New Tires and Mileage Report
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Post by moraldk on Jul 2, 2015 16:26:47 GMT -5
I bought my 2000 Sport LTD with 245 70 16, Onion Skin tires. They were actually 1 size smaller than stock. I was gonna put some Coopers on, then Yokes...until I came across a good deal on a set of 265 75 16 Hankook Dynapro ATM's. Right out of the tire store, they sucked! BAD!! I wasn't able to return until the next morning. I want my onion skins back on. The salesman talked me into letting them "rebalance" the tires. He came back and said: right front out 1 ounce, left front out 3/4 ounce, both back: 1/2 ounce out.
I told him that I noticed weights were installed when I left the night before. Why were they out so far? Answer: Blah, blah, blah...
Since I drove away from the tire store the second time, I've been happy with them. The 75 sidewall makes the Sport feel a bit more truck like and it sits a bit higher. Handling is different, but not bad. Traction is awesome all around. I was getting a little tire trauma when hitting small potholes, so I added 2 psi all around and it solved the problem. They really do feel great now. Speedometer is slow by about 3@35 and 5@55 mph. I haven't done much real off roading to recommend these yet.
I've also been screwing around with my A/C, so I haven't been able to get a good MPG reading due to all the idling in my driveway. My latest reading didn't have much idle time, but I was always running the A/C (it's been hotter than hell around here). Mixed driving and I got 23.46 mpg. I'm blown away! IIRC, the Sport LTD is rated at 17/20 mpg. What the hell is going on?
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Post by r0llinlacs on Jul 2, 2015 17:10:49 GMT -5
Mine must just run like crap because I don't even come close to 23mpg. Not even 15.
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Post by dclambertt on Jul 2, 2015 17:28:47 GMT -5
I'm running 255 GoodYears and on my Ltd 01 and usually get 18/21 mpg city/highway. Speedo is high by 2 mph.
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Post by ES_97Sport on Jul 2, 2015 18:16:18 GMT -5
... Speedometer is slow by about 3@35 and 5@55 mph. ... Mixed driving and I got 23.46 mpg. I'm blown away! IIRC, the Sport LTD is rated at 17/20 mpg. What the hell is going on? Tires. Looks like your's came with 255/70R16. That's a 30.05" diameter tire. You went to a 265/75R16. That's a 31.64" diameter tire. That is a BIG difference. Which explains why your speedometer is off so much. You can, BTW, mostly correct that. The XLS came with 265/70R16 tires. Get the VSS gear assembly from an XLS - dealership or salvage yard - and install them. The dealership still sells the parts. I ran across that a couple days ago. Cheap, too. I don't know how you're calculating your MPGs. With the new tires, you are actually going farther than your odometer says you are so that's no way going to be anything like accurate. Are you using some OBD economy/readout electronic gee-gaw? Also, what is your tire pressure? That will drastically impact mileage. If its really hot - 90+ - and you set your tires at 30-34 when it's, say, 70 out, the pressure will go up quite a bit as the ambient temps increase and as you drive (tire assemblies heat up which heats up the air in the tire which then expands increasing pressure). If you're running 35-36+ - which you SHOULD NOT BE - and then have all the above happen, you could be running 40 psi+ in the middle of the day. That is going to tear the crap out of your tires and suspension and its not safe just in general. My '03 Limited AWD likes the pressure right about 32-34 psi all the way around (not towing). Good even tread wear. Interestingly, less than that and the transmission gets cranky.  Do you have the 3.0L or the 3.5L? 