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Post by Naeos_Valkarian on Feb 13, 2016 2:11:02 GMT -5
Yea ninestar, I thought they seemed a lot smaller. 255/70 is stock it seems. Think it was the set I had before these that were 275/70 or 285/70 But yea 22k miles later Yeah my tires are getting close to what yours look like but not as bad. The 235/75s I've got are a bit too small for my taste. On another note are you sure 255 is stock? If I look in the frame of the drivers door I see a sticker that says P225/75R15. Perhaps that's stock for the 2WD 98 model?
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Post by dirk on Feb 13, 2016 12:51:46 GMT -5
It depends on what the stock configuration is, whether it is a wide body flare or not wide rims or narrow etc. I know there are a couple of different things that probably effect the sticker. Mine says 255/70/16 but mine is an xls with 4.9 gear ratio, wider flares and rims.
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Post by jkdv8 on Feb 13, 2016 17:15:44 GMT -5
Oh yea ok, I used a couple of different configs on tire rack . com except the ES. I went back a tried it again and it gave me the two different sizes. But yea, whatever it came with stock you could go a little wider.
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Post by ES_97Sport on Feb 18, 2016 18:50:34 GMT -5
So delivering a pizza to a customer today (I work at Dominos) I got stuck in the mud just past their house on the side of the road while trying to find a place to park. I floored it both in drive and reverse and I was so stuck the vehicle wouldn't even budge a centimeter, I start laughing so hard when right at that moment a utility truck pulls up and pulls me out. I got so lucky today but it made me realize I need new tires worse than I thought. 31"x10.5"x15" is what I run on my stock '97 with the 5-speed M/T (stock 4.63 gears). They're a little bigger, fit well, the speedo is still pretty accurate and don't inflict any undue stress on anything and don't suck gas. That's a really good size for something that's going to be driven a lot. If you have the 'narrow' version of the Sport maybe look at the 30" x 15"s to keep the speedo closer or just get the replacement gears from Mitsu for a couple bucks, find a set of 15x7" rims and install the 31"s. I'll snap a pic and post it up of my little black Sport latter. Mark's right. Worry about tread first. A good set of A/Ts are a worthwhile investment. If you have to deal with mud, slush, snow or some combination thereof, you want tires that are 'self-evacuating'. That means the tread is designed in such a way that they don't pack with crud and effectively leave you with bald tires. Most tires self-clean to some point. Note, some tires are designed to NOT self clean - some models of ice and snow tires for example. Anyway, how good they self-evacuate and at what speed are important. There are no specs that I'm aware of for this. You have to go through off-road tire reviews. Edward
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Post by Naeos_Valkarian on Feb 18, 2016 19:36:36 GMT -5
I was thinking of heading to a local salvage yard and see if they have any newish tires on one of the vehicles. U-Auto-Pull-it sells tires for $25 each. Just need to look around and see if there's any worthwhile tires.
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Post by ES_97Sport on Feb 19, 2016 15:17:15 GMT -5
I was thinking of heading to a local salvage yard and see if they have any newish tires on one of the vehicles. U-Auto-Pull-it sells tires for $25 each. Just need to look around and see if there's any worthwhile tires. Any A/T with a decent aggressive tread pattern will probably be fine for you. I really like the Yokohama A/Ts and M/Ts as redraith pointed out, but they are soft. Neither are going to last long doing what you do. Look for something with a mid-range aggressive tread pattern. That'll give you some functionality while not tanking your fuel mileage. And, STAY AWAY from the BFG A/Ts. Edward
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Post by MonteroSportHonduras on Feb 24, 2016 22:13:41 GMT -5
Could 4.22 gears and 31"s be that bad? If I am not mistaken the 3.0 has good hp and torque. My old Ranger was a 2.5 with 120hp. I installed 4.10 gears and got a set of 31"s. They were M/T so you can imagine the thread hahaha. It wasnt a bullet but it wasnt THAT bad either. Still had some power, but the manual trans could have helped a lot too... It all went south when I decided to get a solid axle and 4x4 transmission.
Amazing 4 banger power and sweet v8 mileage
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Post by MonteroSportHonduras on Feb 24, 2016 22:17:41 GMT -5
My Montero has 4.60 gears, according to the sticker it had 235/75R15 tires but it has the 3 spoke wheels and had 255/75R16s I got H/T tires (I wanted A/T but the account said no) in 255/65 size.
