The alloys, shown in photos above, have a 12mm offset to outside. Will be interesting to see if the added 1/2" of height the 215/70-15 has over the 215/65-15 will be enough to cause rubbing on fenders, springs, brake lines, and more using a wheel of this size (15X7) having this offset. Thanks again for sharing your experiences with so many different wheels and tire sizes on the Aerostar.

 

Hi I notice some of you posters from the other Aerostar fourm. I'm looking at tires I can't get 14 most are car and not a truck tire. I have an awd which I'm going to tow a camper. The ford service manual states all tires must be the same size. Even a warn tire will cause the awd unit to possibly fail. Or lock up. Some like to run different tires front and rear. If you down load a tire conversion table going to a taller tires might give you better mpg. My awd with the 373 rear get terrible mpg. But when I ran the 235 70 15 in the converter my rear went from 373 to 355. Better hiway but a loss of tork when towing. And worrying about your spedo after 25 years how dead on is it. I know the converter tells me I'm good up till 40 mph only off by 3 plus but once I hit 60 I'm looking at 66. I also wanted off road tires I'm going for a westfella look.this is a weekend toy

 

As I mentioned before, you must have the same sized wheels and tires in all 4 corners of an AWD van, and rotate them regularly so they stay at close to the same diameter. Otherwise, the AWD computer will get confused and lock the center differential at the wrong times.

If you plan to tow regularly, you might want the 215/70/15 tires for the additional load capacity. It's not like you're actually going to use an additional 100 pounds of load per tire, but the higher load capacity will let them live longer. The problem is you're putting passenger car tires onto a fairly heavy van; the AWD Aerostar weighs over 4000 pounds, but the original tires were designed for a 2WD shorty, which weighs less than 3500 pounds, though even that seemed heavy for the tires. If you look at current vans of this weight range, like a Toyota Sienna, its smallest tire option is 235/60/17, which is huge compared to the baby stroller tires specified for the Aerostar. It would be best to be able to get a light truck tire of the correct size, if they made them that small.

 

My '95 AWD Aero is currently running 16" Ranger wheels with 215/65-16 tires that are the diameter equivalent of 215/70-15 (27"). Everything regarding the suspension is original(173k miles) and there have been zero clearance issues. This is, however, the largest diameter that will fit without modifications of some kind. Tire chains will NOT work with a 27" diameter tire unless more clearance is created.

 

Thanks for weighing in on this. Are your wheels offset toward the outside, too? My wheels are offset toward the outside 1/2", meaning that there is a real possibility that the tires could collide with the fender when the suspension is reacting to major rough conditions. From your photo, it appears that your wheels are offset to the outside. Or, is this not the case?

 

All of the 7" wide 15 or 16 inch wheels (Ranger from 95-on and Exploder from 95-2002) will have the same offset of +12mm. As you can see, the rear springs on my van are worn and sagging. I easily had enough weight in the rear to squat the wheel well lip below the 'top' of the tire (when viewing with level eyesight). There wasn't a lot of clearance but enough to where the tire didn't touch. Rolling the fender lip would create substantial clearnace as far as that is concerned. Keep in mind I'm running 215 wide tires. 225s could be too close for comfort. I feel 215s are more than adequate for what most Aerostars are doing.

I actually ran 7.5" wide 16 inch Mustang GT wheels with 225s on the rear of my old '88 2wd. There was a tiny bit of rubbing on the inside but not enough to matter, and they still cleared the wheel lips with no rolling. The fronts required 215/60-16s as the fit is a little tighter. I ran this setup for years with zero issues. I loved this van, extremely reliable and a blast to drive.....

 

Having tires rubbing on the fenders when bottoming out is the main concern I have, so hearing you have not had this happen is very good to know. I haven't gone ahead and made the final decision yet, but will be in a couple weeks. Before then, resolving the other concern I have, about handling characteristics with the 215/70-15. If they will affect handling similar to 215/65-15, then the 70 series other advantages tip the scale in its favor. If the 215/70-15 and 215/70-14 will behave about the same.....then its advantage 215/65-15. Do you have any thoughts on this?

 

Hello

I am running 95 Mustang 15" factory alloy wheels on my 96 AWD with 215/75/15 Michelin Defender tires, I have run 95 Mustang factory 16" alloys as shown in previous pictures with 215/55/16 Nokia Studded snow tires. Both fit fine and speedo is now most accurate with the 15's.