'Cause the 3.5L is 14/17 if I remember correctly. The 3.0L is 17/20. Those number aren't no way, no how going to happen with a 3.5L. The 3.0L is a more fuel efficient engine even though its a little underpowered for the Sport (IMHO). I swapped a '02 3.5L into my big Sport several years ago - nothing else changed but the engine. I could get 20-22 MPG going from Denver to Moab and back out of my 3.0L running 55-75 MPH. I have yet to do that with my 3.5L - best is 17-18 MPG. Now that I have the exhaust done the mileage has gone up a bit but nowhere near necessary to match the 3.0L. I'm guessing 18-19 is what I'll see here in a couple weeks when we leave on our fall trip. It IS possible to get 20-23 out of the 3.0L. I know that for certain because I drove my big Sport for years - before it became the 'big Sport' - and that's what I got day in and day out. But not out of a stock Sport. I have a stock 3.0L '97 and it gets 18-19 (180K) on the highway consistently. In order to get the extra 3-4 MPG you need too do the lockout hubs, intake, exhaust and switch all the fluids (except transmission) to full synthetic. Edward |
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Post by r0llinlacs on Jul 2, 2015 20:03:43 GMT -5
... Speedometer is slow by about 3@35 and 5@55 mph. ... Mixed driving and I got 23.46 mpg. I'm blown away! IIRC, the Sport LTD is rated at 17/20 mpg. What the hell is going on? Tires. Looks like your's came with 255/70R16. That's a 30.05" diameter tire. You went to a 265/75R16. That's a 31.64" diameter tire. That is a BIG difference. Which explains why your speedometer is off so much. You can, BTW, mostly correct that. The XLS came with 265/70R16 tires. Get the VSS gear assembly from an XLS - dealership or salvage yard - and install them. The dealership still sells the parts. I ran across that a couple days ago. Cheap, too. I don't know how you're calculating your MPGs. With the new tires, you are actually going farther than your odometer says you are so that's no way going to be anything like accurate. Are you using some OBD economy/readout electronic gee-gaw? Also, what is your tire pressure? That will drastically impact mileage. If its really hot - 90+ - and you set your tires at 30-34 when it's, say, 70 out, the pressure will go up quite a bit as the ambient temps increase and as you drive (tire assemblies heat up which heats up the air in the tire which then expands increasing pressure). If you're running 35-36+ - which you SHOULD NOT BE - and then have all the above happen, you could be running 40 psi+ in the middle of the day. That is going to tear the crap out of your tires and suspension and its not safe just in general. My '03 Limited AWD likes the pressure right about 32-34 psi all the way around (not towing). Good even tread wear. Interestingly, less than that and the transmission gets cranky. Do you have the 3.0L or the 3.5L? 'Cause the 3.5L is 14/17 if I remember correctly. The 3.0L is 17/20. Those number aren't no way, no how going to happen with a 3.5L. The 3.0L is a more fuel efficient engine even though its a little underpowered for the Sport (IMHO). I swapped a '02 3.5L into my big Sport several years ago - nothing else changed but the engine. I could get 20-22 MPG going from Denver to Moab and back out of my 3.0L running 55-75 MPH. I have yet to do that with my 3.5L - best is 17-18 MPG. Now that I have the exhaust done the mileage has gone up a bit but nowhere near necessary to match the 3.0L. I'm guessing 18-19 is what I'll see here in a couple weeks when we leave on our fall trip. It IS possible to get 20-23 out of the 3.0L. I know that for certain because I drove my big Sport for years - before it became the 'big Sport' - and that's what I got day in and day out. But not out of a stock Sport. I have a stock 3.0L '97 and it gets 18-19 (180K) on the highway consistently. In order to get the extra 3-4 MPG you need too do the lockout hubs, intake, exhaust and switch all the fluids (except transmission) to full synthetic. Edward I noticed the door sticker on mine says the recommended tire pressure is 26psi. That seems low to me. |
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Post by jkdv8 on Jul 2, 2015 20:09:59 GMT -5
When I had the bfg radial long trail ta I was at 18-20 around town and 23-24 on the highway. With the rugged terrain it has dropped a few all around.
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Post by moraldk on Jul 2, 2015 23:20:45 GMT -5
My mileage calculation is off the odometer. At 291 miles it took 12.4 gals to fill. I'll video the next fill. I'm going to run tests with the Torque OBD2 and I'll be glad to share all that info when I get it.I've got a 3.5L.
