Story time!!

So my friend has a jeep. he put 20's on it, then it was stolen and the rims were taken off. when he got it back it had a set of stock jeep rims (which the insurance let him keep) on it. before he had the 20's, he had some steel rims on there (i'll post a pic later) that were chrome but looked good. a few weeks ago, for reasons that he wont tell me some one slashed all 4 of the tires on the steel rims. his dad decided that they should put the og jeep rims back on the jeep when the bought new tires. so i see these steel rims chillin at his house, and ask him if he'd sell them. he said yes. ok. story's over.

now the fun part.

my mom's aero is way over due for tires. my aero has almost brand new tires on them with the alloys. i'm thinking of selling her my wheel's/tires, and taking my friends rims and putting new tires on them and puting them on my aero. ok. problem(?):

stock aero rims are 14" rims.
the rims i want to buy are 15" rims.
would i be able to buy some lower profile tires for the 15's so that i'd keep around the same size over all wheel width so i don't screw with mpg/mph?

i hear that doing this helps with the rear sway.

any body have any thoughts or opinions or advise?

thanks!!!

 

My Aero lists 2 sizes on the door jamb label, either "70 or 75" aspect ratios. So you can choose from either aspect ratio in the tables below.

The tire companies say these sizes will be the same as the stock wheels using the "plus one" concept. These technically are same size as stock:

The original tire size is...215/70 or 75 R14"
Plus one inch would be...215/65 or 70 R15"
Plus two inches is..........215/60 or 65 R16"
Plus three inches is........215/55 or 60 R17"

As the rim size goes up one inch, the aspect ratio goes down 5%, and the tread width of 215mm stays the same.

The listed sizes are as close to stock diameter as possible, each one just having a shorter, squatter sidewall on a bigger rim.

Tires that are just one size bigger or smaller in either tread width or aspect ratio are very close and should also work on your Aerostar if the suspension is about stock & wheels aren't offset wayyy out

For example one poster on this forum uses 225/75 R15 which are wider and taller than stock size. He lives in flat Florida & says it helps his fuel economy. They really fill up the wheel wells but he didn't say they ever rubbed. I think I had some on this size too once, it's close but it fits.

I've used 215/65 R15 listed above on Ranger 15" wheels for years which I liked for their better handling. These are in the table above as being same as stock size but using 15" rim.

I've also run 205/65 R15 which is one size (10mm, about 1/4 inch) narrower than stock, but fit my wheels better and are actually so close to the same width as stock that there's hardly any difference. It's an easier size to find than some others. They're a little shorter than stock which may help acceleration, towing & pulling up hills. I still get great gas mileage tho.

Yes, lower profile/aspect ratio tires will have shorter sidewall with less sway and movement. You'll like the better feel.

 

Usually with high performance tires, the shorter aspect tires are made with wider treads. The sidewall width measurement is "nominal" width at the widest part, but they have no direct relation to the actual tread width. I think there were a couple of tires from Dunlop that were supposed to be high performance, but a couple of tires with different specified widths had the same tread width; the tire with the wider spec had more of a round profile.

On the other hand if you actually got some hiperf tires in a +1 or +2 size, its increased tread width may be wide enough to start interfering with suspension parts or the fender.

 

XLT4WD90 is right

I'm sorry the 215 is "overall tire width" NOT the exact "tread width". I found this definition:

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/ncap/Tires/pages/TireLabelPassVeh.htm

It's been many years since I learned about tire sizes. Guess I forgot something! Lol, not surprising knowing all I've been thru!

Anyway tires vary in ACTUAL size despite what is printed on them. Two different brand tires called by same size numbers will usually vary in their actual size. It pays to look at the ACTUAL tires you're considering buying to see how they look to you.

Some have squarer, flatter tread, some narrower & more rounded. Feel the sidewall to see how stiff that is too, most are flabby cuz people like soft rides. I like handling too so I look for stronger overall tires.

 

Hi everyone! Been lurking around for a while and decided to join in and add my 2 cents.

I'm currently running 225/60-16 Kumho Ecsta HP4's and an old set of Primus 16x7 5 spoke aluminums on my '97 AWD. Have a slight bit of contact on the lower arm during full lock, but, nothing that has caused problems. Straight ahead tracking has been excellent, ride has not been compromised, handling is better and the stability seems improved. Plus no problem with the speedometer, it's right on, at least according to a nice downstate Illinois officer that confirmed my speed as I passed through their revenue enhancement program.

Bottom line is, there are limits as to what we can fit in the wheel wells on an Aero. I was lucky to have a Discount Tire shop that was willing to experiment to find a good fit.

 

lol nice. i'm not looking for anything extreem, just a little taller rim/ lower profile tire to help stiffin up the drive a lil bit.

 

I am going with the 215/65r15 on a set of 93 Explorer 'Slicer' rims, I think they will bring more of the truck out in the van, I will keep you updated on how I like the size and combo!

 

I'm using 215/65-15 on mine now. Quite an improvement, especially with quality tires. I got 15X7 US Wheels rims from Summit racing, and they fill up the wheel wells pretty well. I put air shocks on the rear to keep them from rubbing, which only occurs when I have a van full.

Here's a tire size calculator: bookmark it for reference, it's nice little online tool.

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html