Max Tire Size?
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Max Tire Size?
What is the max tire size I can put on an '01 X that is all stock in the suspension?
I think I've settled in on BFG AT. I tow a fair amount and live in a snow prone area. I know the larger tire size will impact towing, but when I drop into 3rd on my 285s I've got now, it seems to have plenty of power.
Any thoughts or suggestions before I dive in? Is there anything more specific on the BFG model I see suggested here on the forum or is it just BFG AT?
I think I've settled in on BFG AT. I tow a fair amount and live in a snow prone area. I know the larger tire size will impact towing, but when I drop into 3rd on my 285s I've got now, it seems to have plenty of power.
Any thoughts or suggestions before I dive in? Is there anything more specific on the BFG model I see suggested here on the forum or is it just BFG AT?
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I've got 305/70-16 Goodyear Wrangler AT/S tires on stock Ford alloy rims. This is on an '00 Excursion, V10, 4WD, 4.11 posi rear end. Bought it new, has about 55,000 miles now. These tires were one of the first things I changed, so the X was all factory stock -- including the then-common front-end sag. Lots of mods since then. No clearance or rubbing problems, and the ride, traction, handling, and look are 100 times better than the 265/75 Firestones that came on it. Gas mileage probably dropped, but I don't care (school of "you get what you pay for"). The truck sits for a week at a time, then I drive 450 miles through Oregon mountains, snow, rain, crappy asphalt stud-rutted roads, and the feel and driveability of the truck is so much better that I don't mind 12-13 mpg (I tend to drive fast). Plus, I haven't gotten it stuck off-road (yet?!). Payload ranges from empty to 1,000# in the back to pulling 5-6,000#. Whatever kind of tires you buy, make sure they are load range E -- around 3,200 lbs. or better; it's nearly an 8,000 pound truck. Oh, these tire throws the speedometer off buy about 2 or 3 mph, and I have not had any reason to have have it re-calibrated, engine performance/management-wise. You oght to check out Tirerack.com (one of the sponsors here) and look the ratings of the tires you're interested in. The BFG's are good, but I'm going to switch to the new Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor tires before these wear out. (I don't believe in postponing a tire purchase to try to squeeze an extra $50 worth of rubber at the risk of a $40K rig, passengers, comfort, confidence, and being inconvenienced on my ONE WEEKEND OFF - Ha!) Good luck, and many safe and happy miles to you.
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From: Rochester NY
Can you tell me more about why you want to swap BFG 's for Goodyear Silent Guards? I happen to be at an impasse deciding which of the 2 tires I want to buy this fall.. My REVO's wont make it thru another winter..
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Originally Posted by Bill_T
Can you tell me more about why you want to swap BFG 's for Goodyear Silent Guards? I happen to be at an impasse deciding which of the 2 tires I want to buy this fall.. My REVO's wont make it thru another winter..
And to be clear, I'm mostly trying to increase tire diameter - not tread width. I hate the "285/75-16" numbering scheme. Can't we just go back to "so many inches in diameter by so many inches tread width..."? It was so much clearer than this % stuff.
Which is has a larger diameter: 305/70-16 or 285/75-16??? Wrong! They are the same diameter! What a mess!
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Confession: Goodyear is just my personal preference, based on experience with the tires themselves and their customer service. The only tires I've ever had trouble with (consistently) were Firestones -- they came on most of the new Fords I've bought over the years -- their customer service is the worst, by far. I've been driving, and paying for tires, since 1968 and have had many brands. Personal, pleasure, and work vehicles include: station wagons, Rancheros, big T-Bird (76), little T-Bird (80), Tauruses, Explorers, E150 and E250 vans, F100, 150, 250, 350 Trucks (2x & 4x), step vans, cube body trucks, Corvette, Trans Am, Triumph TR-6, Jag XJS's, Mercedes E500 , SL500, and E420, BMW 325, and more, plus a zillion motorcycles. Any of the vehicles I kept for any length of time ended up with Goodyears. It's kinda like the Goldilocks story: Pirellis are too soft, Goodriches are too hard, but the Goodyears are just right. I did have a set of Goodyear GS/A's on one Explorer that were out-of-round really bad (new), but they were swapped out, no questions asked, after a fresh balance and 2 mile test ride. I've had EVERY kind of tire failure imaginable, (including complete 2-at-once tread separation/blowout with new Firestone 500's on the big T-Bird going 70mph), but always with some non-Goodyear tire. My trucks get overloaded, driven on the highway to some rocky off-road destination, then driven back home; no problems. Many (30 years) hot Texas summers, and (9) cold Oregon winters, and the Goodyears always get there and back safely -- rocks, snow, cactus, and all. The Jags (12 cyl) and Mercedes (V-8's) would ALL do over 150mph+ (how fast are you going if you run past a 160mph speedometer?) I never run tires down to the wear-bars, that's just asking for trouble. The old style AT/S Goodyears on my Excursion tend to vibrate now, but work great in every other aspect (maybe 35-40k miles on them, still tons of tread). One can admire or bitch about and accept (personal choice) all the aspects of a tire, except one: integrity, which inspires confidence. After a little break-in time and "proof driving", I always trust my Goodyears.