I raised tire pressure from 33 psi or there abouts from the tire store and filled all 4 to 35 psi. I use my Ashcroft industrial service pressure gauge. This seemed to eliminate the slight tire recovery that was noticeable after hitting a bump. It feels good now, but I'm going to drop to 34 psi and see how that goes. Even apples to apples comparison Sports can call for slightly different psi with different suspension characteristics.
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Post by colted on Jul 3, 2015 1:39:40 GMT -5
... Speedometer is slow by about 3@35 and 5@55 mph. ... Mixed driving and I got 23.46 mpg. I'm blown away! IIRC, the Sport LTD is rated at 17/20 mpg. What the hell is going on? Tires. Looks like your's came with 255/70R16. That's a 30.05" diameter tire. You went to a 265/75R16. That's a 31.64" diameter tire. That is a BIG difference. Which explains why your speedometer is off so much. You can, BTW, mostly correct that. The XLS came with 265/70R16 tires. Get the VSS gear assembly from an XLS - dealership or salvage yard - and install them. The dealership still sells the parts. I ran across that a couple days ago. Cheap, too. I don't know how you're calculating your MPGs. With the new tires, you are actually going farther than your odometer says you are so that's no way going to be anything like accurate. Are you using some OBD economy/readout electronic gee-gaw? Also, what is your tire pressure? That will drastically impact mileage. If its really hot - 90+ - and you set your tires at 30-34 when it's, say, 70 out, the pressure will go up quite a bit as the ambient temps increase and as you drive (tire assemblies heat up which heats up the air in the tire which then expands increasing pressure). If you're running 35-36+ - which you SHOULD NOT BE - and then have all the above happen, you could be running 40 psi+ in the middle of the day. That is going to tear the crap out of your tires and suspension and its not safe just in general. My '03 Limited AWD likes the pressure right about 32-34 psi all the way around (not towing). Good even tread wear. Interestingly, less than that and the transmission gets cranky. Do you have the 3.0L or the 3.5L? 'Cause the 3.5L is 14/17 if I remember correctly. The 3.0L is 17/20. Those number aren't no way, no how going to happen with a 3.5L. The 3.0L is a more fuel efficient engine even though its a little underpowered for the Sport (IMHO). I swapped a '02 3.5L into my big Sport several years ago - nothing else changed but the engine. I could get 20-22 MPG going from Denver to Moab and back out of my 3.0L running 55-75 MPH. I have yet to do that with my 3.5L - best is 17-18 MPG. Now that I have the exhaust done the mileage has gone up a bit but nowhere near necessary to match the 3.0L. I'm guessing 18-19 is what I'll see here in a couple weeks when we leave on our fall trip. It IS possible to get 20-23 out of the 3.0L. I know that for certain because I drove my big Sport for years - before it became the 'big Sport' - and that's what I got day in and day out. But not out of a stock Sport. I have a stock 3.0L '97 and it gets 18-19 (180K) on the highway consistently. In order to get the extra 3-4 MPG you need too do the lockout hubs, intake, exhaust and switch all the fluids (except transmission) to full synthetic. Edward My Pirelli Scorpion AT 265/70 R16 on my 3.5 XLS are all set to 32psi as well....get's the same mpg... |
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Post by ES_97Sport on Jul 3, 2015 15:08:55 GMT -5
... I noticed the door sticker on mine says the recommended tire pressure is 26psi. That seems low to me. Yep. The sticker on my big Sport is like 26/28. I have no idea where they get that number from. That is WAY under inflated. I figured that out about two months into my big Sport. The factory Yoko tires were wearing out on inside and outside and the middle was getting no wear at all. Bumped the pressure up to 32 in the back and 34 in the front and the tire wear was perfectly even all the way across the tread. Been like that for years. Even after I did the SAS and Danas with the 35" M/Ts the pressure has stayed the same. Now its between 32 and 34 but its the same front and back because of the weight of all the gear that's always in the back of the truck now days. IMHO 26/28 is too low in an unloaded, stock Sport. That's low enough that there's a real possibility of rolling the tire right off the rim in a hard cornering or panic situation. It is ABSOLUTELY too low if you're towing or have 400-500 lbs in the back. This is a Firestone kind of situation. Under