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I need to replace the tires on my 96 Explorer. I have been to several tire dealers looking for a good deal. I am a little frustrated because each dealer tells me something different about the tires I can, or cannot, put on my Explorer. Some have told me to stick with passenger rated tires only, others have said light truck tires are fine, still others tell me P235-75r/15 are the only tires that should be put on an Explorer, yet others say it's good to go up to 255 or 265. It's enough to confuse a poor soul. My initial thought was to buy Michelin LTX A/T P235/75R15 ($114.49 each at Costco). Is this a good choice? I've been told LT tires give you longer wear, but a stiffer ride, whereas passenger tires give a more comfortable ride but do not last as long. Is this true? What would be the advantages, if any, of going to a bigger tire? Thanks for your input!
I have a '99 explorer that have the Michelin LTX on it - they have been great tires. I rplaced the Firestones that were original equip thru the recall, bought 'em @ BJ's (only cost me $57 dollars for 5 tires, Firestone paid the other $500). I now have about 65K on them.
The key is to rotate them every 5 -7K. That's one reason I bought them @ BJ's - I just drop it off before I go in to shop, come out & it's done (rotation & road hazard was included in the price)
The ride is smooth, with no more tire noise than with the Firestones. They are terrific in the rain & snow. Any ride stiffness they are telling you about is more a result of the trucks suspension, not the tires, I would think.
I've got a set of Goodyear Wrangler tires taken off my Ex with about 3k mi on them I would part with cheap. 235 75 15s . Let me know if you are interested. jimnbonc@wmconnect.com
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Mine...97 Explorer LTD 5.0
Hers...99 Explorer AWD 5.0
i work at a tire shop plus i have a 96 ford explore. b4 a had a 96 x with some uniroyals...p2357515 they lasted a pretty long time. and so when i bought new tires i went with some bf goodrich deuller 235/75/15 they where about 100 bucks each... had a good ride and good traction but a month later my broter got in a car crash and the explore became junk. i have another 96 explore now it has some good year wranglerLT 2357515 there ok. i say you should go for any LTs cus a explore is a light truck...like it all depends where you live and how you use your X....if you live in the city and never go off road and use your explore like if it was your 4 cyl get me around town car then you should stick with some p2357515 but if you use your explore for long drives ,towing off road ,camping etc.....get some LTs.... if you go with a bigger size tires in some cases you get more mpgs the bigger the tire the less times it spins the smaller the more times it spins so smaller tires work harder ......in other cases your just getting heavier tires adding a load to your X..if you use your x for total off road all the time then it be a good idea to go with a bigger size tire.
in my opion.......... a tire is a tire....what happens if you buy the best tires money can buy and then a week later you get in a car crash or a hoe in the side wall..it suck not unless you bought the warranty............i dont know what im say,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,im saying next time i need tires for my x im not going to go for the best brand more mileage tires..etc etc....im just goin to get the simple tires the manufacter asks for maybe even some used ones
I agree with Rick55. I put on Michelin LTX M/S tires on my '95 a couple of years ago. They ride well and last forever if, like Rick says, you rotate them regularly. I do occasional off-road (fire roads in the National Park and Forest) and we get infrequest snow and ice. They do well in both conditions and ride on the highway reasonably well, a very good all purpose tire. Check out tirerack.com. They have ratings and opinions on many tires. You'll find the Michelin LYX's highly regarded.
All brands are fine I've had wranglers, firestones, michlins, goodrich, and chalengers on my 150 4*4s. The Chalengers have lasted the longest of all them 70K all others arond 45k to 50k. And they did not cause a pull like the others,or breake any steel belts in the tires like some tires. Go with the LTs. Plus get an alignment, and don't them sell you a set of front coils, this won't solve the negative camber problem. To solve the camber problem have some 1 1\4 ID washers (a shims) installed under the coil spring mounts. One (shim) does it most of the time and no more than two. This will allow for plenty of camber and caster ajustment. I was a mechanic in a suspension shop for 12 years.
I just put a set of BFG All Terrain T/a KO's on my 99... LT 235/75/15. Love them. This is the 5th car that I have put BFG tires on, and I have yet to find a tire that lasts as long. I got them at BJ's cause nobody else would put them on. Paid about $117 each.
Went to Sams Club.. they told me that I would not pass NJ state inspection because of the speed rating. Well one call to the state inpection office cleared that one up.. Sam's was full of it. Costco would not put them on either cause "Ford said not to put LT tires on the Explorer." Well one more phone call to Ford took care of that. Ford told me that while going through the tire recall from a couple of years ago, they were putting LT tires on the Explorer.... so Costco was misinformed also.
The ride is a little stiffer with the LT tires on, due to stiffer tire in general, but not really any worse then the P rated tires I had on there before. As long as you rotate them, you should not have any problem getting 70,000+ miles out of them. And for an added bonus, they look realy good to.
One thing to note though, going with a larger size tire will affect your speedometer, i.e. the larger the tire the slower the speedo will say you are going... thus affect the odometer. If you were to go up to a larger tire size, from what I have read and seen, you could go up to a 30x9.5 without having to do any modifications. Any larger you will need to start making some mods to the truck.
I do need an alignment and heard about the shims. Thank goodness I've got a guy that knows about it and will do the job properly. Good advice and thanks for the second opinion Walleye.
I've put almost 40k miles on my Michelin LTX M/S tires and they still show about 60% tread left so they'll last for another 35k, 40k miles easy. These tires are very quiet, soft riding, and traction is incredible both dry and wet. Handling in the snow is very good too. I'll be staying with Michelin when I need new tires.
Hi:
Going through same scenario. Just acquired 97 Explorer(70K!) Perfect, but those pass tires. Both America Tires&Costco will not provide P23575/75 (2WD) due to roll over liability issue, yet Sears has no issue selling/installing this. The other dealers only will sell the P225/70R15 in either recommended Michelin or BF, but recommend Michelin. We ran the P23575/15 LTX on our 92 Explorer for Ten years(NEER EVEN FILLED AIR--PER RIDE,NO HYDROPLANING, GREAT TIRE!) Welcomed any clarity on this tire size liability issue that Costco and America Tires adhere to .
Thank you, Casey
Thanks Billy:
Running the smaller or P23575/15 that our previous 4WD Explorer had? Your opinion on size: would prefer bringing it up a bit with the larger/taller set. Your commentsf welcomed, Sir.
I have the '96 Eddie Bauer 5.0 V8... and during this winter season I am running the P235/75/15 studded Hankook Winter iPike... and loving these tires. During the non-winter season I have the BFG TA/KO LT235/75/15. I get around the "who will install" issue but just bringing the tires and rims in off the Explorer... and no one asks any questions since it is marked as "off the vehicle".
Next time I would not mind replacing the BFGs with non-studded iPikes.
..by the way, Costco mounted the LT235/75/15 BFGs on the rims off the Explorer... so they did not know, in fact I think I told them it was for some old 1950s Ford pickup that I was fixing up.
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