You really ought to look at the TireRack.Com "surveys" for the tires you're interested in, and focus on the vehicles like yours. They are submitted by folks just like us; experience beats theory much of the time. TR is a great source for info AND tires. Also, about tire sizes, TR gives complete manufacturer specs & ratings for every tire they offer. You'll notice from the numbers that tires listed as a certain size (width/height) may not be the exact same size. You can also figure out a "cross reference" if you're wanting wider/taller/etc. tires and/or wheels. Pay extra attention to the load ratings -- especially for the Excursion.
Finally, Goodyear is kinda like Ford in that, if you ever get stuck in a small town somewhere with a tire problem, and they have a tire store there, it'll probably be a Goodyear store. (I've seen way more Goodyear tires on agricultural machinery than anything else, for what it's worth.)
Price is ALWAYS a "concern", but NEVER the Problem. Saving a few bucks on a set of expendable tires, compared to a $20,000-$100,000+ vehicle doesn't make any kind of sense to me at all.
Buy what works for you and what you'll be happy and confident with. If you make a "mistake", it's easy enough (a little costly maybe) to fix it.
Many fun, happy, and safe miles to you, and don't wait too long to get your new tires!
Regards,
Don
"Some people never learn. Some people are smart enough to learn from their own mistakes. But, the smartest people seem to be able to learn from other peoples successes."
You really ought to look at the TireRack.Com "surveys" for the tires you're interested in, and focus on the vehicles like yours. They are submitted by folks just like us; experience beats theory much of the time. TR is a great source for info AND tires. Also, about tire sizes, TR gives complete manufacturer specs & ratings for every tire they offer. You'll notice from the numbers that tires listed as a certain size (width/height) may not be the exact same size. You can also figure out a "cross reference" if you're wanting wider/taller/etc. tires and/or wheels. Pay extra attention to the load ratings -- especially for the Excursion.
Finally, Goodyear is kinda like Ford in that, if you ever get stuck in a small town somewhere with a tire problem, and they have a tire store there, it'll probably be a Goodyear store. (I've seen way more Goodyear tires on agricultural machinery than anything else, for what it's worth.)
Price is ALWAYS a "concern", but NEVER the Problem. Saving a few bucks on a set of expendable tires, compared to a $20,000-$100,000+ vehicle doesn't make any kind of sense to me at all.
Buy what works for you and what you'll be happy and confident with. If you make a "mistake", it's easy enough (a little costly maybe) to fix it.
Many fun, happy, and safe miles to you, and don't wait too long to get your new tires!
Regards,
Don
"Some people never learn. Some people are smart enough to learn from their own mistakes. But, the smartest people seem to be able to learn from other peoples successes."
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Hey Emptyd,
I'm with you on tire size designations: 33x12.00-16 8-ply tells me what I need to know size-wize. I always have to look-up or calculate what 305/...blah-blah-blah size means.
The Excursions have lots of room in the fenderwells for taller tires, when you're heading straight down the road. You could probably add 2-3" -- maybe more -- in diameter before you have to lift the truck. When you turn the wheels al the way to the stops is where you might run into trouble. To exaggerate the point, if you put 60" tall tires on the truck, and even if you lifted the truck 2 feet, you could only turn the steering wheel a 1/4 turn or so before the tires hit the frame. Make sense?
You ought to turn your wheels all the way to each side, and eyeball the clearance you have at the top of your tires, and at the front and back of your tires. You'll at least have an idea.
Remember, too, that taller tires affect your speedometer, which affects your engine management computer (signal input), your ABS system, your braking efficiency (taller means increased torque on the brakes), your overall gearing (less torque to the road), and if the diameter increase is significant enough to make your rig go down the highway with engine RPMs below the power band, the truck will "lug" along and burn more gas.