inflated tires. The correct tire pressure is whatever it is that gets you perfectly even wear across the tread. If that WERE 28 psi, then it'd be 28 psi, but that won't happen, so .... This all assumes that the steering is good and the alignment is correct, of course. In an unloaded stock Sport (v6) the front should be about 2-3 psi higher because the front carries more weight than the rear. On the front, your driving style will play a part somewhat, too. If you corner hard all the time, you'll get more outside wear which you can compensate a little for by bumping up the front by a psi or two. You have to play with it a little. Tires, road conditions/quality, driving style - all are different. Shouldn't vary too much from the 32-34, though. Edward |
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Post by ES_97Sport on Jul 3, 2015 15:10:17 GMT -5
When I had the bfg radial long trail ta I was at 18-20 around town and 23-24 on the highway. With the rugged terrain it has dropped a few all around. I forgot to compensate for the altitude here. I forget that everyone doesn't live at 5,6,7K ft. Loose a bit of mileage up here.  Edward |
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Post by ES_97Sport on Jul 3, 2015 15:15:25 GMT -5
My mileage calculation is off the odometer. At 291 miles it took 12.4 gals to fill. I'll video the next fill. I'm going to run tests with the Torque OBD2 and I'll be glad to share all that info when I get it.I've got a 3.5L. I raised tire pressure from 33 psi or there abouts from the tire store and filled all 4 to 35 psi. I use my Ashcroft industrial service pressure gauge. This seemed to eliminate the slight tire recovery that was noticeable after hitting a bump. It feels good now, but I'm going to drop to 34 psi and see how that goes. Even apples to apples comparison Sports can call for slightly different psi with different suspension characteristics. Ok. Yea, you're odometer is going to be way off with a 1.6" difference in diameter. I ran 33"s on my Sport for several years with the stock axle gears - my odometer is off by about 60-80K miles. That's correct. Although usually the difference is between the Wide and Narrow versions because of the different tire/rim combo. Like I wrote in my other post, you need to play with it a bit until you get even tread wear across your tires. Edward |
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Post by jkdv8 on Jul 3, 2015 20:25:09 GMT -5
Yes, elevation didn't even occur to me but then again the tire size thing didn't occur to me either. Think the tires on mine are a tad larger than the yokos it came with but not by much. I do believe there're wider however instead of taller so it would just be the rolling resistance issue.
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Post by r0llinlacs on Jul 15, 2015 21:32:07 GMT -5
... I noticed the door sticker on mine says the recommended tire pressure is 26psi. That seems low to me. Yep. The sticker on my big Sport is like 26/28. I have no idea where they get that number from. That is WAY under inflated. I figured that out about two months into my big Sport. The factory Yoko tires were wearing out on inside and outside and the middle was getting no wear at all. Bumped the pressure up to 32 in the back and 34 in the front and the tire wear was perfectly even all the way across the tread. Been like that for years. Even after I did the SAS and Danas with the 35" M/Ts the pressure has stayed the same. Now its between 32 and 34 but its the same front and back because of the weight of all the gear that's always in the back of the truck now days. IMHO 26/28 is too low in an unloaded, stock Sport. That's low enough that there's a real possibility of rolling the tire right off the rim in a hard cornering or panic situation. It is ABSOLUTELY too low if you're towing or have 400-500 lbs in the back. This is a Firestone kind of situation. Under inflated tires. The correct tire pressure is whatever it is that gets you perfectly even wear across the tread. If that WERE 28 psi, then it'd be 28 psi, but that won't happen, so .... This all assumes that the steering is good and the alignment is correct, of course. In an unloaded stock Sport (v6) the front should be about 2-3 psi higher because the front carries more weight than the rear. On the front, your driving style will play a part somewhat, too. If you corner hard all the time, you'll get more outside wear which you can compensate a little for by bumping up the front by a psi or two. You have to play with it a little. Tires, road conditions/quality, driving