Hey guys.. I'm new to this thing but I'm jw if anyone here could help me out. I have a 1999 ford ranger sport (whatever the sport means) and I wanna get some bigger tires but only wanna install a leveling kit of sorts. Don't have the money for a suspension lift and hate the way body lifts look. So if any of you guys have pics of y'all's rangers with leveling kits and 30's or 31's that would help. Also what brand of leveling kit. My truck has coil springs in the front. She is a 2wd 5 speed and a real hardcore badass!!

 

Just as a heads up when changing tire size, especially with a 4cylinder engine:
Assuming you have 225/70R15 tires now they have a 27.4" diameter
Other option on 2WD in '99 were 205/75R14 is 26" diameter

Assuming you have 3.73 rear differential gears, it's the most popular.
Look here to see what you have: Ford 7.5 & 8.8 Inch Axle Tag & Door Codes

30" tires would change the rear gearing to 3.41
The lower the rear gear number the slower the acceleration, its a loss of torque at low speeds, but MPG at highway speeds would be better, unfortunately the extra weight of the tires is pretty much a break even, so...........just notice less acceleration.
Weight of tires is not just the extra LBS, it requires more torque to get heavier tires to spin, so along with gearing ratio change some torque is lost in getting heavier tires to spin.

If you have 26" tires now then 30" would change gearing to 3.23, a real hit on acceleration.

To gain the acceleration back requires you to change the differential gears.
4.10 would get it back to "as is" assuming 27.4" to start with.
You could also get Limited Slip(L/S), both wheels are powered instead of just one as with OPEN differentials.

Speedometer/odometer is also effected since the electronic system is programmed for the rear gearing and tire size at the factory, Ford Dealer can reprogram it for new tire size.
If you have an automatic trans then speedometer being off will effect when trans shifts, manual off course would be unaffected.
Switching rear gearing would get speedo back to "normal", or close to it.

 

Thanks for the heads up. It's a open diff with 3.73 gears. Not to much worried about my speedo being off or messing with my gas mileage. It's a truck lol I do often find myself riding down dirt roads or trying to get to my favorite fishing spot and struggling to make it when it rains with my street tires. Sure the bigger tires won't help but I just want it too look a little more like something I would own and a little less like my grandpas driving it.