Also, if the cross section of the tires gets too big (the distance from the tread to the inside bead on the tire, it can have too much "slip angle" / deflection / sidewall flex, and make it feel like you're riding on balloons -- plus, be unsafe. That's where you need larger diameter and/or wider rims.
The center-of-gravity of the truck will change, making it more top-heavy. But, with the tire sizes available, probably would not be a huge issue. Plus, it's not a sports car, right?
Anyway, there are several good reasons for wanting taller tires, and you already know what you want. Just make sure you consider all the effects it will have on your rig, and talk to a good tire man (gray hair....or at least slicked-back hair with a pack of cigs rolled up in his T-shirt sleeve) before you do it.
Good Luck, and let us know what you find out, and what you choose.
I'm with you on tire size designations: 33x12.00-16 8-ply tells me what I need to know size-wize. I always have to look-up or calculate what 305/...blah-blah-blah size means.
The Excursions have lots of room in the fenderwells for taller tires, when you're heading straight down the road. You could probably add 2-3" -- maybe more -- in diameter before you have to lift the truck. When you turn the wheels al the way to the stops is where you might run into trouble. To exaggerate the point, if you put 60" tall tires on the truck, and even if you lifted the truck 2 feet, you could only turn the steering wheel a 1/4 turn or so before the tires hit the frame. Make sense?
You ought to turn your wheels all the way to each side, and eyeball the clearance you have at the top of your tires, and at the front and back of your tires. You'll at least have an idea.
Remember, too, that taller tires affect your speedometer, which affects your engine management computer (signal input), your ABS system, your braking efficiency (taller means increased torque on the brakes), your overall gearing (less torque to the road), and if the diameter increase is significant enough to make your rig go down the highway with engine RPMs below the power band, the truck will "lug" along and burn more gas.
Also, if the cross section of the tires gets too big (the distance from the tread to the inside bead on the tire, it can have too much "slip angle" / deflection / sidewall flex, and make it feel like you're riding on balloons -- plus, be unsafe. That's where you need larger diameter and/or wider rims.
The center-of-gravity of the truck will change, making it more top-heavy. But, with the tire sizes available, probably would not be a huge issue. Plus, it's not a sports car, right?
Anyway, there are several good reasons for wanting taller tires, and you already know what you want. Just make sure you consider all the effects it will have on your rig, and talk to a good tire man (gray hair....or at least slicked-back hair with a pack of cigs rolled up in his T-shirt sleeve) before you do it.
Good Luck, and let us know what you find out, and what you choose.
Hotshot
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 11,286
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From: North of Greenville
Originally Posted by Bill_T
Can you tell me more about why you want to swap BFG 's for Goodyear Silent Guards? I happen to be at an impasse deciding which of the 2 tires I want to buy this fall.. My REVO's wont make it thru another winter..
BTW, what steered me away from the Silent Guards is the reported feature that allows them to temporarily get a flat spot from sitting very long without driving (due to the inherent nature of the kevlar belts inside the tire).
Last edited by F250_; Jul 31, 2007 at 02:59 PM.
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Tire Math...or, Maybe More Than You Wanted to Know
The "new" tire sizes are based on a metric/percentage/inch system. Yeah. I know.
First, if the tire has a "P" in it, it a Passenger-vehicle rated tire. If it has an "LT", it's a Light Truck-vehicle rated tire. I can't give you a good technical explanation of the difference between the two, but there is a difference. Good question for a tire man.
Now, about the numbers (I'll use your sizes for example):
305/70-16 or 285/75-16
305 is millimeters, and determines the HEIGHT of the tire. (That is, the "Section Height"..from the tread surface to the bead (inside edge/diameter).
70 is percentage, and determines the WIDTH of the tire.
16 is inches, and is exactly the INSIDE DIAMETER of the tire, thus the diameter of the rim that fits.
Note: There is no one number in this sizing scheme that tells you the OUTSIDE DIAMETER or OVERALL HEIGHT of the tire, as you already figured out. You can/have to Calculate that.
There is also no designation about the recommended/min/max WIDTH of the WHEEL that supports a given size tire properly. You have to look that up in a chart from the tire maker.
So, here are the "formulae" (approximates):
(note: the 25.4 is to convert mm to inches, and the "2" is for the "top 1/2 plus the bottom 1/2 of the tire.)