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Post by ES_97Sport on Feb 25, 2016 18:45:20 GMT -5
Could 4.22 gears and 31"s be that bad? If I am not mistaken the 3.0 has good hp and torque. No, the 3.5L has good torque. The 3.0L is more of a 'HP' engine. Larger tires are more noticeable on the 3.0L. The answer to your question, however, is 'no'. Gen 1 - 225/75R15 - 28.3" (ES) 235/75R15 - 28.8" (Narrow) 265/70R15 - 29.6" (Wide) These are the OEM sizes converted to flotation. I couldn't find equivalent sizes in something generic like the BFG A/T so I used Yokohama A/Ts. Below are the stated manufacturers sizes. P235/75R15 - 28.9" 265/70R15 - 29.8" 31X10.50R15 - 30.5" 32X11.50R15 - 31.5" Note: The gear ratios do not change between the 'Narrow' and 'Wide'. My friends '98 LS M/T Narrow has the same axle gears as my '97 LS M/T Wide. A/T - 4.22 & M/T - 4.63. Tire diameter changes have a more noticeable effect on manual transmission vehicles. For example, a 1" change MIGHT be noticeable on a M/T but will be completely transparent on an A/T. The difference in diameter between the 265/75R15 and the 31x10.5R15 is 0.9". At an altitude of 5500+ ft. I can't tell any difference; at 4000 ft. I can't tell any difference between 4000 and sea level. The difference in diameter between the 235/75R15 and the 31x10.5R15 is 1.7". This would be EXACTLY the same as going from the 265/70R15 to a 32x11.5R15 on a Wide Sport. There those on here that run 32"s so they can chime in. I've drove my '97s with 265s & 31"s and my friend's Narrow with 235s. Going from her 235s to either my 265s or 31"s feels the same. I can't really tell any difference. So, the difference is really in going from the 235s to 265s. That little extra bump to 31"s isn't really noticeable. KIM, these are all M/Ts and at altitude where the effects of tire size changes are much more noticeable. There is a BIG difference between 4.22 & 4.63 and 4.10s. 4.10s are way too tall unless that 2.5 was a diesel. That's why Mitsu uses such deep gearing. Makes up for the lack of torque and HP. No, an M/T would have made it worse because you don't have the torque multiplication of the torque converter. Edward
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Post by MonteroSportHonduras on Feb 25, 2016 22:45:22 GMT -5
Man you are a walking encyclopedia! Nah, that Ranger had a gas engine, it had around 150 lb/ft of torque.
It had 3.73 gears stock and 225/70R15 tires. First I got 30"s and it was kind of ok. Then I came across the 4.10 gears and It was very noticeable how it improved. Then I got the 31"s and it still was ok until I did the 4wd conversion.
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Post by Naeos_Valkarian on Feb 26, 2016 0:27:49 GMT -5
I'm curious as to what gears you guys are talking about? Is this a gear ratio inside the transmission or something else entirely and how would I go about changing it.
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Post by pinstryper on Feb 26, 2016 10:34:31 GMT -5
differential gears, in the axle hsg. No biggie w 2 whl but 4 wheel is a pain.
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Post by MonteroSportHonduras on Feb 26, 2016 12:32:20 GMT -5
You could swap the axle's third member and get "better" gearing. Its easier in these trucks than it was in my Ranger.
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Post by ES_97Sport on Feb 26, 2016 16:25:43 GMT -5
I'm curious as to what gears you guys are talking about? Is this a gear ratio inside the transmission or something else entirely and how would I go about changing it. Axle gear ratio(s). Gear ratios in the transmissions are the same on the M/T and A/T on the Gen 1s. The M/T & A/T used the same ratio(s) whether it was a Wide or Narrow. Same for Gen 2 with the A/Ts (Mitsu dropped the M/T for the Gen 2). Yep. You can on the back because the rear Mitsu axles use a 3rd member like a Ford 9". Unfortunately the front does not. The EASIEST - but not cheapest - way to swap gears is to do the rear yourself and then have the gears swapped into the housing. The trick is to get gears that WILL swap into your front housing. The shop did a couple gear swaps on Monteros for guys here in Denver. It was about the same cost as swapping gears in my Dana. Few hundred $$$s. Edward
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Post by ES_97Sport on Feb 26, 2016 16:51:52 GMT -5
Man you are a walking encyclopedia! That's what happens when your entire extended family and most of your friends are a bunch of car nuts and you turn into one too. Yea, its amazing how much of a difference such a seemingly small change will make. Edward
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