style - all are different. Shouldn't vary too much from the 32-34, though. Edward Wow, you say factory Yokohama? Are you telling me that I'm riding on 17 year old tires with 200,000+ miles on them? Now that I think about it, I don't even think they've been rotated! The tread wear on the front is exactly like you described, all of the wear is on the left and right side of the tires (almost bald) and the middle is where the tread is at. The rears are worn even and still have good tread. I'm a little paranoid now unless the PO replaced the factory Yoko's with newer Yoko's. Do you know the model of the factory tires by chance? I agree 26psi is too low. I got tired of my Sport pulling to the right so I decided to check the tire pressure as that would be the easiest fix, and glad I did because I had 40psi in the rear left, 36psi in the rear right, 24psi in the front left and 30psi in the front right. Weird because I would think that would make it pull to the left but nevertheless, I inflated to 30psi all the way around and it made a world of difference. I've always gone by eye, but these tires are deceiving and I've never had a vehicle so sensitive to tire pressure. I'll leave the rears even with the fronts since I have about 250lbs worth of audio equipment in the back... but I'm also tempted to go maybe 35psi for the summer to save gas. Thoughts on that? |
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Post by ES_97Sport on Jul 16, 2015 14:39:34 GMT -5
The factory Yoko tires were wearing out on inside and outside and the middle was getting no wear at all. ... Wow, you say factory Yokohama? Are you telling me that I'm riding on 17 year old tires with 200,000+ miles on them? Now that I think about it, I don't even think they've been rotated! The tread wear on the front is exactly like you described, all of the wear is on the left and right side of the tires (almost bald) and the middle is where the tread is at. The rears are worn even and still have good tread. I'm a little paranoid now unless the PO replaced the factory Yoko's with newer Yoko's. Do you know the model of the factory tires by chance? I agree 26psi is too low. I got tired of my Sport pulling to the right so I decided to check the tire pressure as that would be the easiest fix, and glad I did because I had 40psi in the rear left, 36psi in the rear right, 24psi in the front left and 30psi in the front right. Weird because I would think that would make it pull to the left but nevertheless, I inflated to 30psi all the way around and it made a world of difference. I've always gone by eye, but these tires are deceiving and I've never had a vehicle so sensitive to tire pressure. I'll leave the rears even with the fronts since I have about 250lbs worth of audio equipment in the back... but I'm also tempted to go maybe 35psi for the summer to save gas. Thoughts on that? Probably not - at least I HOPE not.  Tires that old would be cracked and it'd be pretty obvious they were really old. I don't know what the US Sports came with but the JP Sports came with Yokohamas - I think they were HSTs. They weren't available in the US otherwise except from the dealership. Good tires, weird (back then) size. Yep, under-inflated. Wear on the inside and outside, minimal center - under inflated. Wear in the center, minimal inside and outside - over inflated. KIM, we're talking about wear that is exactly the same BOTH inside AND outside. Wear caused by out of adjustment toe and or driving can look similar but not exactly the same. Typically with a front engine vehicle, especially with our Sports when they're unloaded, the front is inflated 2-4 PSI more than the back because there's more weight on the front tires than the back. If the rear is loaded full of gear or you're towing with a heavy tongue weight, the rear will move closer to even with the front or slightly above. Depends on where you want to sink your money. You're going to spend it one way or the other no matter what. Either you wear out the tires and replace them sooner - costing you money - or you spend more on fuel. There is not free lunch here. I have to balance this all the time on my big Sport. Its just a little more obvious when you're spending $1200 a year on tires and typical mileage is in the 15 MPG range. Personally, I opt for spending it on fuel. Running over inflated tires causes increased wear on the suspension and drive train - which is a lot more expensive to fix than just the cost of replacing tires. Also, there's a higher chance of blowout, breaking or damaging a rim if you hit something if they're over inflated. SOME tires don't work correctly if they're over or under inflated, too. It can affect self-cleaning as well as fluid evacuation. Depends on the tread and carcass design. AND, over inflation decreases the contact patch - which means you're actually decreasing the amount of rubber in contact with the road which can - and in most cases does - decrease traction. If you're looking for a more fuel efficient tire - buy a more fuel efficient tire. Trying to turn a non fuel efficient tire into one is always a bad idea. Anyway, IMHO, always best to have your tires properly inflated. Edward |
