Hey im kinda new to the site and bought a 97 expedition not too long ago. It came with aftermarket 20" rims and now the tires are shot. Tirerack suggests 285/50/20 for a stock expo, but I can get a great deal on 305/50/20 Nitto TGs. Does anyone know if I can fit this size tire on a stock 97 expo without any probs? BTW, there actually might be a small lift on it, i dont really know how to check but just judging from the height and ground clearance compared to other expos, it looks higher. Again it might be the size rims...any help, GREATLY appreciated!

 

years ago, I worked as a tire salesman, and in my experience, the only way to find out for sure if a bigger tire will fit on a vehicle is to test fit one on one of the front wheels, and check for clearance turn stop to turn stop, and also vertical clearance (plenty of room for suspension travel). Most tire shops, as long as they have that size in stock, will test fit one if you act like you are interested in buying them. Another way to get an idea is to measure. The way tires are sized are, for example, a 285/50/20 =
285 = tread width - tire is 285 millimeters wide from edge to edge of the tread
50 = aspect ratio - sidewall measeured from the inside rim edge to the tread is 50% of the tread width (142.5 millimeters)
20 = of course, this is the rim size
I hope I explained it well enough to understand, its kinda hard without showing it on a tire. All in all, if you have a couple of extra inches with the smaller tires, the larger ones should fit ok, as a 305/50 isnt a whole lot bigger than a 285/50. Myself, I like the old tire sizing system, where a 31x10.5R15 was a tire that was 31 inches tall, 10.5 inches wide, and fit on a 15" rim. That was a lot easier to measure. Anyway, good luck and I hope I helped you

 

I have a 99 with 22's. It had 305 45 22's on it and I noticed a slight rub on the sway bar when turned full lock. I just bought new tires and was going to go to a 285 45 22 to try and eliminate the tire rub, but found the 305's were a lot cheaper. You might not get any rub though just depending on the offset of the wheel. For me the rubbing is fine I never saw any damage to the old tires and once I saw it rubbing I just tried not to turn full lock. Your best bet though would be to test fit the tires.