Would this be an acceptable tire to replace my BFG Trails with? Michelin LTX M/S at 30/9.50/15. I'm reluctant to not put the same tire on my vehicle that the manual says it should have.
Put a set of 31x10.50 on it and call it a day. It will look better too. Pop put a set of 265/70/16's, which are a little bigger than stock, on his '01 se 4x4 and they fit fine and look good. By the way, he used Firestone Destination AT's.
Taller tires are just like putting in a numerically lower rear gear in. The vehicle will be moving faster for a given engine speed in a given gear, or seen another way, the revs will be lower for a given vehicle speed. Mileage and performance will likely be worse, but not significantly (maybe even unnoticeably).
So, I'm torn between the 31 and 30 inch tires (31/1050/15 and 30/950/15). One is 1/2 inch higher but 1 inch less tread on the ground, the other has the same tread on the ground but sits 1 1/2 inches higher than my 265/70/15s. But if I want the Michelin LTX M/S I must go with the 30 or 31s.
The 31" tire will probably only be about 1" taller. If you go to the manufacturers website and pull up the tire specs, you'll find the actual tire size.
When I switched from factory tires (235/70/15) to 31x10.5x15 I noticed no differance in gas mileage in the city but about 1.5 more mpg on highway going 65mph. My speedometer is off by about 4mph at 60mph. exponentially less going slower, more going faster..
Thanks to all of you. I'm getting a set of 31/10.5/15 Michelin LTX M/S tires in the morning. A little more than the BFG LTs but from having had 2 sets of LTXs on other vehicles with about 120K on them total I know how good a tire it really is. Oh, and RWL out!