I am looking to find out what was the stock tire on the 2001 Excuesion. When I bought my rig it had brand new 265 HAnkcok's on them. Well they have performed horribly and I had a major blow out on one while hauling my 27 foot TT. The tires only had 35 k on them. I noticed that my spare is a 285 and now am not certain what I need to replace them with. I would like to know what everyone is running the miles they are getting out of them. I want to get longevity out of my tires for what I am going to have to pay for them.

Rob

 

I'm not sure what came on 2001 Excursions, but my 2005 with the Diesel came with BFGoodrich Rugged Trails in size 265/75R16's in load range E. I now have BFGoodrich All-Terrain KO's in 285/70R16's in load range E.

The Rugged Trails seemed like a good overall tire, I just went with the All-Terrains because they have a more aggressive tread for snow up here in Alaska and I wanted a bigger tire. I have had several vehicles with BFG All-Terrains and they seem to last a long time, and offer a triple layer sidewall. Whether they are right for you is dependent on what you will be doing with them.

If you spend a lot of time on the highway I would go with something with less rolling resistance (basically not very aggressive tread, think of a racing slick as the ultimate in little rolling resistance). But if you encounter rain, go off-road or it snows where you live an all-terrain tire may be better for you.

As for size that is you personal preference and there are lots of guys on here running bigger tires without a lift than I am, some say they have rubbing issues, some don't. I would stick with a load range E tire if you plan on continuing to tow a travel trailer.

One website that I have used in the past was Tire Rack - Your performance experts for tires and wheels. The website is full of useful information and makes compairing tires easy.

 

I had firestone 265/75/16 D on my 2001 X diesel, there was a recall and the tire has been upgraded to a load range E I'M now up to 98,000 mi. on my "original" factory tires, but I am shopping around

 

I have Hankooks and they perform great. They are a truck tire. Are your tires the 10 ply LT tire or a passenger tire?

 

The 265/75r16 is the OEM size.
I would recommend the load range E also. Don't try to save the few dollars buying load D tires.
I use the Bridgestone Revo AT load E and have found them to be a great tire.
Ply ratings on tires are a form of "old school" duty rating and no longer apply to passenger vehicles. Semi trailers, bus & recapped tires, yes.
All tires have a 2-ply/4-ply sidewall/tread so do your homework before you buy.
If you go to 285/75r16 remember your speedometer will be off a bit and winter traction is compromised a bit also.

 

I found my speedo was MORE accurate with the 286/75-16's...

Whatever you get, though, go with load-range E tires.

 

On Sizing:

Yes OEM is 265/75RR16 as far as I know. Mine came with 295/75RR16 (BFG A/Ts) which were too large and started to wear through some of the plastic wheel well (behind one front wheel). So, after reading a number of posts I put on 285/75RR16 (Goodyear Wranglers). However, even though the 285s don't rub - it's very close - I couldn't put on front mudflaps as the front tire still comes too close to the rear of the wheel well! (I needed another 1/4".)

On tire tread pattern (some thoughts...),

You'll get lots of opinion on brands. Michelin always seems to get top ratings by most people. But I got a 4 for 3 deal on the Goodyear Wranglers which were rated high on TireRack (not the OEM S/As which get horrible ratings). And the GYs are load range E and have the winter rating as well (Canada only?).

Despite a number of upgrades discussed on this site and an alignment and new ball joints... the truck wanders with the new tires even on residential roads. My brother figures it's the Goodyear Wrangler's 'knobbiness' and lack of a continuous tread (Highway/Off Road style). We've seen it before with similar knobby tires so he thought I was stupid buying the tires I did. He figures I should have just got highway tires since 90% of the time the truck will be used as a tow vehicle. He might be right, so think aout the tread pattern and your needs. (The steering box is something I'll have to have looked at again though.)

 

Has anyone else experienced the same wandering problems with the Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor in 285 size, load range E as AltaEx has experienced? I was going to order those tires on Saturday for my 2002 Ex, but now I am not so sure. Can someone tell me if these tires have caused the same thing to happen to them?

 

I can say that they do wander more than the mismatched 265/75-16's I had on my Excursion before, which didn't really wander at all.

 

I had wranglers on my old truck and had great response out of them. I have the diesel engine and I will probaly go with a less aggressive tread sine I do use the truck to pull more that I off road.

 

My bro just bought an '02 X with 26K original miles. Original rubber on it was Firestone Steeltex 265 75 R16 Load Range "D". My understanding is these were std tire from 2000 to 2003. There were lots of issues with blow-outs, so Firestone recalled them in 2004 and replaced them with Load Range "E" tires and said Ford under spec'd the tires for the vehicle/max load. My bro is getting his replacement load range E tires today.

Whatever tire you get, make sure they are "Load Range E"!!!