(305 x .70) / 25.4 = 8.4 inches = Section Height
(8.4 x 2) + 16 = 32.8 inches = Overall Tire Height
8.4 / .70 = 12.0" = Section Width (implies Tread Width)
Therefore, if you look at a 305/75-16 tire, it will be Taller, but the same WIDTH.
(305 x .75) / 25.4 = 9.0 inches = Section Height
(9.0 x 2) + 16 = 34.0 inches = Overall Tire Height
9.0 / .75 = 12.0" = Section Width (implies Tread Width)
The 285/75-16 will be the same HEIGHT, but NARROWER.
(285 x .75) / 25.4 = 8.4 inches = Section Height
(8.4 x 2) + 16 = 32.8 inches = Overall Tire Height
8.4 / .75 = 11.2" = Section Width (implies Tread Width)
In other words, generally speaking, as the 1st number gets bigger, and the second number stays the same, the tire gets taller.
If the first number stays the same, and the second number gets smaller, the tire gets wider.
Like we agreed earlier, 33x12.00-16, is whole lot more straight-forward.
Regards,
Don
"You need to have a good lawyer, a good doctor, a good accountant, and a good tire man -- not necessarily in that order!"
The "new" tire sizes are based on a metric/percentage/inch system. Yeah. I know.
First, if the tire has a "P" in it, it a Passenger-vehicle rated tire. If it has an "LT", it's a Light Truck-vehicle rated tire. I can't give you a good technical explanation of the difference between the two, but there is a difference. Good question for a tire man.
Now, about the numbers (I'll use your sizes for example):
305/70-16 or 285/75-16
305 is millimeters, and determines the HEIGHT of the tire. (That is, the "Section Height"..from the tread surface to the bead (inside edge/diameter).
70 is percentage, and determines the WIDTH of the tire.
16 is inches, and is exactly the INSIDE DIAMETER of the tire, thus the diameter of the rim that fits.
Note: There is no one number in this sizing scheme that tells you the OUTSIDE DIAMETER or OVERALL HEIGHT of the tire, as you already figured out. You can/have to Calculate that.
There is also no designation about the recommended/min/max WIDTH of the WHEEL that supports a given size tire properly. You have to look that up in a chart from the tire maker.
So, here are the "formulae" (approximates):
(note: the 25.4 is to convert mm to inches, and the "2" is for the "top 1/2 plus the bottom 1/2 of the tire.)
(305 x .70) / 25.4 = 8.4 inches = Section Height
(8.4 x 2) + 16 = 32.8 inches = Overall Tire Height
8.4 / .70 = 12.0" = Section Width (implies Tread Width)
Therefore, if you look at a 305/75-16 tire, it will be Taller, but the same WIDTH.
(305 x .75) / 25.4 = 9.0 inches = Section Height
(9.0 x 2) + 16 = 34.0 inches = Overall Tire Height
9.0 / .75 = 12.0" = Section Width (implies Tread Width)
The 285/75-16 will be the same HEIGHT, but NARROWER.
(285 x .75) / 25.4 = 8.4 inches = Section Height
(8.4 x 2) + 16 = 32.8 inches = Overall Tire Height
8.4 / .75 = 11.2" = Section Width (implies Tread Width)
In other words, generally speaking, as the 1st number gets bigger, and the second number stays the same, the tire gets taller.
If the first number stays the same, and the second number gets smaller, the tire gets wider.
Like we agreed earlier, 33x12.00-16, is whole lot more straight-forward.
Regards,
Don
"You need to have a good lawyer, a good doctor, a good accountant, and a good tire man -- not necessarily in that order!"
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I wondered about that, too...why not stay with Revos? They have a great reputation and have apparently served lots of people very well.
You made a good choice with the Revos, but I'm not sure I put too much stock in the Goodyear/Kevlar/Flat Spot thing.
I put my first set of Goodyear Eagle (Kevlar Belted) tire on a full-sized 1976 Thunderbird (460 V8 and HEAVY) in 1977 to solve tire problems I was having. I had custom ADDCO sway bars made for the car (1.375" front & 1" rear) and Gabriel Adjustable E shocks (huge truck-like). It handled like a go-cart and to this day was the 2nd smoothest riding car I've ever owned (Jaguar XJS V-12 is 1st). I never got any flat spots on the tires, and believe me, I would have noticed (I was pretty gun shy from previous tire problems.).
