New tire questions

[Leslie]

This is great info!!
Now, before I buy any tires, I should ask you all, why do I want to change my wheels from 15" to 16"?
Better fuel economy? Better steering? Able to go faster?
Any of this true?
Will the truck look better with 16" wheels?

Rosie, there's a bit of a trade-off here......


The whole reason why Rover went from 16" down to 15" wheels was to help acceleration... the taller wheel took longer to get up-to-speed than the shorter one. However, for each revolution, more distance is covered with the taller tire.

Wider tires are 'more stable' and provide more traction, but skinny ones are easier to turn w/o power steering.

Thing is, a 33x9.5/R15 will be a little taller than a 7.5R16. You can, with either 15" or 16", have different widths or heights, all through tire selection.

Personally, I like the 16" wheel better, but wouldn't necessarily avoid the 15"....

[Leslie]

To clarify a bit:

A taller tire would go faster than a shorter tire at the same engine RPM.

But the taller tire would take longer to get up to speed.

The shorter tire is quicker, the taller is faster. (Make sense?)

[Moose]

I love the Dunlop Radial Rover R/T's and have been running them on my 88 for over 10 years now. Great in the snow and mud with a mildly aggressive tread. Quite on the road and very good on wet roads. I just bought some new ones recently from TireRack.com. Price was $134 per tire. Something like these I think would suit you needs just right Rose.

Personally, I think the 16 inch rim is the way to go. Certainly looks better and my 88 accelerates just fine.

Brett

[LaneRover]

I have always heard that the big reason Rover went with 15" rims in the US was tire availability at the time. There just weren't a big selection of 16" tires here.

[thixon]

Hi Rosie. Congrats on the new truck!

At some point, you say you'll be driving in mud and snow. If you buy a tire that won't perform in mud and snow, then when that time comes, you're hosed.

Using that as a guidline, you have two ways to approach this. 1) buy less aggressive road type tires, and slap on chains when you're in the slop. 2) Go ahead and buy an aggresive mud/snow type tire.

A tire with a less aggressive tread will usually be cheaper than a mud tire, and you say you'll be doing a lot of pavement driving, so factor that into your decision.

The only other thing I'll say is that I personally don't like the look of full blown road tires on a truck. For that reason, I am willing to pay a little extra for AT or MT tires. Shallow?...Yes, Superficial?...Yes, but I like what I like.

I have owned almost all of the tires recommended thus far, and have not had a problem with any. In particular, I liked a set of Dunlop radial rovers I had, and I'm also a big fan of BFG MT's and AT's. I owned a jeep for a short while with a set of Cooper mud tires (forgot the model), and was very happy with them as well. My favorite truck tire of all time though has to be the BFG MT's. They look good, are very tough (sidewalls are darn near indestructable), and do very well in the red georgia clay. Sadly though, they are not cheap.

Good luck!

[Eric W S]

This is great info!!
Now, before I buy any tires, I should ask you all, why do I want to change my wheels from 15" to 16"?
Better fuel economy? Better steering? Able to go faster?
Any of this true?
Will the truck look better with 16" wheels?

15" wheels are no longer available new. So bust a wheel and you will either have to buy 16" all around or source another 15"

Tires will impact fuel econmy if you don't maintain them at the Mfg. suggested inflation. Anything else is hearsay IMO

750R16 tires may make highway driving more bearable. Tires will not increase most speed related attributes like top end or acceleration times.

Depends how your steering is set up. If it is solid, then a similiar or slightly taller tire should not impact it. Significantly larger and wider tires will degrade it.

If your not going to do much off roading, go with the 600R16, 650R16 or even a 700R16 tire or equivolent. OEM tires in the day were small and very skinny.

29" to 30" or metric equivolents in an AT.

Here is what your truck most likely had originally. http://www.dunsfold.com/Sales/Specia...age%202007.pdf

That's 28.4 inch diameter and 6" wide!

Personally, I'd splurge and get a high quality Michelin XPS Traction in 215 or 235/85/R16. If your using it for business you could deduct some of the expense and it is retreadable and extremely durable. Never filed a farm or related return so I do not know what the IRS regs are.

EwS

[greenmeanie]

I should point out that wheel size does not affect acceleration or top speed. Tyre size does as this is what dictates the rolling diameter. The weight difference between a 15" or a 16" tyre running a 32" tyre will not be noticeable in a series truck. The difference in rim size to rolling diameter size has an effect on the amount of side wall available to flex but this also varies with each tyre.

I think Leslie was referring to the wheel sizes with OEM tyre sizes for his comparison.

If you live somewhere flat then go with the bigger tyre size. If you live somewhere hilly ten go with the 30's as she'll bog less on the hills.

Given all the factors that contribute to the series driving experience and the comparitively local driving you'll be doing I think you'll find yourself happy with any of the tyres mentioned. Now go and see what's available locally at a good price and you've got your choice.

Cheers
Gregor

[Leslie]

lol....

If you don't mind a loud tire, and have a lot of money to blow....

[Blueboy]

and have a lot of money to blow

yes, we just visited RN last week and saw a stack of these (XZLs, yes??) in the shop.

something like $370.00 a pop and that was the 7.50 size.

they are available in Brasil and I almost brought a set back with me.

now knowing what I know, I should have!!

might be worth the miles to fly down and bring them back.


Jaime

[Leslie]

something like $370.00 a pop and that was the 7.50 size.

Last I priced them, a year or two ago, it was closer to $200 a pop through a local 4x4 shop, which I thought was outrageous.... I'd heard they were more elsewhere.

But $370? wow.

Glad I got mine at $80/each for five (take-offs off of an imported Series, four were *very* lightly used, and the 5th is still unused...) Very nice for the Series, but, I can't say that I wouldn't suggest to most people to just go with BFG M/T-km's instead.....