Different Size Tire Than Factory

[explorersport23]

Hey guys

So I bought my '01 Sport used about 4 months back and noticed that I needed new tires as the tread was pretty low. Now that I'm done with school for the summer and making enough money to afford a set, I ran into a problem. The factory size for the '01 Sport is 235/75/15 yet the tires on it are 265/70/16. It seems as if the wheels are factory as they have the Ford emblem on the center cap of each hub. So basically I'm just wondering if I were to go out and buy factory size tires (235/75/15) should I expect them to fit the wheel or do you think the wheels could be different since the tires on them are the 265/70/16. I'm not a pro when it comes to tires, actually this will be my first purchase of a set. I've been looking at the Goodyear Wrangler Radials, do those perform well off road? Any comment helps. Thanks!

 

[swshawaii]

Two stock tire sizes. 235/75-15 and 255/70-16. (Tire specs page 6)
https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas/non-html/2001/expstcd.pdf

Drivers door pillar VIN decal should list factory specs, including tire size.
http://www.ford-trucks.com/articles/ford-door-sticker-decoder/

Click "Vehicle". Input VIN, then "Expand this list". Almost an original window sticker.
http://www.etis.ford.com/vehicleRegSelector.do;jsessionid=A47007AA4B41BCBF1F7672855C7D463C.eccvas502

 

[explorersport23]

Thank you!

 

[Anime]

The last number in the tire size, 15 in the 235/75R15 and 16 in the 265/70R16, indicates the wheel diameter.

You can't (safely) fit a 15 inch tire on a 16 inch wheel, or a 16 inch tire on a 15 inch wheel, so if it has 16 inch wheels and 265/70R16 tires on it, you should get 265/70R16 tires to replace those.

As posted, you should check the door sticker to see which size tires the vehicle originally came with and is calibrated for.

You can also check out the spare tire. Usually if the spare is a 265/70R16 too, that would indicate the vehicle came with 265/70R16's. Of course there's a chance that all 5 tires and wheels could have been changed, but if the door sticker says 265/70R16 as well, then you know for sure.


As for tires, Goodyear makes quite a few with the Wrangler name. The basic, cheap Wrangler Radials are not that great. They do make a few other 'Wrangler' named tires that are good though. Check out sites like Tirerack to see how tires compare to each other in reviews.

Tirerack survey of all-terrrain tires:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=ORAT

Tirerack survey of all-season tires:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=HAS


There are also plenty of other brands out there, like Falken with their Wildpeak A/T tire, that are more budget-friendly white still being a quality tire with good performance.

 

[explorersport23]

The last number in the tire size, 15 in the 235/75R15 and 16 in the 265/70R16, indicates the wheel diameter.

You can't (safely) fit a 15 inch tire on a 16 inch wheel, or a 16 inch tire on a 15 inch wheel, so if it has 16 inch wheels and 265/70R16 tires on it, you should get 265/70R16 tires to replace those.

As posted, you should check the door sticker to see which size tires the vehicle originally came with and is calibrated for.

You can also check out the spare tire. Usually if the spare is a 265/70R16 too, that would indicate the vehicle came with 265/70R16's. Of course there's a chance that all 5 tires and wheels could have been changed, but if the door sticker says 265/70R16 as well, then you know for sure.


As for tires, Goodyear makes quite a few with the Wrangler name. The basic, cheap Wrangler Radials are not that great. They do make a few other 'Wrangler' named tires that are good though. Check out sites like Tirerack to see how tires compare to each other in reviews.

Tirerack survey of all-terrrain tires:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=ORAT

Tirerack survey of all-season tires:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=HAS


There are also plenty of other brands out there, like Falken with their Wildpeak A/T tire, that are more budget-friendly white still being a quality tire with good performance.

Wow thank you so much!