I've seen a ton of posts out here pertaining to "how big a tire can I go?" I have to believe that a large % are merely going for the look, while some folks actually go off-road quite a bit. What about normal conditions...are there any real benefits to going a little bigger? like better stabilty/handling/ride. I get off the pavement quite a bit, but not so much as to warrant knarly tread patterns or lift kits. I only ask because I', currently shopping for tires and noticed the volume of threads on this topic

~mud
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99 4.0 4X4

 

For offroad, wider tires help float on top of sand/mud better, and give more suface to get traction. Taller tires give better ground clearance underneath the truck. If you're running a good LT tire with heavier sidewalls, it will corner better with less body roll. Go find a truck with Passenger tires on and another with truck tires on and push on the truck from the side. Watch how much the passenger tire bounces around, back and forth. Deeper treads in the tire also help to prevent hydroplaning on wet roads. Plus, they DO look better!

 

Dude I could go on for hours on this topic, please do a search for some of my posts on this subject(tires, or oversized tires, there have been many discussions about this). One of the advantages to a better, and a little bit larger than stock tire are the reduction of body roll that is in your ranger. I did alot to my 2x ranger to use it in the sand, I am a surfer and I spend alot of time driving in sand on the beach. One of the things I have noticed in the many rangers I have had and modified that was just swapping to a better, more rugged tire, that on the road I was able to have a much better handling truck, especially in the cornering department. Also my truck is much more stable if I have to make a sudden move or swerve at highway speeds. Now I am a pretty firm beleiver in BFG tires AT's and MT's, for the type of off road driving I do they work well and they are also a decent street tire. Some will argue with me on that, but I have had very good luck with them, as long as I did regular rotation and ballancing. The advantage of the BFG's over all of the other major brand tires is they have 1 ply more on the sidewall and 1 ply more on the bottom tread, in other words a BFG AT or MT has a 6 ply bottom, and 3 ply sidewall, while for instance a good year or firestone or briodgestone have a 5 ply bottom and 2 ply sidewall. That extra ply makes the tire a more puncture resistant tire. If you do some trail riding or off-roading, that extra ply can be well worth it. Now there are tires that are more purpose built for off-roading, that would be better in sand or mud, but IMO, you start getting to a point where you are sacrificing to much in on road handling capabilities - especially in the rain. I agree with what you are saying about guys posting on here how they stuffed a 33" tall tire on their stock non lifted ranger and tell you how it does not rub and they off road all the time - I say BS, sounds like some fishing stories IU have heard about the one that got away. I really use my truck off raad so anything I do, has to be able to work on and off road, having tires that "only rub a little", well that's not acceptable to me. I have been called snotty for saying that, but the bottom line is I can't afford to just rag my truck out, it has to last so I build and do things right, that work, that don't rub at all anywhere, my truck was not built for looks, it was built for purpose - anyway I hope that I was of some help. Good luck in your quest for bigger and better tires -

Waves

 

A larger diameter tire effectively increases (numerically lower) your gearing ratio. This can effect acceleration, traction, and gas mileage. Acceleration is reduced some, traction is increased, and gas mileage can either be improved or reduced depending on how big is big. Going a few sizes above stock will generally improve gas mileage, as long as you dont go so big it starts to effect the aerodynamics. If you increase tire diameter adn at the same time lower the truck, you can effectively maintaint he same aerodynamics while benefiting form increased gas mileage. The improved economy comes from running the engine at a lower RPM. The increased traction comes from a larger contact patch.

Now, as for a wider tire, it increases traction, and reduces gas mileage (due to higher wind resistance).

For offroad purposes a larger diameter tire is prefered becuase it gives better traction and it also decreases the mean angle of incedence with the terrain. That in turn reduces stress on the suspension, decreases the chance of getting hung on the terrain, and increases the non-traction thrust potential (thrust due to the momentum of mud thrown rearward).

So what it comes down to is the type of terrain you will be buying the tire for. Most tires will work for dry pavement. But to select an apropriate tire you need :

1. Type of terrain the tire is selected for, i.e. rocky, sandy, muddy, etc
2. weather during driving, hot cold windy etc.
3. condition of the terrain ( wet, dry, loose debri, etc).
4. how you intend to drive on the terrain, i.e. slow and safe, race conditions, etc.

 

I'm not necessarily looking for bigger.. my passenger tires do fine for the 30 mile commute to work. I was just curious if there were any noticable difference to jump from say a P245/75/16 (stock) to a LT265? At the going rate for $ per tire...I'm willing to pay a couple dollars more for some added ride or stability.

Thnx for the input,
mud

 

with that increase you will notice your engine runs a lower RPM, you get a slight increase in gas mileage, slightly better traction on wet/icy roads. And when your speedometer says 55 you are actually doing about 64.34

 

Get a set of 265/70R/16's. Radius only increases by 1% but your width increases by 8% giving you the added stability with minimal sacrifice to torque and drivetrain wear. Won't throw speedo off enough to warrant a recal either.