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View Full Version : 235 70 15 Firestone Wildernesses on Stock XJ

wilcharl
October 25th, 2006, 16:13
Folks:

Back when all the firestone hype was up on the ford exploders, my neighbor had wilderneses (brand new) on her car and pulled them off. They are NOT the recalled tires..


Having 205 or 215 75 15s on my OEM on road only 100% stock 88 XJ that is my project car now after 10 + yrs as a daily driver, I need new tires. The LTX MS are at the end of their life. Its not driven on interstates and is driven like 1000 mles a year.

Will the wildernesses fit and what can i expect from ride ie : speed-o issues and height

Thanks
88XJSport
October 25th, 2006, 16:19
The 89 pioneer that i have been wanting (another thread) has 235 Wilderness AT's on it. Yes they do fit, Your speedo will be off, i dont know how much, and i cant tell ya about the ride height, but i can tell ya they fit on a stock suspension.
1985xjlaredo
October 25th, 2006, 16:42
Your speedo will be off about 3mph at 60mph You will be going slower than it says I think
wilcharl
October 25th, 2006, 17:11
i can deal with 3MPH how about clearenence issues with stock ride height - sagging from time
BigG
October 25th, 2006, 18:08
Your speedo will be off about 3mph at 60mph You will be going slower than it says I think

With larger tires, you will go faster than the speedo says you are.
00Classic
October 25th, 2006, 18:35
Before you run them on the road check the date code in the DOT #. If these tires were taken off during the Ford recall they are quite old. The last fart of the DOT is a number code and the first 2 numbers are the week of production and the last two the year. If it is a three digit code it is pre 2000. Old tires with lots of tread are not recommended.
chelms27
October 25th, 2006, 20:33
You will be fine(they will fit well), get the tires and adjust for the speedo increase.
autocrossxj
October 25th, 2006, 21:42
you will have absolutely no fitment issues, i've got 30x9.5s on my stock xj and have never had my tires rub yet. your speedo will barely be off about 2-3mph at 60. as for the quality of the firestone wilderness i'm not sure, but they've got to be better than the stock gooyears my xj came w/.
PhotographerMike
October 26th, 2006, 17:37
Our daughters first car was 20+ years old with low mileage and almost "new" looking tires. The sidewall of one went out suddenly, fortunately she was driving slowly, but . . .


Before you run them on the road check the date code in the DOT #. If these tires were taken off during the Ford recall they are quite old. The last fart of the DOT is a number code and the first 2 numbers are the week of production and the last two the year. If it is a three digit code it is pre 2000. Old tires with lots of tread are not recommended.
DenLip
October 27th, 2006, 11:57
Folks:

Back when all the firestone hype was up on the ford exploders, my neighbor had wilderneses (brand new) on her car and pulled them off. They are NOT the recalled tires..

Having 205 or 215 75 15s on my OEM on road only 100% stock 88 XJ that is my project car now after 10 + yrs as a daily driver, I need new tires.

Size is not an issue. A 235/70 (note the *70*, guys!) will stand about 161.25mm off the rim. This is between the two sizes of 75-series tires you mentioned (205/75 is 153.75.... 215/75 is 164.5). Lots of guys here (including me!) run 235/75's on stockers... so the width will be OK, too.

My only concerns are with age (7 years since they were taken off) and the fact that they're Firestones (from an era when dried-out Firestones were making national news on a daily basis!).

If you're not doing much highway driving... I'd probably trust them. But, personally, I wouldn't be comfortable "handicapping" my car that way!

I've had the same thoughts cross my mind lately. I need tires next month before I can get the rig inspected... and I'm tempted to buy a set of used tires from CraigsList or such... but I'm having a hard time convincing myself that the cost savings are worth it.

Den
Captain Ruggy
October 27th, 2006, 16:56
I have been running 235's on my XJ for 2 years now. i off road it every weekend and never had any problems.
AlohaBra
October 27th, 2006, 22:25
Folks:

Back when all the firestone hype was up on the ford exploders, my neighbor had wilderneses (brand new) on her car and pulled them off. They are NOT the recalled tires..


Having 205 or 215 75 15s on my OEM on road only 100% stock 88 XJ that is my project car now after 10 + yrs as a daily driver, I need new tires. The LTX MS are at the end of their life. Its not driven on interstates and is driven like 1000 mles a year.

Will the wildernesses fit and what can i expect from ride ie : speed-o issues and height

Thanks
Are you sure...the Explorer had 235/75 (not 70) -15 FS Wildrness AT on it stock. The Ford tire might blow but that is not why the Explorer flipped over. It was the way the Ford was designed and the way the tire wrapped around the back alxe when tread came off.

Speedometer is barely off..(1-2 mph off using GPS verification) and I ran Goodyear Wrangers 235/75-15 (29 inches in height) vs. the stock 225 (28 inches in height) tires. No rub...I have seen most agency Jeeps such as U.S. Forest Service using these.

Enough said...use them if they are free...but you can buy Goodyear Wrangler GS-As new at Wal-Mart for $60 each new in this size. (The FS tread is a little on the meek side.)
For more money....Goodyear Wrangler-Silent Armor...the best AT tire I have used. (Again in the 235 -29 inch size.)
wilcharl
October 30th, 2006, 21:29
So the fact that one is a 70 and one is a 75 does not matter?

Thanks
Flip94ta
October 30th, 2006, 21:35
Can you rephrase that question?

Is one tire a 70 and one a 75?

A 235/70/15 will fit perfectly and your speedo will be pretty close, like with in 1-2 mph at 75 mph. Just make sure to check the date code or list it here if you are unsure.
Flip94ta
October 30th, 2006, 21:47
Or did you mean my stockers are 215/75/15and will 235/70/15 work? The answer is still yes.

Heres the breakdown, the first three digits are the tire width in MM, 255 is about 10 inches, 235 about 9 inches and so on.

The middle two digits are aspect ratio, or a percentage of width to make the height of your sidewall. Like 75 would mean 75% of 215 or 75% of 8 inches, which is about 6 inches.

The last number is the size of the wheel in inches. 15 inch.

So you can add it all up like, a 215/75/15 tire is 15 inches plus 6 inch sidewall plus 6 inch side wall or about 27 inches tall. 215 is about 8 inches wide. So you have a 27x8 tire.

A 235/70/15 is about 9 inches wide times .7(70%) aspect ratio = ~6.3 inch tall sidewall
15 lus 6.3 plus 6.3 = 27.6 inch tall tire. You have a 27.6x9 tire.

Someone maybe able to provide a link with a better explanation. but those wires are well within an XJ's abilities and will cause no issues.
AlohaBra
October 31st, 2006, 07:33
So the fact that one is a 70 and one is a 75 does not matter?

Thanks
I just meant the 70 series (which is wider and shorter) is not the "stock" tire that was recalled. The 75 series which was stock and is taller was the one recalled. I use non-recalled Firestone Wilderness ATs (made by Bridgestone) on my Mazda Tribute and I am not worried that the are going to blow up. (I don't think that was the Ford problem anyway.)

I have used both those sizes that have been mentioned on the Jeep and they fit with no rubbing. They will change you speedo reading slightly (barely noticable).