab short bed 4WD 2.9 stick, the Missing Linc, 2.5-3” lift, has 235/75/15 all-terrain tires. Goodyear Wrangler Radial

My 1997 4.0 2WD, stick, with added axle, the Road Ranger, has 235/75/15 all around. Lion Sport GP in the front (never heard of them until I got them) and the back four are Milestars

The all-terrain tires on my 87 came with the 97 when I bought it. The 97 front has tractor trailer style tires in the sense that it has circumferential cuts around the tire as opposed to any kind of complicated geometric tread pattern. The four Milestar in the back look wider, but they’re actually almost exactly the same size and profile. They look wider because they are on aftermarket 15 x 8 rims, that are also offset towards the outside.

I love them all, and they all ride great. That size has a little bit of a beefy, masculine look. Trucks should be masculine. They don’t cross that line to off-road big tires, but they do fine in all conditions.“ I haven’t been disappointed. They are reasonably priced because there’s a lot of them around, and frankly, all of mine on both trucks were used when I got them.

An important thought, something to check. If you ask the 50,000 people in this forum, what’s the correct tread pattern, you’ll get 50,000 answers. When you’re looking at the tires, don’t just look at them from the side profile and the size. Look directly at the tread pattern and see if you like it, and also look at the profile, like you were looking at the tire from the rear of the vehicle.

Generally, the Milestars have a relatively squared off line of drive shape. The contact area of the tread is almost as wide as the wide part of the tire. Ditto with my all terrains. You can buy tires the same size with a much narrower tread, or a wider tread. With a tiny bit of study, you can look at different tread patterns, and analyze which patterns are best for where you actually drive.

my two cents, hope it helps

edit: there are more pictures in my build threads below