Owners of X's with 31x10.50 tires with NO LIFTs

Owners of X's with 31x10.50 tires with NO LIFTs, post ur pics!

 

[PolarBlueIce]

What is "Clay Bar?" (I'm learning lots in this forum).

Too bad about your dad. In Canada, we rarely have to pay any hospital bills because of health plans (by government as well as by our own employers). I have never in my life paid for emergency room treatment (nor hospital stays). A pity. (But then we pay a lot more taxes in Canada than you do in US!!).

 

[Ak LTD Xplorer]

well..a clay bar it exactly what it sound's like..it's clay..you use it to take out all the grim that's imbeded in the paint..it's amazing how much crap was in mine..

it will prolly end up being around 1.5K when it's all over and done ER/doctor..ect

 

[birdman]

I used to have these on the stock rims and they didn't rub until I put them on the 15x7 crawlers and they barley rubbed the little plastic piece that sticks kind of up into the wheel well from the running boards.

 

[PolarBlueIce]

Nice Gold Explorer! Looks like 31" tires, and they look very nice (black & gold goes well together). But the tread looks real heavy. Is it noisy? By the way, very nice brick house too!

 

[birdman]

Thanks man, actually from what I researched these are supposed to be the quietest on the market, even quieter than the BFG MT. Based on the 6000 miles I've put on them I would have to say thats probably true. Had several friends runnin BFG's and they were not as quiet as these. Before BFG came out with the new sidewall design, these Duelers would own them in the mud but now they are pretty much equal. The only difference is that they are only 2 play sidewall where as BFG are 3-ply. These tires actually ride better than my BFG AT's (which I would also recommend to anyone).

 

[PolarBlueIce]

My GoodYear ATS (31"x10.50) are a little bit noisier than the RTS (P235 75R15). It is tolerable, but noticeably louder, especially at 100 km/h. Do you think your tires are noiser or quieter than the GoodYear ATS?

 

[Lee S.]

Okay I'm completely ignorant when it comes to understanding anything about tires, but I've been reading this post with much interest. My X is a mint loaded, stock, 98 X, 4 dr, 4wd with running boards. I always hated the to see all the space in the wheel wells with the stock tires and seeing all the pics in this post really solves that problem.....they all look real nice. I do not want to do the lift so I'm really just after bigger tires on stock rims with no lift. Hopefully you'll bear with my newbie questions:

1) It looks like 31x10.5 can be mounted on stock 15 in. rims with no rubbing. Has anyone attempted to do this with the secondary tranny filter mod which is usually mounted in the front passenger side wheel well? If so I assume the filter will need to be relocated to get the clearence for the bigger tires.

2) I have stock 3.55 gears......how much will MPG and HP be effected by the bigger tires? or should i not even consider this size tire with these gears?

3) How easy is it to recalibrate the speedometer?

4) I do zero off roading so what do you think is the best 31x10.5 tire for street only riding?

5) what do you do with the spare? can you fit the larger spare where the standard spare goes under the rear?

6) where is the best place (s) to shop for 31x10.5

once again sorry for all the dumb questions.......I"m searched out lately with all the other issues/mods on my truck ......I'm hoping that I'm in the right thread that someone can give me a quick education without demanding that my tired eyes use the search button once again.

Thanks guys.....great thread great pictures great lookin trucks.

Lee

 

[PolarBlueIce]

Lee S.,

I'm replying to you for what's it's worth, but I am probably as ignorant as you...but I can at least share my experience with you. I have 3.73 gears (see my pics on page 1 of this thread). When I turn the wheel to the extreme left or right, at the tightest spot I still have about 1 to 1.5 inch before it would touch the plastic of wheel well. I have GoodYear ATS -- the rough tread and it is slightly noisier than the RTS tread. But a nice FLAT SOLID feel to the ride (I don't go offroad) and a better feeling of lateral stability when I am lane changing at high speeds. I have not yet done the speedometer but plan to soon. I hear it costs about $174.00 CAD (Calgary, Canada). I paid $1000 for 4 of these 31"x10.50 R15 tires at Fountain Tire (installed, balance, lifetime rotation, flat repairs, etc.). I too have the same question about the spare: is there enough room to hold a 31" there? I believe so, but to economise, I did not yet buy a 31" spare (still have the P235 75R15)--this spare & speedometer I plan to do as soon as I can afford it. My gas mileage hasn't changed noticeably actually. Only my speedo drags slower a bit so I want it "right." With your 3.55 gears now with a P235 75R15 tire and moving to the 31"x10.50 you might need/want to change gears to 3.73 ?? Someone told me that my 3.73 is now equal to 3.55 with the 31" ires. Maybe some expert in the forum could answer that for us. I think if a lot of hill driving is done, even the 4.10 gears are preferred? As for changing the speedo, I don't know what all is involved...I'll share that too once I get it done. Stay tuned... yes, the 31" look (and really "FEEL") nicer! Get 'em!!

 

[Lee S.]

Thanks for the reply PolarBlueIce.

Yeah I figured the gears would come into play but darn those bigger tires look much better than stock. I really wasn't looking to change out the gears or do a lift.....Really just wanted it stock with the better look of the bigger tires. Now you have me thinking to go with a slightly smaller tire than max to make up for the gear issue. Would you happen to know (once again I plead ignorance on the tire thing) what the next size down from 31"x10.50 that'll fit on a 15 in stock rim is? Do you sacrifice any tire width by dropping down a size? To me the the look of the tire filling the wheel well (tire height) is important but so is the width (footprint) of the tire on the pavement.