What I DID experience a LOT in the "old days" was with NYLON belted non-radial tires. Nylon is a naturally stiff material, and very heat sensitive. Drive the car... tires heat up... nylon softens... park car... tires "settle"... tires cool off... nylon "sets"... tires ride bumpy for a while until they heat up again. That REALLY happens.
Now, I don't want to seem to be smart-***, but All tires have a flat spot where they hit the pavement. It's called the "contact patch", and that's were your traction comes from. Add air to the tire to make it peel-out, or let air out to get more grip in sand. What you're doing is changing the size of the Contact Patch. The Contact Patch is measured in square inches, and is basically the width of the tread times the length of how much tread rubber is actually touching the ground (minus the grooves in the tread, or "void area", if you want to be really technical).
Any tire is going to have that Contact Patch, and ANY tire material is going to take a "set" if it has weight put on it constantly in the same place over a period of time. Something HAS to give. Radial belted tires do this more that bias-belted tires, because they're designed that way. Flex in the sidewalls, instead of the belts, helps keep "the Patch in Contact", if you will.
If you ask a Mechanical Engineer (they have formulas for everything!), they would tell you that if you placed a round steel ball-bearing on a cotton pad, the steel ball would get a temporary flat spot. And, he could calculate what the resulting Contact Patch would be.... microscopic, with a zillion zeros between the decimal point and the end number. But, he'd be right, even though there is no practical concern about the flat spot. What's more, if you suspended that ball in mid air, the flat spot would go away. But, like an old motorcycle mechanic from Georgia told me one time about souping-up Hondas, "Theory idn't goin' down the road!".
So, the real questions seems to come to, "How quickly does a steel/rayon/etc.-belted tire recover it's "memory" [of being "round"] versus a steel/kevlar/etc. belted tire?". My experience with Goodyear's Kevlar tires (2 sets, over 110K miles)was that I never noticed anything out of the ordinary, so I didn't care. The tires worked good. I just HAVE to believe that 30 years later, the Kevlars are even better now than they were then.
I'll keep buying Goodyears's, but if I had a set of Revo's on a truck I bought, I'd run 'em ragged and I'm sure they'd do a good job for me.
Firestone's? -- I wouldn't use their best tire for a watering trough in my yard! I wouldn't MAKE a good dog drink outa something like that even if he was thirsty to death!
Drive carefull and enjoy the summer!
Regards,
Don
You made a good choice with the Revos, but I'm not sure I put too much stock in the Goodyear/Kevlar/Flat Spot thing.
I put my first set of Goodyear Eagle (Kevlar Belted) tire on a full-sized 1976 Thunderbird (460 V8 and HEAVY) in 1977 to solve tire problems I was having. I had custom ADDCO sway bars made for the car (1.375" front & 1" rear) and Gabriel Adjustable E shocks (huge truck-like). It handled like a go-cart and to this day was the 2nd smoothest riding car I've ever owned (Jaguar XJS V-12 is 1st). I never got any flat spots on the tires, and believe me, I would have noticed (I was pretty gun shy from previous tire problems.).
What I DID experience a LOT in the "old days" was with NYLON belted non-radial tires. Nylon is a naturally stiff material, and very heat sensitive. Drive the car... tires heat up... nylon softens... park car... tires "settle"... tires cool off... nylon "sets"... tires ride bumpy for a while until they heat up again. That REALLY happens.
Now, I don't want to seem to be smart-***, but All tires have a flat spot where they hit the pavement. It's called the "contact patch", and that's were your traction comes from. Add air to the tire to make it peel-out, or let air out to get more grip in sand. What you're doing is changing the size of the Contact Patch. The Contact Patch is measured in square inches, and is basically the width of the tread times the length of how much tread rubber is actually touching the ground (minus the grooves in the tread, or "void area", if you want to be really technical).
Any tire is going to have that Contact Patch, and ANY tire material is going to take a "set" if it has weight put on it constantly in the same place over a period of time. Something HAS to give. Radial belted tires do this more that bias-belted tires, because they're designed that way. Flex in the sidewalls, instead of the belts, helps keep "the Patch in Contact", if you will.
If you ask a Mechanical Engineer (they have formulas for everything!), they would tell you that if you placed a round steel ball-bearing on a cotton pad, the steel ball would get a temporary flat spot. And, he could calculate what the resulting Contact Patch would be.... microscopic, with a zillion zeros between the decimal point and the end number. But, he'd be right, even though there is no practical concern about the flat spot. What's more, if you suspended that ball in mid air, the flat spot would go away. But, like an old motorcycle mechanic from Georgia told me one time about souping-up Hondas, "Theory idn't goin' down the road!".
