changing a 215 tire to a 195? what will happen?

Question

i drive a 1988 ford ranger, and the tires on it now are done.

but 3 of the tires are 195's and one is a 215 (guetto little truck, i know)
well stock it runs 215's all around,(it says that the truck CAN be ran on 195s on websites that tell you about the truck being stock, so its not a uncommen thing)
this truck MAYBE puts out max 90HP.....
so i was going to switch the tires to 195's becase i dont need that extra tread on the ground with such a low hourse power!
(better gas mileage being a big goal)

but this truck sits most the summer, and i drive my bike durring the summer.

so my question is.
would it be ok to put 195's on this truck? what will be different then running 215's?

and as far as traction, would it be ok to put 215's on the rear, and 195's on the frount? (this way to have better grip in snow/dirt ect)
or will it make the truck act funny?


a little advice/help would be great!
(going to go get them tommarow

forgot to mention the truck is 2wd.
its a light weight truck, no ABS, and manual stearing, so its a real handful right now in the show, thats why im so concerend about that.

im a experenced driver, taken over 6 driving class's in the military as a MP, but i never learned about tires in the snow.

thanks for the advice so far, i think i will be going with the 195's!

im sure the truck will act alot better then it is now (i think the extra big tire is why its acting crazy in the snow right now, becase the tires have "ok" tread, but the 215 tire thats on the passenger rear, is all a all season tire, and the rest are regular high mileage touring tires, so i think thats why the rear end keeps tryign to whip around when the tires lock up in the snow.


oh well, THX for the advice so far!

forgot to mention the truck is 2wd.
its a light weight truck, no ABS, and manual stearing, so its a real handful right now in the snow, thats why im so concerend about that.

im a experenced driver, taken over 6 driving class's in the military as a MP, but i never learned about tires in the snow.

thanks for the advice so far, i think i will be going with the 195's!

im sure the truck will act alot better then it is now, i think the extra big tire is why its acting crazy in the snow right now, becase the tires have "ok" tread, but the 215 tire thats on the passenger rear, is all a all season knobby tire, and the rest are regular high mileage touring car type tires, so i think thats why the rear end keeps tryign to whip around when the tires lock up in the snow.


oh well, THX for the advice so far!

Answer 1

I believe the 215 vs. 195 isn't the diameter of the truck as Ray is saying. It's actually the part of the tire that touches the ground. The width of the tires.

If you switch to a 195, you won't notice much of a difference. Your truck is most likely rear-wheel drive, but with 90HP you won't lose any traction. You'll be fine, just make sure that your new tires are 195/previous profile/previous diameter

So if you're running 215/60/R15's, then get 195/60/R15's.

Answer 2

Go with the 195s on all corners.
Running a narrower tire like that will not hurt.
You may find it to be better for you.
Narrower tires work better in the snow. They cut through and grip better. Wide tires will float on the surface and get less traction.

That 215 must have been the spare.

Answer 3

As long as you don't have 4 wheel drive, you will be fine if you put two different size tires on the front and back.

As for 195's vs 215's, the tire diameter is smaller on the 195 so your rpms will be higher, slightly, at high way speed and the speedo will be off somewhat as well. It'll read faster than you will actually be going, again...slightly. For the same reason, it will show higher miles traveled on the odometer than actually traveled, thus throwing off you MPG. It'll seem like you are getting better mileage, when in reality, you wouldn't have actualy travelled as far.

It won't throw things off enough to be worth worrying about.

Answer 4

stick with the inventory measurement if feasible speedo shall be off a pair miles in step with hour with unique sizes however can often be constant on more moderen automobiles simply by getting into a correction into the pc.