Well i just purchaced a 99' explorer sport. The front tires are on their way out so i am replacing them tomorrow. The question is what tires to get? I am need some thing that is 31" and was thinking about the wrangler series since i do go off road a little bit.

The next question.My front hub bearings are going after the tires being so worn. What are a good replacement bearing? I want something that will last and will not go after a short period of time like these under stress.

Thanks, Jon

Wheel bearings / hubs do fail on explorers, but they are expensive because they are replaced as a unit, and are not rebuilt. $200 to $250 a side just for parts. You will probably want to be sure that they are bad (making noises, front tires wobble, etc.) before replacing.

If your tires are worn unevenly, you will want to get your front ride height checked and adjusted, and an alignment. If your ride height is dropping, it will cause wear on the inside of the front tires. Torsion bars do get tired on explorers, and need adjustment or replacing sometimes.

Ball joints are pretty common problems on explorer front ends - have yours checked before you put new tires on. Bad ball joints will cause tire wear problems. For lower ball joints, you can order commercial duty, which last longer, but they are not stocked - takes four or five days to get them usually. Upper ball joints are replaced as a unit with the upper control arm - 100 to 125 each side for the assembly.

Wranglers are in the cheaper tires section at the tire store. People rip them pretty good for bad traction on ice, and you live in PA - 1010tire or one of those big tire sites has customer comments, and the wranglers don't do well. You might look at Cooper tires - they have a tire for a little more than the wrangler, and I think its much better - and looks ok as well. Others can probably make some other tire suggestions, but if you can do all four at once its better.

Thanks for the reply. I took it to the dealer today and they are replacing both front hubs for free!!! got to love power train warranties. The dealer also talked about getting a new front diff since there is a noticable clunking noise coming from that area. I can't complain so i am just going to let them do it. I also picked up tires today. I ended up getting yokohama geolanders. They are REALLY nice and i got excellent traction in the wicked weather we have been getting. I also took it off road for a little test it they did better than my wranglers that i had on there before.

Thanks, Jon

Geo landers get pretty high marks from most people that have them - probably a good choice.

Lucky DOG! Powertrain warranty! Dealers love to do work and charge it to warranty companies - you will probably get fixed up just fine.