So, the real questions seems to come to, "How quickly does a steel/rayon/etc.-belted tire recover it's "memory" [of being "round"] versus a steel/kevlar/etc. belted tire?". My experience with Goodyear's Kevlar tires (2 sets, over 110K miles)was that I never noticed anything out of the ordinary, so I didn't care. The tires worked good. I just HAVE to believe that 30 years later, the Kevlars are even better now than they were then.
I'll keep buying Goodyears's, but if I had a set of Revo's on a truck I bought, I'd run 'em ragged and I'm sure they'd do a good job for me.
Firestone's? -- I wouldn't use their best tire for a watering trough in my yard! I wouldn't MAKE a good dog drink outa something like that even if he was thirsty to death!
Drive carefull and enjoy the summer!
Regards,
Don
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Posts: 3,620
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From: WARRINGTON, PA
saucier56, just curious, you say that you have 4.11's in your X? wow, thats cool. because NONE of the excursions EVER came with 4.11's. EVER. you either have 3.73's or 4.30's.... and by you saying that you are getting 12-13 mpg, and you drive fast, i would put money on it that you have the 3.73's. you might want to check on yours and find out what your truck really is. hell, maybe its a suburban with ford emblems. lol..
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I went and looked...and you're right! It IS a Suburban! Nah-just kidding. (I did park next to a Suburban the other day. Those really are cute little SUVs, especially for somebody looking to down-size and down-grade.)
I'm tellin' ya: It's a 1998 Exursion (99% sure it's a Ford), 2-door, 6.7 liter V-11 engine, with 4.11 gears and 3WD. Still kidding...but I really do screw up that bad sometimes.
You ARE right, and it IS 4.30 limited slip. I don't know why my fingers typed 4.11 -- the only 4.11-anything I have is a set of old ring & pinion gears for a 7.5" V-6 Mustang rear end.
It's a 2000 that I bought new around Thanksgiving in '99. Only one dealer in Portland had them on the lot, so I had little choice: white or dark blue gas, pay $10,000 more for a white diesel, or go to Seattle -- I took the blue one. It came with 265/75-16 Firestone Steeltex highway tread tires on steel wheels with hubcaps. It was ugly, looking like it was running on 4 of those temporary spares. I guess the dealer configured it with 4x4, 4.30 LS, and "minimum" tires, figuring the buyer would upgrade the tires and wheels. Just seemed a weird combination.
If I run at 65mph on a fairly level road, the engine turns about 2400-2500 RPMs, if I remember correctly, and it will get anywhere from 12.7 to 13.2 mpg for 35-40 gallons. At 75 (about 3,000 rpm I "think"), which is harder to maintain a steady speed for long, mileage drops to 10.8 - 11. At 80+, it's in the 9's. I own a business that's 215 miles away, and sometimes, it's worth the extra money to make the 4+ hour drive closer to a 3 hour drive.
Mods:
Westin Bull Bar in front
Lund Bug Deflector (stops chips on hood, "attracts" bugs to glass)
Hella 550 H-3 100 watt driving lights
Replaced factory headlights with F350 work-truck light buckets:
Hella Vision-Plus glass w/ 130-90w H-4 bulbs on dedicated relay
Optima Red Top Battery
K&N Cold Air Intake
Throttle Body Spacer
Superchips Tuner, their std engine tune, max shift pressures
Gibson 2 1/2" Cat-back exhaust
Rain-X, LOTS of Rain-X, and longer Teflon wiper blades
Valvoline 5-20 Full Synthetic Oil
Techron FI cleaner every 4-5 tanks or so
305-75/16 AT/S tires at 50 psi
Added Rear Sway Bar & Larger Front Bar, all in Poly Bushings
Adjustable Front Track Bar (panhard rod)
Add-a-Leaf on Front
AirLift helpers on the back
Edelbrock IAS shocks
And, one of those stick-on wide-view things in the back window.
On-hand, to be installed:
Fresh brakes: Performance Friction Pads, Drilled & slotted rotors, stainless braided brake hoses, Valvoline synthetic fluid
AirLifts for the front
Track Bars for the rear
Dual mounts & shocks for the front
Poly bushings for the spring eyes & shackles
Fresh Autolite double-platinum plugs
Front & Rear Seat Heaters
And, if gas keeps going up, I'll be looking for those 3.73's ;~}
Thanks again for catching my mistake. I hope I don't have too many folks scratching their heads.