Lee

 

[PolarBlueIce]

I know that GY has 30x9.50 R15 ... so it is 9.5 inches wide instead of 10.5" wide. The rolling diameter on this tire is 29.8" whereas the 31"x10.50 R15 has rolling diameter of 30.8" (1 inch difference). I would still go with the larger tire, and just see how your vehicle drives...but be prepared to ask the dealership to swap the gears...I don't think it would cost all that much. I had a leak in my pinion seal, and just for overkill safety sake, I asked them to replace the pinion gear at the same time--it was only $25.00 for a brand new pinion gear. I don't know if that is the 'only' gear that they would have to replace to bring your gear ration from 3.55 to 3.73. I am currently with 3.73 on these 31" tires, and feel that it is running perfectly, so I have no intention to move to the 4.10 gears. The higher gears (lower number) provides lower revs I believe (maybe I have this backwards??) and so at a highway drive at 100 km/h, probably burn less fuel. Maybe someone else out there will come to this forum with 31" tire on 3.55 gears and we can see their experience. Good luck!

 

[birdman]

whoa now guys, actual gear swaps will run you probably atleast 500 bucks. It is not worth it for the gas mileage you will lose. Bigger tires actually kind of help highway mileage.

1) 31x10.50x15's will not rub on factory rims.

2) Gas mileage will be effected but only a small amount, not like you are putting 33's on it.

3) Recalibrate speedometer if you want to spend the money but if not just know you will be going about 3 mph faster than your speedometer says.

4) You need to pick up either the Wrangler RTS or the BFG AT or the Dueler AT for primarily street driving.

5. If you want a new 31" spare, it will fit just fine.

6. This site, www.tirerack.com www.4wheelparts.com and www.ntwonline.com are all great places to shop for tires. If not just go to your local tire shop and say hey I want these.

 

[suicide bob]

question for the birdman

running 32x11.5 MTR all corners on rolling stock 2001 explo sport

my gas mileage went from 19 mpg average to 11 mpg according to the uncalibrated speedo so is it actually worse or maybe the rubbing on turns cause this???

help

 

[PolarBlueIce]

Lee S,

There now, see? I knew someone would come to our rescue!!

So forget about gears and just get the nice tires.

As for GoodYear's RTS or ATS, the RTS were a bit quieter, but these ATS grip into the snow about 5 times better (or better traction on any surface) so I prefer ATS for cure--and I think they probably look better too--more square (less soft curved on the edges) than the RTS.

Cheers.

 

[birdman]

hey bob, I'm suprised that the gas mileage decreased that much. I usually got anywhere from 260-280 miles on my allterrains and now I get like 245 a tank on my 31's. I do not think the rubbing made that big of difference but that is a huge tire to cram under there with no lift. I think it's just the size of the tire. An 8 miles per gallon drop makes sense on 33's but I have no experience with explorers on 32's. Send me a pic if you can, I'm interested to see how that fits, if you are constantly rubbing it could make a difference but I just don't see how it went from 19-11, that's almost like pulling a fairly heavy trailer. I get 10 mpg towing a 2200 pound trailer with my 31's. Anyways email me at crnorris5555@comcast.net or just start a thread on it.

 

[birdman]

Lee, this is what 31's look like on stock rims.

 

[Lee S.]

Well thanks everyone who responded to to my newbie questions. I'm gathering that the 31x10.5 will fit on my 15in. stock rims and will not rub at stock (non lifted)height. I'm also figuring not much change in MPG with the 31's and my 3.55 gears. This being the case I guess I have some tire shopping to do.

Thanks also for your recommendations on types of street tires.

Appreciate it guys.

Lee

 

[suicide bob]

dumb question

okay everyone knows that mass= resistance....

back to the 32x11.5 MTRs... how badly do balancing weights add to the decrease in mpg

while observing the pics on the X board I noticed no one seems to use them

 

[XplorerKid]

Re: dumb question

Originally posted by suicide bob
okay everyone knows that mass= resistance....

back to the 32x11.5 MTRs... how badly do balancing weights add to the decrease in mpg

while observing the pics on the X board I noticed no one seems to use them

most people that drive there truck o nthe street have weights for there tires...

But some people, like my self have the weigh put on the back of the wheels, for different reasons, some wheels you cant put waits on the front(no lip) or soem do it for looks.......

But trust me almsot everyone here runs wieghts, if they didnt there would be massize vibrations

 

[birdman]

yeah you have to have weights for balancing or your tires would be doing some serious "wobbling" which would equal vibration. Balancing weights don't change gas mileage, they don't weight enough. You'd have to have like 5 pound dumbbells strapped to your tires to change the mpg with weights. I wanna see what your MTR's look like on your truck though. They are my favorite tire.

 

[suicide bob]

playing catch up

okay it's like 1:55 a.m. in good ol' Missisloppy

just got off work.....

I will post pics asap but that'll probably be when the new prez is in office.... I'm not what some would call copmuter literate and I guess with the problems I'm having I'm not explorer literate either.