So I recently bought a really badly taken care of 99 3.0 4x4 stepside blue ranger for $700 that I was told needed a transmission and a brake line. I then found it needed a rear suspension and while I'm there I'm treating the frame rust.

What I need to figure out since I am used to buying tires for my explorer is what tires would fit my ranger (tires that are on it are 255 70r16) and fit my budget of $500. I'm looking for a nice A/T pattern that will be decent off road and in the snow, as well as look nice. My explorer was always easy since it's 235 70r15 I can just use wrangler radials or BFG A/T's or whatever. but it seems 255 70r16 is a rather difficult size to get inexpensively.

My truck is stock ride height for now, I was contemplating a 2" lift while I did the rear suspension, but it was taking way too much time to track down the shackles and the bushings and the bolts etc.

 

As far as I can determine the tires and wheels currently on your truck are not stock.here's list I found on the Tire Rack .

1993 Ford Ranger Tire Sizes

2wd
1. 195/70R14
2. 215/70R14
3. 225/70R14
4wd
1. 215/75R15
2. 225/75R15
3. 235/75R15
4. 265/75R15
Super Cab 2wd
1. 195/70R14
2. 215/70R14
3. 225/70R14
Super Cab 4wd
1. 215/75R15
2. 225/75R15
3. 235/75R15

seems to me you've got some homework cut out for you.

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yes, but i have a 99 ranger with 16 inch wheels

 

My apologies.When I read "99 3.0 my mind must have grabbed the 3 from 3.0.
Read those details twice, Bill.

 

255 70r16

255 = width of tire in millimeters, 10.04" wide
70 = Ratio of width to sidewall height, so this tire's sidewall is 70% of its width so 178mm side wall
R = Radial tire
16 = diameter of wheel it will fit

265 would be a wider tire, 10mm wider which is only 3/8", 265mm = 10.4" wide
75 would be a taller tire, maybe 1/2" at 265mm width

You can't change the 16 unless you change the wheels

So Look for 16 inch tires and then find the best price on more standard sizes

Tires also have a mile rating and it has to do with the hardness of the "rubber", low mile tires cost less than high mile, choice is based on how long you will keep this truck, or how long it will last in the case of older vehicles, lol
And if you will do a lot of driving in it, i.e. daily driver/commuter vehicle
If you have a vehicle with 400k miles on the odometer and put a set of 80k mile rated tires on it then you are an optimist, lol, I go for 50k tires pretty much every time

There is no such thing as a 4 season tire unless you live in an area where temp NEVER EVER gets below freezing
"normal" tire "rubber" gets too hard below 32degF to get good traction, so tires slip in winter driving conditions
Snow/winter tires use a softer "rubber" compound so they get better traction at lower temps, BUT.........they wear much faster at higher temps because "rubber" gets too soft.
These are just laws of physics and material properties.

Tread designs are purpose designs
The more "rubber" contacting the road the better the traction and the less the wear, i.e. NASCAR tires, they have no "treads" they are designed to put as much "rubber" in contact with the road as possible, yes they do wear out fast but that has to do with the "rubber" used, softer for better traction when warmed up.
With regular "rubber" compounds a "slick" type tire would last a long time because wear is spread out over full area in contact with the road

But in regular driving there is rain, so to slow down possible hydroplaning there needs to be slots in the tire to channel water and that is where tread design starts, and cross hatch slots to channel the water to main slots.
That's for road driving

In off-road there are other considerations, loose road surfaces or trails require "grabbing" some of the loose material to get a "grip"/traction on the loose surface, so wider gap tread designs are used, carried to the extreme you get Paddle Tires as used on dune or mud buggies, lol.
So wider gaps help grab the road on loose surfaces, but they do same on hard roads, they grab the air, so can be noisy on hard surfaces as the air tries to get out of the wider gaps.

 

after a bit of research it looks like the stock tire for this truck was 245 75r16, which is a really hard tire to find. I have to go to some really chinese sounding tire companies to find what I want... we'll see what my tire guy says.

I'm really looking for recommendations from people who might own these type of tires.

and I've been running A/T's in the winter all my life and never had an issue. I refuse to buy two sets of wheels and tires

 

Granted, this link is not the correct size tire, but you can buy a set for 304 plus tax, plus any installation fees, or just balancing if you do it yourself. Might be worth seeing what other sizes this tire comes in. Works fine for me, and I take mine offroad (and by that I mean field) occasionally.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Goodyear-...5-105S/4404150

 

yeah I have those on my explorer and like them a lot, but they dont come in 16" rim size

 

Anyone not familiar with drag racing might think the burnouts are for show . Not so they would not stand a chance with cold, dirty tires or the layer of hot rubber they launch on.

 

I highly recommend Kuhmo Roadventure AT51.

I have a set in 31X10.50-15 on my 94 4X4 SC XLT 4.0.

Nice aggressive tread, awesome in the snow. I didn't even need to use the 4WD in 12 inches +.

I've got about 5K miles on them and they are not nearly as noisy as you might expect from the look of the tread.
Not silent, just a bit of noise.

The only drawback for me is they only come in blackwall, I would prefer white letters.

 

Could try these guys.

https://www.treadwright.com/collecti...lter/245+75+16