I have run 225/55/16 which make for a very tight fit, no rubbing, a bit stiffer ride and very tight steering. No problems with rubbing at any time. I do run KYB Gas Mono shocks front and rear and have a rear Sway bar and new poly bushings up front.

Feels like a go kart comparted to the 215/75/14's that came from the factory, yes my is has 373 gears. I have so far changed out the motor oil for 0-30 Mobile One and filled the rear end with synthetic as well as the transfer case, next is the front differential and tranny with synthetic ATF.

You can comfortably go if you have good springs and shocks with a 215/75/15 tires. Yes the factory alloys are 7.5 wide, they fit perfect. fitting inside the fenders and no rubbing. If find as much as I appreciate the tight steering of the 215/55/16 combo I find the reduced shoulder height makes the ride a bit stiffer then I like.

The Michelin Defenders provide a really nice, higher load bearing, low rolling resistance and much quieter ride then other tires. I have also noticed that the tire charts are fantasy, tire size are vary quiet a bit amongst the various brands. Stick with 4 tires same brand and series, as well as frequent rotations.

I love my 96 AWD, now with 51k. Mileage is 18+/- average, I travel freeways and mountains a lot. Plenty of power. I was fortunate to find this AWD with factory tow, providing the locking rear differential, not very common. Mine is in showroom condition, no chips, no scratches, etc. I have a few upgrades, such as running boards and a Clifford Alarm with key fob entry. Installed by the original owner in 96. I am the 2nd owner.

Looking forward to flushing the brakes, flushing power steering pump and upgrading the power steering cooler with a small transmission plate style cooler. Also upgrading to a plate style transmission cooler when I replace the fluid with Synthetic and install external magnetic filters on both trans and power steering pump.

I will also be upgrading to the Iridium Spark plugs and new wires. Iridium plugs are amazing, I use Autolite Iridium plugs, used them on a 96 2wd for several years and my Aerostar started as quick 3 years later as the day I put them in. Platinum last about a year. I also really like the advantages of the 0-30 Mobil One oil, quieter and I change oil with Mobil One filter 2x a year, about every 5-6k. l also run Gates belt, pulley and idlers, prefer the additional security of these components.

I love my Aerostar, this is my 6th, lost one to black ice, a couple others as I was upgrading to newer, lower mileage options. Even had a Eddie Bauer with Digital Dash, hard to read in some conditions, so I now prefer the Analog Dash.

I did switch the interior dome light bulbs to LEDs, what an improvment in light and no more melted housings. I forgot and left interior lights on one night to find melted dome light housings and dead battery.

 

215-75-15 wasn't a size that I had on the list for comparison, as I thought it would be too tall and throw the speedo off too much. From what I read on all size comparators, the 215-70-15 is closest to the original circumference of the 215-75-14. Moving up to a 215-75-15 I thought would be a stretch too far. Glad to hear it works out for you. Isn't front wheel well liner close to the tire face?

 

As a matter of facts on my Aerostars that I have fitted with 215/75/15 on the ford OEM alloys, the fit very well, no problems with clearance front or rear. See my 96 AWD, pictured here on this fine website.

My speedometer on this and 2 other Aerostars was most accurate with these 15 tires, within 1 mph @ 65, vs 3-5 mph with 14's.

So I suggest you put them on your list, the shorter ones, if they are actually shorter in height will give you more of an error. Rembering looking at a chart is not reality, good place to start looking yet not the real size of tires, check it out for yourself, go to the tire store and measure tires of the "same size" you will probably be surprise at the variances amongst different tires. I am used to it and go by what fits. Also with AWD I am very concerned about the actual height and width due to drive angles and stresses on the drive train.

2wd I would be more comfortable running a set of taller tires as long as they were matched pairs, front and rear.

Final comment I can and do run tire chains comfortably on the rear, never tried to fit them to the front, as there is simply not that much snow. Most I have driven in with these tires is 2-3 feet deep.

If your springs and shocks are good you should have plenty of clearance. I have run these on Aerostars with over 150K on the springs, newer shocks, with absolutely no clearance issues.