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Post by r0llinlacs on Jul 16, 2015 14:45:08 GMT -5
Wow, you say factory Yokohama? Are you telling me that I'm riding on 17 year old tires with 200,000+ miles on them? Now that I think about it, I don't even think they've been rotated! The tread wear on the front is exactly like you described, all of the wear is on the left and right side of the tires (almost bald) and the middle is where the tread is at. The rears are worn even and still have good tread. I'm a little paranoid now unless the PO replaced the factory Yoko's with newer Yoko's. Do you know the model of the factory tires by chance? I agree 26psi is too low. I got tired of my Sport pulling to the right so I decided to check the tire pressure as that would be the easiest fix, and glad I did because I had 40psi in the rear left, 36psi in the rear right, 24psi in the front left and 30psi in the front right. Weird because I would think that would make it pull to the left but nevertheless, I inflated to 30psi all the way around and it made a world of difference. I've always gone by eye, but these tires are deceiving and I've never had a vehicle so sensitive to tire pressure. I'll leave the rears even with the fronts since I have about 250lbs worth of audio equipment in the back... but I'm also tempted to go maybe 35psi for the summer to save gas. Thoughts on that? Probably not - at least I HOPE not. Tires that old would be cracked and it'd be pretty obvious they were really old. I don't know what the US Sports came with but the JP Sports came with Yokohamas - I think they were HSTs. They weren't available in the US otherwise except from the dealership. Good tires, weird (back then) size. Yep, under-inflated. Wear on the inside and outside, minimal center - under inflated. Wear in the center, minimal inside and outside - over inflated. KIM, we're talking about wear that is exactly the same BOTH inside AND outside. Wear caused by out of adjustment toe and or driving can look similar but not exactly the same. Typically with a front engine vehicle, especially with our Sports when they're unloaded, the front is inflated 2-4 PSI more than the back because there's more weight on the front tires than the back. If the rear is loaded full of gear or you're towing with a heavy tongue weight, the rear will move closer to even with the front or slightly above. Depends on where you want to sink your money. You're going to spend it one way or the other no matter what. Either you wear out the tires and replace them sooner - costing you money - or you spend more on fuel. There is not free lunch here. I have to balance this all the time on my big Sport. Its just a little more obvious when you're spending $1200 a year on tires and typical mileage is in the 15 MPG range. Personally, I opt for spending it on fuel. Running over inflated tires causes increased wear on the suspension and drive train - which is a lot more expensive to fix than just the cost of replacing tires. Also, there's a higher chance of blowout, breaking or damaging a rim if you hit something if they're over inflated. SOME tires don't work correctly if they're over or under inflated, too. It can affect self-cleaning as well as fluid evacuation. Depends on the tread and carcass design. AND, over inflation decreases the contact patch - which means you're actually decreasing the amount of rubber in contact with the road which can - and in most cases does - decrease traction. If you're looking for a more fuel efficient tire - buy a more fuel efficient tire. Trying to turn a non fuel efficient tire into one is always a bad idea. Anyway, IMHO, always best to have your tires properly inflated. Edward You say JP sports? You mean sold in Japan or made in Japan? Anyways the tires are definitely not in the best of shape. They seem to be Yokohama 815B? |
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Tires that old would be cracked and it'd be pretty obvious they were really old.
