Tire questions

[jackndelphine]

Hi everyone, I have finally found a set of 31x10.5x15 tires for my explorer, the truck is a 96 with a OHV motor, and 3.25 gears. I was just wondering, if putting these tires on my truck is gonna make a dramatic difference in power, I know it will slow me down a little and decrease my fuel economy by going to the bigger tires, but will it be a drastic difference, the truck is already a dog as it is, I really don't want to make it much worse, even though I understand it is not a race car. Anywya, that was all I had.--------Jack

 

[XLT]

I would say it is a matter of opinion. I had a 93 explorer with a manual and 3.27 gears. I threw threw on some 30 inch tires which would be 1 inch bigger then stock and the power loss was noticable. I would not throw 31s on my old 93 unless i upgraded the gears. It just bugs me having to drive a dog. But their are some guys who have run 33s on those gears for while but they said it really dogs. So basically a 1 inch tire size increase is comparable to running with the a/c on. 2 inch tire size increase over stock will be more yet. O yeah i lost 1 mpg when i switched to 30s on mine.

 

[jackndelphine]

Guess I screwed that one up, I have 3.55's and I put the tires on today and there is no difference in power, the truck is just as slow as it ever was, but now it looks a little tougher!!! Just wanted to clear that up.-----Jack