Newbie in search of enlightenment

[Kimbokyo]

My first post.
I have a '97 bone stock Mountaineer AWD and am shopping for new tires and have decided on either 30x9.5x15 or 265-75-15 to go on my stock rims or new 16x8 rims with 245-75-16's, (don't want any rubbing, just a better look). But my local tire shop won't install any size tires other than the standard OEM sizes. They tell me by going to bigger tires not only will it affect the speedo (which I can live with) but it will adversley affect the anti-lock brakes. Has anyone else had a problem with this? Can going bigger create a problem with the anti-lock? Any problems with the sizes I've listed? Any input from you knowledgable members would be appreciated. Thanks.
BTW, this board is awesome! Lots of good info!

 

[canada74]

yup, i have a'96 and have 31's on it, amd no lift, just find another tire shop, and yes your speedo will be off as will your abs ( they will try to engage when coming to a slow stop) i just dont worry about it

 

[bentley]

Id say go to another shop. I have been running 265-70-16 yokos for 2 1/2 years now. never had a problem.

 

[X~FACTOR]

How does having a taller tire affect abs? I have 265/70-15 and I rarely feel the abs at work when stopping on dry roads. On snow is totally different story though, they function normally.

 

[Billy177]

your speedo will be off but you can get one of those power programmer things that will reprogram your car to the bigger tires and fix the abs and the speedo

 

[VBVA]

Just buy the tires and have a "local" mechanic do the mount/balance for ya. It could be cheaper that way and you don't have to deal with the shops who actually worry about your safety

 

[donkey boy]

It will not affect the effectiveness of the ABS. The ABS sensors have no way in figuring out, how big the diameter of your tires are. This means, if for example your ABS just works for speed above 5mph, and you do 6 mph with the bigger tires, it "thinks" you are just going 5 and will not engage. That's all, not a real problem at all. If the tire monkey insists that slightly bigger tires are dangerous, then politly ask him to check the famous blinker fluid and go to a different dealer

What can be thrown off are the shiftpoints of the tranny, that it would shift back on hills on the interstate for example where it never would have shifted back with the smaller tires. I had on my Ex 31x10.5-15 (3.55 gears) without any problems what so ever.

The only thing - but that I'm sure you know - you have to run the same tire size on all four wheels. Otherwise you might be long term looking for trouble
HTH