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Coreyepp313

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City, State
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Year, Model & Trim Level
97' Explorer XLT 4.0 OHV
So, I have been upgrading and restoring my 1997 Explorer XLT 4.0 OHV since I purchased it for under a Grand with 129,000 miles, almost a year ago this month. I haven't had any major issues with the vehicle at all and have put quite a few miles on (160,390) it from driving it to Florida and back. I had a little hesitation from "stop" and a rough idle from time to time so I replaced my IAC & TPS. Seems to be working well. Now do I have to disconnect my battery for 10 minutes or more to reset the computer or will the relearn process happen after 50 miles? Also, my wife blew out 2 of our tires(smacked a curb) and I have 2 16 inch rims with new tires on them that will fit. Is it ok to run 16in. In the back and 15in. In front?
 



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You don’t have to reset the computer if you don’t want too, although it wouldn’t hurt.

Are you 4wd? If so you need 4 matching tire and rim sizes.
 






I have the 4wd but run auto or 2wd 99% of the time. If I'm not going to use 4wd until I get all the same tires , will I be ok to use the 16s in the back?
 






Auto will try and run in 4wd when it there is wheel slippage, which it will think there is since the tires are different diameters. 2wd won’t be an issue with the transfer case, but likely will be a problem with the ABS system.

I’d just get 4 matching tires.
 






it doesn't matter if your wheels are 14" or 20" as long as the TIRES are the same size (rolling diameter)
You can put a 31" tire on a 15" wheel or you can put a 31" tire on a 20" wheel...they are still 31" tall.
The control trac AWD wants the tires to all be the same rolling diameter.
16" wheels will not hurt if tires are same diameter

Welcome!
 






With the "control trac" system we have, do NOT skimp and try to save money when it comes to tires, make sure ALL four tires are exactly the same size, and similar wear. Good Tires are cheaper and safer then having to repair a transfer case.
 






I’ve never seen different tires be an exact match in OD, even if they claim to be the exact same size. Since 90% of tires are sized in metric, and not SAE, getting a match between sizes is extremely unlikely.
 






True that
I just like to point out to people that their thinking about rim sizes is off a little, the tire sizes stay very similar
You can always take some air out of the larger tires or pump up the slightly smaller tires to help make up for the small differences in rolling diameter. Chances are the speed sensors wont notice much of a change.......You do not want to run like a 28" tire up front and a 30" in back, but like a 29.5" and a 30" may get you by for a while......
 






Thank you guys for the answers.. I actually was given barely used 16' land rover discovery rims with brand new tires on it that fit the lug pattern perfectly and all the same size Michelin tires on it....the issue I'm having now is buying the lugnuts that go to these rims. Land rover discovery rims take a certain lugnut and I found some at Advace Auto that were pretty cheap. I just hope they fit the bolts on the Explorer.... I love my Ex and have some rust underneath I really wanna start replacing parts under the car but I need these damn lugnuts first!!
 






Explorer lugs studs/nuts are 1/2X20. If that's not what you bought from Advance they will not work on the lug studs.

As said, do not mix tire/wheel sizes on a 4WD/AWD. Even the same size/brand of new tire mixed with used tires is a bad idea.

You might want to research the "brown wire mod" to be able to turn off AUTO engagement of the front wheels, but this may depend on whether your 4WD switch has AUTO/2WD and 4WD settings. There were a surprising number of different configurations used by Ford.
 






Pretty sure 97 was the first year of Auto/high/low.
 






Pretty sure 97 was the first year of Auto/high/low.

Perhaps. I'm not into 4WD anymore. I recall I once looked on eBay for a used Gen II Explorer radio bezel and was quite surprised at how many different 4WD switch configs I saw.
 






True that
I just like to point out to people that their thinking about rim sizes is off a little, the tire sizes stay very similar
You can always take some air out of the larger tires or pump up the slightly smaller tires to help make up for the small differences in rolling diameter. Chances are the speed sensors wont notice much of a change.......You do not want to run like a 28" tire up front and a 30" in back, but like a 29.5" and a 30" may get you by for a while......

^ This. There is an allowance built into the transfer case system to account for slightly different sized tires due to differences in wear otherwise you would blow out clutches every time the front wore slightly more than the back or visa versa. Granted, it's not a lot, but unlike the AWD 4404 transfer case in the 5.0, it's not as sensitive to tire differences since it is not active all the time. And like 410 said wheel size is irrelevant, tire size is paramount.

And if you are that worried about it if you have the auto 4x4 just remove the front driveshaft, 8 8mm bolts for the CV joint on the t-case and 4 T-30 bolts at the differential. Done.
 






95 was the first year of the Control Trac AWD on V6 trucks
 






95 was the first year of the Control Trac AWD on V6 trucks
Yes, but 95/96 had 2wd/4 high/4 low making tire size slightly less critical. I don’t consider controltrac AWD.
 












He’s describing a viscous coupling like found in the 4404, which is traditional AWD, and not the electromagnetic ball clutch setup found in the 4405.
 






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