Cool tires, lame fuel economy

[MTB-BRUH]

Sorry to be off topic but what brand/where did you get that headache rack and side rails? I am having trouble find ones that mount the way it looks like yours do. Very cool and useful looking!

Hey thanks for the compliment! I actually built that setup. I’ve done a few in the past on other rigs so I had a idea of what I wanted on the Ranger. 90% of why I did it is for how useful it is, multiple tie down points are great.

Sponsored

 

[MTB-BRUH]

how are you guys checking fuel mileage after a tire swap? Did you use a hypertech programmer of forscan to correct the speedometer so mileage is accurate? If one has considerably increased tire size without correcting the speedometer, are you making mileage corrections to account for the reduced mileage readings? I've started multiplying my mileage by 1.033 percent to make the mileage reading more accurate so the fuel mileage calculations aren't as out of line I first thought. I went from the stock 255/65/17's to 275/65/17's and it helped to make the actual mileage corrections in order to figure actual fuel mileage. There's 22 revolutions per mile difference between the two tires, so I add that back in to the mileage calculation, other wise the calculations will always be off. Multiplying the mileage by 1.033 (that's the amount i figured for an increase of 1'' in diameter) makes about .6 difference per gallon to the positive. While it's not huge on my truck, it's only a difference of 1" diameter for my tire size. For those who are running significantly taller than stock tires, perhaps accurately adjusting your mileage may help you to see what your actual mileage is. It seems I lost about 1 mpg more or less on the highway mileage, and maybe 2 in town, but I haven't had the tires on the truck for long so it's hard to say for sure.

Took this into consideration as well. But you can feel it in the pedal. Robs a pretty good amount of power. I live in the mountains and most hills that I use to downshift to 8th now it stays in 9th. Seat of the pants is also considerably different. Don’t have to rev it out as much as before getting on the freeway.

 

[Michael Bailey]

Another item to remember when discussing fuel economy is that the refineries change to their inferior winter formulas, so it is not just the cold weather that is reducing mpg. If you changed to larger tires at the same time your gas changed to winter formula - and the temps dropped, you have those additional variables to consider.

Because I live in the mountains, sticking with the "test-drive" tires over the winter would not work. So, I bought a matching set of take-off 18" rims from a gentleman on this site and mounted a set of M/S tires to change to for the snow season. This was a far less expensive option than I would have thought at the outset, with the deeply discounted cost of the rims and the excellent set of 'pre-owned' Goodyear Wranglers I sourced in the North Valley.

These tires are 3/4" taller than stock (changing from 265/60r18 to 275/65r18)giving me worse mileage by 1-2 mpg. Also, my speedometer error is 1-2 mph and we have some highly dedicated speed-cops to beware of around here.

 

[Lost19Ranger]

Did you ever sell the wheels and tires? Lol.

 

[TheKracka]

You may already know this but on sites like Tirerack you can click on specifications to see things like tire weight, etc.

OE Hankook specifications:

 

[Hounddog409]

Yeah. That's the way to do it. Tire weight and diameter are the most important thing. Everyone wants bigger and more aggressive. A lot of people do it just for looks and never even go off roading. And everything takes a hit - gas mileage, acceleration, road noise, handling and ride quality.

At the minimum, for the very little off roading I do, when it's time for new tires I'm staying the same size as stock and looking seriously at tire weight. I just wish more information was available about tire weight. Someone should start a thread compiling info.

Tire rack lists weight for each tire.

Stay away from LT's. The ranger cannot tow/haul enough to need 'em.

Amazing how much variance exists between the same size tires - Even stock size. The stock all terrains my ranger are listed at 34lbs. That is awfully light.

 

[TheKracka]

Was checking out Wildpeaks, if you go here and scroll down right under the picture of the tire tread you'll find "size and specifications" click on that and it'll give you all the specs.

https://www.falkentire.com/tires/light-truck-suv-cuv-tires/wildpeaka/t3w-tire

 

[HenryMac]

Welllll... it was fun while it lasted. I put LT265/75r/16 Cooper ST Maxx tires on my Ranger. Looks awesome, tows great. But my power and fuel economy took a pretty solid ding. About 3-4mpg. So back to stock Bridgestone duelers and not be so cool.. Tires for sale if anybody is interested. local pickup only Redding California

I love the look of your truck with the LT265/75r/16 Cooper ST Maxx tires. Why not keep the old tires, mounted on wheels, and then swap them back and forth onto the truck when needed?

Tire rack lists weight for each tire.

Stay away from LT's. The ranger cannot tow/haul enough to need 'em.

LT tires are more heavy duty than P rated tires, and for folks that drive on something other than paved roads those tires may indeed be beneficial.

Our FX4 Scab was ordered, by the Wyoming dealer, with LT tires. We're averaging over 25 mpg.

Folks change multiple things, then boil the issue down to one. In the case in question the OP installed oversized tires with aggressive tread, that were LT tires. All those factors combined hurt the mileage, not just the fact that they are LT tires.

 

[RANGER_MARC]

Was checking out Wildpeaks, if you go here and scroll down right under the picture of the tire tread you'll find "size and specifications" click on that and it'll give you all the specs.

https://www.falkentire.com/tires/light-truck-suv-cuv-tires/wildpeaka/t3w-tire

I agree with the points expressed above about staying close to stock-sized and -weighted tires in the interest of preserving power and mileage. I plan on running the stock Hankook ATM tires until they start showing some wear (about 8,000 miles and they still look good) and then upgrading in terms of quality and aggressiveness, but not going bigger or (much) heavier. I'm leaning toward Wildpeak A/T3W but would love to hear from members who have actually tried them, especially on their Rangers. Or is there something better out there? I don't do a lot of off-road but like to be ready for anything in terms of bad roads, unintended obstacles, snow- and rain-storms, etc., and the Falkens seem to fill the bill. I have read a lot of reviews on the web, but I don't really trust them....

 

[Langwilliams]

I'm also considering the Wildpeak a/t3 tires in 265/70/17. they look to be about 8 pounds heavier than the 255/70 duelers that came on my ranger.

 

[OKRaptor]

Larger wheels and/or tires definitely impeded performance and mileage. After installing my wheel/tire combo, I ended up getting a tune which brought the performance back up to (actually exceeded ) prior performance before installing the wheels. The down side is, I only average 18.2 MPG.
But hey, my Raptor only got 11.2, so I'm stoked

 

[Ranger_Rocks]

Larger wheels and/or tires definitely impeded performance and mileage. After installing my wheel/tire combo, I ended up getting a tune which brought the performance back up to (actually exceeded ) prior performance before installing the wheels. The down side is, I only average 18.2 MPG.
But hey, my Raptor only got 11.2, so I'm stoked

Which octane fuel does your tune require ?

 

[OKRaptor]

Which octane fuel does your tune require ?

I have multiple tunes, but currently in use and will likely be most of the time is the 91 Octane tune.

 

[Yamahauler]

What wheels are those on the OP's truck?

Sponsored