When I ran the 225/55/16 on older Aerostars, sometimes I would rub the rear passanger side tire sidewalls. Problem went away when I put Hellwig rear stabilizer bar on. So did much of the swaying in the winds up t0 60 mph, yes we do get up to 60 mph crosswinds, I slow down when it is that nasty.

I suggest you see what sizes and prices you can get. The Michelin Defenders 215/75/15 were easily available, the 215/70/15 was not at that time available @ Costco. So I took a change and I am quite happy with them.
These actually raised the height of my 96 AWD by about 1/2" over the 215/75/14 Michelins that came with my Aerostar. I bought my Aerostar about 2 years ago and it being a single owner had 30K with the original 1996 tires. Obviously 18 years old tires were unsafe, they looked fine on the outside. The shocks were frozen solid by the way and the power steering is amazingly quiet compared to those with over 100K.

Love my Aerostar!

 

Actual tire sizes vary widely from manufacturers, and even models from the same manufacturer, even when they're stamped with the same size on the sidewall. Also, it's not always predictable how a new tire sitting on the shelf will sit when mounted and loaded on the car, so you can't really go by their unmounted measurements.

It's great to have wider profile tires for their improved handling (such as it is on a minivan), but all the manufacturers' specs I've seen show that the taller the tire, the greater the load rating. So a 60 profile will have lower load rating than a 65, which will have lower rating than a 70, etc. This is important if you plan to tow or haul heavy loads.

Finally, it's more important to have equal size tires all around when you have AWD. Then rotate them regularly to make sure they wear as equally as possible to keep their outer diameters as close to the same as possible. Otherwise the AWD computer will get confused and try to engage the center lock at the wrong times; usually when you're making slow turns.

 

I've found the LT (Light truck) and P rated tires give a firmer more stable less roll ride than the soft sidewall passenger tires. Run at upper end of max air pressure unless they start to show excessive center wear.

 

Here is the 97 Aerostar after installing 15" OEM Ford alloys from a 2011 Ranger pickup with General RT43 Altimax 215/70-15 tires. There has been no tire rubbing of any kind. Recently, to remedy some tail sag, shocks were upgraded with Napa OESpectrums at all corners, and rear coil variable rate overload springs were installed. To cure the sway issue, an Addco rear sway bar was installed. Front end sway bar, including end links, received new poly bushings. All in all, handling was vastly improved. Here are photos showing the final result:

 

Nice looking my 94 has 225-70-15 Lt mud snow all season tires im just getting by because my springs were soft. The van rides with bigger tires on it. Why Ford put baloney skins I'll never guess. My size can only be done with awd. I had an areostar expert come and look at my van. He notice how much more room under the front and how the brake calipers clear. On his he needed to go 17" to clear. My van also runs better because the 28.7 tired dropped me from 3:73 to 3:33.

 

I have 94-95 Mustang Convertible factory alloys, 7x15 wheels. They are both an inch wider and taller than stock.
I currently use a Michelin 215/75/15 on my 96 AWD. Speedo is now within 1 mile of GPS Radar speeds. handling is better, slight loss of punch on long steep hills, yet I no longer climb the mountain that often. And the difference is slight.

I also changed out the factory shocks to KYB Gas Filled shocks, put a fat rear sway bar on, replaced front suspension bushings with Hi Proformance Polyureathane bushings. Less than 60K orginal miles, just did the steering rack, now have all synthetices, motor oil, trans fluid, front and rear end, power steering, everything except the brake fluid which I just resfreshed with DOT 4.

On Handling 2 biggest differences are the rear sway bar and the shocks, mine were frozen when I replaced them, they were 20 years old.

So my recomendation is to stay with 15" or maybe 16" wheels, I tried and went back to 15". To run the 16's required a 55 or lower profile and I find that the ride quality was stiffer than I enjoy. Also 15" tires are usally much less expensive than 16's and up.

So the sweet spot is the 94/95 Mustang factory alloy wheels which are strong, attractive and affordable. Hell they even have an offset that keeps the tires in the wheel wells and no rubbing on turns if the suspension is good. Then run a 215-225 70-75 - 15 tires. Speedometer will be very close as will height, etc. So you get a bit better mileage, much better handling and affordable tires. I run Michelins that are really well rated for mileage 90K, load rating above what is recommended, much less noise and better rolling resistance so a bit better mileage. Along with the secure feelings of I am riding on Michelins.

Choose Wisely,

Kris