What tires for my 1999 ford ranger

[michael123]

hey guys, im planning on getting a 3 inch performance accesories lift on my 1999 ford ranger rear wheel drive 4 cylinder 2.5 liter regular cab automatic. Along with the lift i want new tires to fit the wheel well. What size tires do you think will be good if i dont want to kill my mpg. Heres a pic of a ford ranger with 33's but i think those are too big for me. I just need advise, thanks.

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/2/3991/3721/22476860017_large.jpg

 

[chrwilkins30]

if you where to put 33's on it will look very good, but you mileage will suffer with the 2.5. Best to get some gears atleast 4.56

 

[4.0B2]

if you want gas mileage...don't lift it, don't put larger tires on it...

if you put 33's on it.. you'll want 4.56's if not 4.88's..
if you kept it around a 31 inch tire you might get away w/ 4.10's...


i went from a 30 to 33 on my b2 (4.0, a4ld auto, 3.73's) and my gas mileage dropped form about 17 in town to about 12 in town... yeah.... it SUCKS. but i have 4.56's for my new axles that should help some.

 

[straycat]

if you want gas mileage...don't lift it, don't put larger tires on it...

if you put 33's on it.. you'll want 4.56's if not 4.88's..
if you kept it around a 31 inch tire you might get away w/ 4.10's...


i went from a 30 to 33 on my b2 (4.0, a4ld auto, 3.73's) and my gas mileage dropped form about 17 in town to about 12 in town... yeah.... it SUCKS. but i have 4.56's for my new axles that should help some.

^^^what he said, Bro. You are in the wrong market place to spen money with a 4 cyl truck and wanting to lift it and run 33's and get good gas milage??? NO WAY!! Get a small car for gas milage and lift that truck for a fun toy and enjoy!!!!

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

Get the 31's since being a 4 cil auto reg cab its pretty sure it has 4.10 gears already.
3 inches of lift and 31s look really nice.
in fact turning a bigger tire might improve your mileage. since ull be rolling at a faster speed and your rpms will lower a bit.

 

[stegomon]

do a little fender trimming

 

[straycat]

do a little fender trimming

Haaaaahaaaaaaaa!!!!

 

[wrecking-crew]

Best thing to do is to leave it stock height and put on a set of 235/75r15 tires. There are plenty of aggressive tires that size.

 

[Andy D]

Another vote for 235 75 15s . Run them around 32 lbs and enjoy the ride. If there is any engineering at all done on suspensions , they are prolly set up to use high profile tires. They help cushion the ride. Low pros transmit more shock to the suspension and wear stuff out faster. Plus, you can get 75s with whitewalls.

 

[four100d]

hey guys, im planning on getting a 3 inch performance accesories lift on my 1999 ford ranger rear wheel drive 4 cylinder 2.5 liter regular cab automatic. Along with the lift i want new tires to fit the wheel well. What size tires do you think will be good if i dont want to kill my mpg. Heres a pic of a ford ranger with 33's but i think those are too big for me. I just need advise, thanks.

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/2/3991/3721/22476860017_large.jpg

If you don't want to pay to re-gear the rear end, then you should get 31's. I had 3.73 gears in my 95 2.3 and it was still drivable even without the gear change (though I didn't use 5th gear unless there was no wind or I was going faster than 55mph). If you have 4.10 gears already in it, then you will notice some loss at take off, but it won't be too bad at all.

if you want gas mileage...don't lift it, don't put larger tires on it...

if you put 33's on it.. you'll want 4.56's if not 4.88's..
if you kept it around a 31 inch tire you might get away w/ 4.10's...


i went from a 30 to 33 on my b2 (4.0, a4ld auto, 3.73's) and my gas mileage dropped form about 17 in town to about 12 in town... yeah.... it SUCKS. but i have 4.56's for my new axles that should help some.

I agree, if you put 33s on you will want to re-gear to at least 4.56s (I would go to 4.88s with 33s and a 4cyl).

With my 95 2.3, 3" Body lift, 31s and 4.56s it's pretty good power wise for what I have, If I was going to spend the money on re-gearing I would want it to be at least stock ratios or lower. If I were you, I would decide on what tire size I wanted for sure. If it is 31s, you could put them on and drive it for a while geared the way it is to see if you can deal with the setup. If you decide on 33s, you will want to regear before or soon after you put the tires and lift on or you will be really disappointed with the performance.

If what you want to do is get the truck looking a little cooler but not have your gas mileage eat at your wallet, I would recommend going with 31s. When I first installed my body lift, and got the 31's on with the 3.73 gears, I was getting an average of about 23mpg (that's with the 2.3 though). I haven't checked my mileage with the 4.56s; I can't get my speedo corrected without getting an aftermarket electronic calibration unit.

Do you know for sure what gears you have in it? Also what tire size do you have now?

Something else to keep in mind is, if you would get 33s, re-gear and decide you didn't want tires that big, you would have to re-gear again to put smaller tires on it if you went with 4.88s. 4.56 gears would be your best bet if you would re-gear, because then if you went with 33s, and decided to go with a smaller tire, you could get 31s and still be good. Or like I said, you could just get some nice 31s and drive it geared as it is and see how you like it (cheapest route)

Plus, I could be wrong, but to fit 33s on a 2wd I think you will need a body lift and at least a leveling kit for the front. With just a body lift 31s will fit no problem...

 

[Rose2300]

I have 30's with 3.45 gears and it drives good so I think you'd be fine with 33's IF you have 4.10s.

 

[Gotta_gofast]

I don't think I'd like to run 33s with 4.10 gears on my 4.0L! lol, but I like gear. Having that extra leverage on the road allows more passing power, more towing power, and more passing-when-towing power. With my particular truck, I'd run 4.56s with 33s. With your truck, swap to 4.88s if you do 33 inch tires. Mathematically, 4.56 gears might come out to a similar final ratio compared to your stock setup, but real world results will vary. Simple math equations do not take into account the extra rotating mass the engine must overcome. It does not evaluate the difference in rolling resistance between a slimmer tire and a wider tire. It does not account for the increase in wind drag because the truck sits a lot higher with the lift+tire diameter increase (yes it will make a difference on the highway). This is why you might want the extra edge while gearing. Besides, your auto trans and 4 cylinder will enjoy letting the extra gear take some of the load off. Your truck is only 2wd so you're looking at half of what it would cost as opposed to a 4x4.

Be aware of the decrease in fuel consumption with taller/wider tires and lift kits.

 

[Rose2300]

Yeah And it's cheaper to just swap your axle out for an expo 8.8 w/ 4.10's unless you know how to change gears yourself. I'd still bet that a used axle in good condition would still be cheaper than some 4.10 gears!