Biggest tires on stock '03 Explorer

[pipewhiner]

Hello all,
New member here, I have a 2003 Explorer with stock Michelin Cross-country tires. I believe they are 235-70R16's? What is the biggest size I can move up to or does the 4 wheel independent suspension get thrown out of whack with any other tire size?

 

[chrisrbarrow]

Tires

Welcome to the site, from what I have found out on this site, the biggest tire on a 03 was a 265/75-16 with some trimming of the plastic iside the fender well! Here is the link:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88472

But on another site only a 245/75-16 was the biggest and here is the link with a picture:
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/504795/1
he also had to do some trimming on the plastic inside the fender well!

I hope these help

Chris

 

[pipewhiner]

Thanks for the help. I wanted a 265/75 but the tire shop said it would probably rub. They suggested a 225/75. I am limited to Goodyear tires and wanted the Wrangler AT/S but in the stock size only the Wrangler RT/S was available.

 

[chrisrbarrow]

tires

I also have an 03 XLT 4x4 and wheel well on my truck is 34.5 inches wide from front to back which will should be able to fit a 32 inch tire in there!
Now, as far as off road there may be some rubbing as the tire travels up and down. Did you look at the two threads I gave you?

 

[pipewhiner]

Yes I looked at the threads. I need to maintain the stock rims as well. One of the explorers had aftermarket rims with a different backspacing though. I'm not sure if I would have to go that route. If so, I'm stuck with stock. This is a work vehicle and the tires that came from the factory are helpless on anything other than pavement.

 

[chrisrbarrow]

Tires

You can still use your stock rims, the stock tires 235/70-16 are only 29 inches as where as the 245/75-16 are 30.5 inches and the 265/75-16 are 31.7 inches depending on what brand of tire, you might want to check out Walmart tires, the liberator that the have is actually made by michelin and the 265/75-16 liberators cost $82.00 each where as the michelins will cost you about $130.00 each.
Go to the tire rack web site and the specs will also give you the width of rim to use. The 265/75-16 will fit on a 7 inch rim wide which is what the Explorers have.

 

[pipewhiner]

Thanks for the assistance, but as previously mentioned I'm relegated to use of Goodyear tires (state contract) so that is why I wanted the Wrangler AT/S. I'm assuming that changing tire sizes does not adversely affect the suspension geometry or ABS system.

 

[chrisrbarrow]

Here is the specs on 245/75-16 these tires will not affect the suspension or the ABS system.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Spec.jsp?make=Goodyear&model=Wrangler+AT/S
Here is a tire caculator so you can compare and see the difference in speed-o-meter readings.
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

 

[slapjac]

Thanks for the assistance, but as previously mentioned I'm relegated to use of Goodyear tires (state contract) so that is why I wanted the Wrangler AT/S. I'm assuming that changing tire sizes does not adversely affect the suspension geometry or ABS system.

Why not switch to a Goodyear MT/R?

 

[Skip108]

Tires

I have an 03 XLT Sport (4 door and not Sport-track). It came with stock 245-65-17 and I put 265-70-17s on with no rubbing. It is real close when turning the wheels, but in 5,000+ miles there has been no rubbing. Stock tires were BF Goodrich and I went with Michelin M&S if it makes a difference.

I have also had no problem with ABS. After having the speedo recalibrated I could see about a mile more to the gallon. (5%). Tire is about 7% bigger so it make sense.

Only down side is that I had to get a bigger drop hitch ball mount. My bike trailer already pointer up hill because I moved from a 2001 Explorer, but I had to change the ball-mount after the additional 1 inch gain in vehicle height with the new tires.

Hope that helps.

skip

 

[pipewhiner]

I had MT/R's on another pickup. I really liked them. However alot of my driving is on the highway and the AT/S gave me better longevity. Not only am I limited by brand but also specific models of tire which does not include the MT/R. I wish it did. I believe I'll try a 245/75r16 AT/S.

 

[IAmTodd]

I also have an 03 XLT 4x4 and wheel well on my truck is 34.5 inches wide from front to back which will should be able to fit a 32 inch tire in there!
Now, as far as off road there may be some rubbing as the tire travels up and down. Did you look at the two threads I gave you?

Just because its bigger than 32 inches doesn't mean that it will not rub the inside of the fender well. I think we will be stepping up to 255/70s in a few weeks.

 

[pipewhiner]

Well I got the 245/75 r 16 Wrangler AT/S tires last friday. No problems with clearance and makes it look alot beefier. Thanks for all of your help.

 

[chrisrbarrow]

tires

Lets see some pictures!

 

[pipewhiner]

Ok, it's been a few weeks with the new tires and I got a few possible problems. When taking off, it feels like the auto 4WD is engaging. Could there be a speed sensor that would be adversly affected by the bigger tires? I also just got the ABS light. I know on my F-350 PSD that Ford can recalibrate the PCM within a certain range of tires sizes. Does anyone know it this is possible with the Explorer? What are my options here? I just thought of another problem. With this silly Auto 4WD, my stock size spare won't do any good will it. Darn it I may have to buy another tire.

 

[chrisrbarrow]

biggest

pipewhiner, it is very possible that your 4x4 auto is kicking in! The diameter of all 4 tires must be no less than 1/4 inch in circumference of each other according to the factory, Your on board computer monitors tire spin 50 times a second so if one tire up front is smaller than 1/4 smaller your 4x4 auto will try and kick in.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112184&highlight=4x4+auto
As far as your ABS light, could be just a bad ABS sensor!