Newbie Questions

[tturse]

Hey all, I have a few newbie Explorer questions.

1st- going to buy 30x9.5x15 Dueler AT's and my mechanic mentioned that this very slight increase in tire diameter and height may effect how the vehicle performs due to the computer compensating?

2nd- wondering if anyone has experienced this- there is a clunking sound when giving gas after shifting from park/Drive into reverse and from reverse into drive.


3rd- kind of stupid, but does anyome know how to quiet the squeeking and rattleing center console/arm rest?

TIA,


Thomas
Denver, CO
97 XLT SOHC

 

[MO_GUY]

Originally posted by tturse



3rd- kind of stupid, but does anyome know how to quiet the squeeking and rattleing center console/arm rest?

mine does the same, really bugs me!

btw- welcome to the site

 

[canada74]

i've got a '96 with 31x10.5x15' and my speedo is out about 8mph and the abs acts up during normal braking(wich once the weather turns nice im going to unhook it), if i were you i'd go with 31's, they look and perform much better imo

 

[Dre]

30X9.5 won't change much as these are almost the same size as your stock tires. You should have no problems as far as handling or what's not. If you'd go to 32 or 33 then I can see a difference. I had run 30's a while back and never noticed a thing.

Check your ratio - then we might be able to say if you'll fill anything by going to bigger tires.

Second thing --- clunking might be caused by worn-out u-joints or joints on your drive shaft... check that first.

Third? turn-up your stereo.... won't hear a thing

 

[diablo5969]

Originally posted by canada74
i've got a '96 with 31x10.5x15' and my speedo is out about 8mph

Seriously? I've got the same size tires on mine, and I hope my speedo isn't off. Does this usually happen with such a small tire size increase?

 

[section525]

Originally posted by tturse
3rd- kind of stupid, but does anyome know how to quiet the squeeking and rattleing center console/arm rest?

How about an alignment. Mine use to shake so bad I actually took it out for a month or so. But I got an alignment and the shaking stopped. I also thought about sticking some tennis balls between the seats and consoles!

 

[TPLYNCH]

2nd - For the clunk, have your Slip Yoke lubed.....

 

[canada74]

your speedo might be out depends on what size you jumped up from. i went from 235/75/15(29") to 31"

 

[section525]

Here you go. The trusty 'how far is my speedo off' calculator!

http://www.therangerstation.com/Speedometer_Change_From_Tires.html

 

[diablo5969]

Ummm...Crap. I wasn't expecting the speedo to get misaligned by such a small difference in size.

Just to check, are the stock tires 29"ish? And is that calculator correct for our speedos too? (I know both those answers are yes, but I figure I'll check anyway it might be my chance to save myself)

 

[section525]

Yes (Actually, they're 28.9"!)
Yes

Here is another good calc to convert metric tire sizes to inches!

http://www.therangerstation.com/Metric_To_Inch_Tires.html

 

[diablo5969]

Ummm, well, according to the calculator, my speedometer is off by 7-8%. What can be done to fix that?

 

[Robert]

diablo5969 - put a new speedometer gear in your transfer case. They run about $10.40 at Ford. Do a search for speedometer gear and you'll find my thread with part numbers and colors for the applicable gears.

For anyone interested - when changing tire diameter sizes from anything stock, your speedometer and odometer will change by the same percentage difference as your tires. For instance, if you go from a P235 75R15 (28.9") tire to a 30x9.5 (30") your speedometer will change by 3.7% Changing your speedometer gear by one tooth is good for approximately 5%. So anytime you change your tire size by more than 2.5% you can make your speedometer closer to stock with a new speedometer gear. This only applies to '97 and earlier Explorers. Starting in '98, Ford did away with the $10 speedometer gear.

 

[diablo5969]

So the odometer's off too? Doh! Knowing my luck I didn't really pass 100,000

But thanks for the info, I'll check it out