Best Regards,
Don
I'm tellin' ya: It's a 1998 Exursion (99% sure it's a Ford), 2-door, 6.7 liter V-11 engine, with 4.11 gears and 3WD. Still kidding...but I really do screw up that bad sometimes.
You ARE right, and it IS 4.30 limited slip. I don't know why my fingers typed 4.11 -- the only 4.11-anything I have is a set of old ring & pinion gears for a 7.5" V-6 Mustang rear end.
It's a 2000 that I bought new around Thanksgiving in '99. Only one dealer in Portland had them on the lot, so I had little choice: white or dark blue gas, pay $10,000 more for a white diesel, or go to Seattle -- I took the blue one. It came with 265/75-16 Firestone Steeltex highway tread tires on steel wheels with hubcaps. It was ugly, looking like it was running on 4 of those temporary spares. I guess the dealer configured it with 4x4, 4.30 LS, and "minimum" tires, figuring the buyer would upgrade the tires and wheels. Just seemed a weird combination.
If I run at 65mph on a fairly level road, the engine turns about 2400-2500 RPMs, if I remember correctly, and it will get anywhere from 12.7 to 13.2 mpg for 35-40 gallons. At 75 (about 3,000 rpm I "think"), which is harder to maintain a steady speed for long, mileage drops to 10.8 - 11. At 80+, it's in the 9's. I own a business that's 215 miles away, and sometimes, it's worth the extra money to make the 4+ hour drive closer to a 3 hour drive.
Mods:
Westin Bull Bar in front
Lund Bug Deflector (stops chips on hood, "attracts" bugs to glass)
Hella 550 H-3 100 watt driving lights
Replaced factory headlights with F350 work-truck light buckets:
Hella Vision-Plus glass w/ 130-90w H-4 bulbs on dedicated relay
Optima Red Top Battery
K&N Cold Air Intake
Throttle Body Spacer
Superchips Tuner, their std engine tune, max shift pressures
Gibson 2 1/2" Cat-back exhaust
Rain-X, LOTS of Rain-X, and longer Teflon wiper blades
Valvoline 5-20 Full Synthetic Oil
Techron FI cleaner every 4-5 tanks or so
305-75/16 AT/S tires at 50 psi
Added Rear Sway Bar & Larger Front Bar, all in Poly Bushings
Adjustable Front Track Bar (panhard rod)
Add-a-Leaf on Front
AirLift helpers on the back
Edelbrock IAS shocks
And, one of those stick-on wide-view things in the back window.
On-hand, to be installed:
Fresh brakes: Performance Friction Pads, Drilled & slotted rotors, stainless braided brake hoses, Valvoline synthetic fluid
AirLifts for the front
Track Bars for the rear
Dual mounts & shocks for the front
Poly bushings for the spring eyes & shackles
Fresh Autolite double-platinum plugs
Front & Rear Seat Heaters
And, if gas keeps going up, I'll be looking for those 3.73's ;~}
Thanks again for catching my mistake. I hope I don't have too many folks scratching their heads.
Best Regards,
Don
Elder User
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 855
Likes: 1
It sounds to me like you guys are accelerating fast. I average 14-15 driving around town and highway and getting on it. If I take a trip all highway I get 18-19 ( no tow). Racer are you running diesel or gas? As for the original post you can go with the same tire just get more rubber on the tire wall and more of an aggresive look and it will appear to give you a larger tire.
Senior User
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 159
Likes: 0
From: Michigan
Originally Posted by njstevens
It sounds to me like you guys are accelerating fast. I average 14-15 driving around town and highway and getting on it. If I take a trip all highway I get 18-19 ( no tow). Racer are you running diesel or gas? As for the original post you can go with the same tire just get more rubber on the tire wall and more of an aggresive look and it will appear to give you a larger tire.
Elder User
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 855
Likes: 1
Roody on trips I am running around 70-73 depending on hills. Even when I up it to 75-80 i still get the 15 guaranteed with the Superchip on high performance. Here in NJ if your traveling 65 your falling behind everyone. Everyone here is alwasy rushing to get everywhere. Why buy a gasser. Engine life is half and gas is 80% of the time more and mpg is worse. The diesels are no where as loud as they used to be. The new 6.0 are even more quiet then my 00 7.3.