New Explorer owner - need advice on tires-year round/winter

[fordlady]

I just purchased a 2010 Explorer Limited with 28k miles. The OEM tires are shot, which from what I have read is pretty typical for them to wear out that soon. My tires are P235/65R18. I have found there are limited options in that size. I have been driving F150s for years and this is the first SUV I have had. I live in CO and drive in the mountains - forest service roads to trailheads, etc. Not really true off-roading. I have always had all terrain tires on my truck and used them year around-didn't have winter tires.

Now that I have the explorer I'm wondering what other folks do about tires for winter. Change out to winter snow tires? Or if one has all terrain tires can those be used year around? I would appreciate any feedback from other forum members on this to help me decide which way to go with tires.

The last tires I had were Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armours. They were great in the snow. For the Explorer, I was looking at those, the Cooper Discover AT3, and Hankook (don't remember the tire name). I've read good reviews of all of those. The Coopers come in 18" size I could use (265) but the Goodyears and Hankook come in 17", so I would have to also buy new wheels. Which brings up another question, if I change to 17" tire, I assume I would also need to replace the spare since it is 18"? I'm wondering if the 17" tires were close to the same diameter as the 18", could I keep the 18" spare.

Sorry for the long post - I really appreciate any feedback from others. Thanks!

 

[DarrP]

I am also looking to replace my tires so I will watch the comments on this thread.

I have an '07 with factory 18" wheels and the factory spare is 17". I think that if the ODs are the same (or close) it would be fine for a spare . IIRC the tire size sticker in the driver door sill states the spare is a 17".

I got this link to a calculator from another post here, it will calculate the OD of the tire so you can compare the 17" to the 18"

http://www.performanceprobe.com/ind...nceprobe.com/misc/index.php?do=calc&page=tire

 

[fordlady]

Thanks DarrP - you are correct - the spare is a 17". It is a Goodyear Forterra - wish the rest of the tires had been Forterras - may have gotten more than 28k on them.

 

[slickemhoundd]

Grabber AT/2 is perfect for for year round and superb in the snow

 

[fedyfedz]

Grabber AT/2 is perfect for for year round and superb in the snow

x2

I get these tires a/t 2's on every one of my trucks, best tire I ever had. And it is snow rated. When I had my 2002 explorer I never needed 4 wheel drive cause my tires were so diesel! worth every penny compared to bfg's

 

[daRockinRabbit]

Grabber AT/2 is perfect for for year round and superb in the snow

^ This three times.

I have a set on my Tracker, Ranger... and I'm getting a set put on my Explorer tomorrow.

The only vehicle that I don't have it on is my swapped Impreza 2.5RS!

We hardly got any snow last year other than a fluke snow storm in October that knocked power out for 6 days in the city. I never had to put the Ranger or Tracker in 4WD as I had no problem getting around in 2WD.

 

[fordlady]

Well, I ended up going with the Goodyear Silent Armors. I really liked them on my F150 that I traded in on the Explorer. Got the American Racing AR899 17" wheels and went with the 255 tires. I'm very happy with the way it looks. The tires are very quiet and the ride is good. Will see how they do this winter. The tire diameter is the same so don't have to do anything with the speedo, etc.

Appreciate everyone's replies. I had a hard time deciding on whether to get new wheels because of the expense. But I just wasn't happy with any of the 18" tires I was looking at. Now that they are on, I'm glad that I went with the new wheels. They look sharp!