El Camino Man
Thank The Lord For BBFs!
Hey guys! I read "reading your tires" and that gave me an idea on putting a thread on here about... reading your tires! This took me quite some time to understand but Iv got the hang of it now. Lets get it started!
We will start out with the most common tire: the metric!
Ok guys. First off, the most important number on any tire is what follows the "R" (such as 255/75R16 or 33/12.50R16) That is what size rim the tire will fit on. I believe the R stands for Radial and the number is the size in inches of the rim. In no way, shape, or form will a certain size rim fit on another (i.e. a R15 tire will NOT fit a R16 rim, or any other size rim except a R15). Make sure you know what size rim you have before selecting a tire! This number means the same on all tires, including metric, standard, p-metric, etc etc.
From here on, im just gonna leave this number out, but it is included on all tires. This will just make things easier to understand.
Moving on to those other numbers. The first number is the width of the tire. You want to stay as close to the rims original number as possible, meaning my truck has a 255/75 tire. If you go under the number, to a 215 lets say, the tire will wear quicker on the outter edges. If you go over the number, to lets say a 285, the center will wear quicker and you may also encounter rubbing issues. Also, the wider the tire, the less mpg you get due to surface area and friction. This number can range from as low as 165 all the way up to a 325. After that, they usually turn into metric (described later). This number goes by 5s but with no zero such as 235, 245, 255, 265 etc etc. Got it?!
The middle number is the most difficult to understand. Its called the aspect ratio. Through some fancy formula (dont ask because I havent a clue lol) they get this middle number. Its essentially the height of the tire compared to the width of the tire. Meaning a 255/75 tire is taller than a 255/65 tire. This also means that a 255/75 tire is taller than a 235/75 tire. This number ranges from as low as 35 all the way up to a 85. Also, this number goes by 5s: 50, 55, 60, 65, 70 etc etc.
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So, now that you understand the "metric" way to read tires, lets move on to standard tires! These are wayyy easier to understand! These numbers read like this: 33/12.50R15. Dont get these confused with flotation tires. Those are used on tractors and such.
Anywho, standard tires are backwards to the metric tires, as in the height is the first number and the width is the second. These are easier to understand because the first number (such as 33/12.50) means your tire is 33 inches tall! Easy! This number goes by ones so that is easy too. They start as low as 29 and go up to crazy numbers like 56. You wont see that big of a number on street legal trucks lol. To better understand this, most guys will say "It had 44 inch boggers!" The height of the tire is what theyre talkin about.
The second number is width. This means a 33/12.50 tire is 12.50 inches wide! Easy! Not much to explain here. This number ALWAYS has a .50 on the end.
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Some old school stuff that you shouldnt have to worry about on a Ranger is called P-metic. These dont have an aspect ratio so they just read 185R15. You will see these on classic VWs and such.
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The last thing Ill talk about is called the load range. This number isnt super important on a Ranger just because you shouldnt be hauling 3 ton of rock in the bed lol. But just remember that the higher the number/letter, the stiffer the tires gonna be, thus the rougher the ride. This reads as either a number like 123/125 or a letter from A-E. If your not sure about the load range, look it up on the internet.
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Other stuff that you will see on the side of tires are the speed rating, tire wear, max tire PSI, number of plys, what the belts are made of and a whole load of other stuff that im not super familiar with. To make things easy, you really shouldnt have to worry about those much. You drive a Ranger so you shouldnt be driving at Mach II speeds, you shouldnt be driving through the Baja 1000, and I always use 34-36 psi. Some others can chime in here about those numbers if they want. Thanks for reading guys!
We will start out with the most common tire: the metric!
Ok guys. First off, the most important number on any tire is what follows the "R" (such as 255/75R16 or 33/12.50R16) That is what size rim the tire will fit on. I believe the R stands for Radial and the number is the size in inches of the rim. In no way, shape, or form will a certain size rim fit on another (i.e. a R15 tire will NOT fit a R16 rim, or any other size rim except a R15). Make sure you know what size rim you have before selecting a tire! This number means the same on all tires, including metric, standard, p-metric, etc etc.
From here on, im just gonna leave this number out, but it is included on all tires. This will just make things easier to understand.
Moving on to those other numbers. The first number is the width of the tire. You want to stay as close to the rims original number as possible, meaning my truck has a 255/75 tire. If you go under the number, to a 215 lets say, the tire will wear quicker on the outter edges. If you go over the number, to lets say a 285, the center will wear quicker and you may also encounter rubbing issues. Also, the wider the tire, the less mpg you get due to surface area and friction. This number can range from as low as 165 all the way up to a 325. After that, they usually turn into metric (described later). This number goes by 5s but with no zero such as 235, 245, 255, 265 etc etc. Got it?!
The middle number is the most difficult to understand. Its called the aspect ratio. Through some fancy formula (dont ask because I havent a clue lol) they get this middle number. Its essentially the height of the tire compared to the width of the tire. Meaning a 255/75 tire is taller than a 255/65 tire. This also means that a 255/75 tire is taller than a 235/75 tire. This number ranges from as low as 35 all the way up to a 85. Also, this number goes by 5s: 50, 55, 60, 65, 70 etc etc.
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So, now that you understand the "metric" way to read tires, lets move on to standard tires! These are wayyy easier to understand! These numbers read like this: 33/12.50R15. Dont get these confused with flotation tires. Those are used on tractors and such.
Anywho, standard tires are backwards to the metric tires, as in the height is the first number and the width is the second. These are easier to understand because the first number (such as 33/12.50) means your tire is 33 inches tall! Easy! This number goes by ones so that is easy too. They start as low as 29 and go up to crazy numbers like 56. You wont see that big of a number on street legal trucks lol. To better understand this, most guys will say "It had 44 inch boggers!" The height of the tire is what theyre talkin about.
The second number is width. This means a 33/12.50 tire is 12.50 inches wide! Easy! Not much to explain here. This number ALWAYS has a .50 on the end.
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Some old school stuff that you shouldnt have to worry about on a Ranger is called P-metic. These dont have an aspect ratio so they just read 185R15. You will see these on classic VWs and such.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The last thing Ill talk about is called the load range. This number isnt super important on a Ranger just because you shouldnt be hauling 3 ton of rock in the bed lol. But just remember that the higher the number/letter, the stiffer the tires gonna be, thus the rougher the ride. This reads as either a number like 123/125 or a letter from A-E. If your not sure about the load range, look it up on the internet.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Other stuff that you will see on the side of tires are the speed rating, tire wear, max tire PSI, number of plys, what the belts are made of and a whole load of other stuff that im not super familiar with. To make things easy, you really shouldnt have to worry about those much. You drive a Ranger so you shouldnt be driving at Mach II speeds, you shouldnt be driving through the Baja 1000, and I always use 34-36 psi. Some others can chime in here about those numbers if they want. Thanks for reading guys!
