well i was talking to this guy at a dealership when i bought the ranger, and told him i was probably gonna put on some bigger tires. he said i wouldn't be able to because the speedometer would read the wrong mph and that the truck would go into abs mode and give me more problems than its worth. so i say its ok ill just get the speedometer set to the tires and he said that they cant do it on an 03+ ranger. This cant be true i think its garbage but im not 100% sure. tell me the truth.

 

I got told the same thing by Canadian Tire which is a huge department store. I laughed at him and told him just to give me the prices and he said said no and gave me prices for the stock tire size!

 

it will be off but wont cause problems.

 

your speedo will be off, its basic math. but im not really sure about ABS, ive never heard any one having problems before

 

The ABS will not be off or have any problems. PLENTY of guys on this forum run bigger meats and have no problem with the ABS.

The speedo will be off but who cares. Its not that big of a deal.

 

How would the ABS system even know the speedo isn't correct or that larger size tires are on?

 

i always thought that if i got bigger tires, ya the speedo will be off but i also never heard of "abs mode" or problems. but if i did get bigger tires and the speedo reset, everything would be ok?

 

yes youll be fine i have an 03 with 33's and my speedo is off by about 5-8 and i don't have any breaking problems except for normal wearing of the brake pads.

 

He may be right. Newer Rangers (2001-on?) have VID-Block which limits the range of tire size adjustment that can be done on a particular VIN/calibration using a Ford dealer tool. I don't think VID-Block can put any limitation on aftermarket calibration tools such as Sniper or the Xcalibrator series.

 

ive got an 05 with 32's and no abs problems here, just that the pads wear alot quicker, my speedo is probalby off by like 4-7 mph

 

if you get an xcaliburator you will be able to reprogram the truck to account for the larger tire size.

 

that guy is so full of BS I can't believe he didn't smell. Let me guess, hes trying to talk you into buying a fullsize truck for 6 grand more instead right?

 

I think.. I think I remember hearing that thing about the VID adjusting tool that Ford uses like above..

They can only go above so far before they cant fix the speedo anymore, and they -cant- give you new tires and install them as well...


Its liek if you go to Costco, you cant buy new tires for your vehicle and have them install it if they are over that +-7% or whatever that range was.. Its part of the law, and they are watching their own backs.

 

On a 03 Ford can calibrate up to a 285 tire for the speed odometer. It will cost you $20.00. You won’t have any issues with the ABS at all if you don’t do it.

 

I put bigger tires on and no problems at all abs or speedometer... I have a 03...

 

That can’t happen. It’s a simple math equation. A larger tire size will throw the speed odometer off. The faster you go the farther off it will be. If you started with 31 inch tire and now have a 32 inch it won’t be much but it will be off. An inch larger at 60 is around 1.8 MPH.

 

also depends on tire pressure too.

If his tires have less than the 'rated' air pressure, the tire will compact more, and thus be smaller.

 

All i can say is that if i am on trips, using my GARMIN, speed matches....

 

my '01 originally came with 235's. i'm now at 265. going towards 285. discount tire here said as long as they fit, you'll be fine.

 

My 32" tires make the speedometer closer to being correct than the original 31" tires. That is according to GPS and radar.

 

HAHA - dealers in my area want $130 for the calibration!

 

That Sucks!

 

I’m not looking for an argument here. As I said small changes may not be noticeable at 60 or even 70mph. There is no way you can go 235’s to 285’s and have an accurate reading. A 1 to 3 mile and hour differance may not be much at all to any one individual. In particular if you are reading your guage with your eye and then looking at your GPS.

There are thousands of tire calculators on the web and even the tire stores use them. It is a simple equation; therefore if you change any variable you change the answer.

In basic algebra D=RT where d stands for distance, r stands for (constant or average) rate of speed, and t stands for time. You would want to solve the problem for r. Now that being said here is the formula for MPH.


MPH = (Engine RPM x Tire Diameter (in inches) x 0.003 ) divided by
(Transmission Gear Ratio x Transfer Case Ratio x Final Drive Ratio)

Rant over.

PS- yes I watch Mythbusters.

 

i heard the same thing about the abs and when i put my 32's on my 99 xlt...nothing haha. my speedo is off a little bit but not so bad where i don't notice i'm speeding ya know...its your call

 

i never really had any problems with my 03 i had 35s on it...the speedo was off and the ABS light came on, but that was becuase the sensor didnt seat right in the spindle