i ordered a 4 inch overland lift! i need tires

[coldtrain]

hi, first post ever. sooo i got my 2004 awd astro about 6 moths ago. its been a dream of mine to pimp out a astro since i can remeber. ( i use to want it lowered with rims and blahh as a teen)now it will be a lifted,camping,beast. my lift and bumper relocation kit should be here anyday. later i plan on a grill guard , roof rack etc. im wondering what are the best tire size/options out there. im not wanting to do any trimming under.( i will if i have to) im looking for a larger all terrain tire. or just a big all purpose tire thats large. also gonna pick rims to suit to tires i think..any help or pointers gladly appreciated.

[okie1]

Welcome to the forum, looks like you have a good project van. Good luck & we are waiting to see the progress.

[H2OJoe]

Welcome ColdTrain! There's a wealth of info on this website on everything Astro/Safari. In general, with the 4" lift you can run 31" tires with some minor
trimming of the fenderwells. Here's a link to help you decide what to get:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/ ... ?techid=53

[Smiliesafari]

Welcome to the site. We require lots of pictures. You've been warned.

[T.Low]

Welcome to ASV.

Herbie's gonna laugh. He says all they made the last three years were Pewter vans cause we all have them.

I went with a set of 255/70 16 AT's and a set of 245/75 16 MT's, both mounted on the Chevy 5 spoke rims. Minimal pounding out of the front wheel wells just at the bottom. These sizes equate to 30.5" and 30.75" respectively.

I went to Discount Tire 3 different times and finally had it narrowed down to three different tires. I left and went home again to think more about it. The next day they called me and said they had a gal return a set of Pathfinder AT's because her husband was mad that she bought tires without him. Normally $155 a tire, they gave them to me mounted, balanced, etc for $433 out the door (back in '08). I then bought an extra for a spare for the $155.

Then I found a good deal on low mileage used Goodyear MT's and mounted them on the same style Chevy rim. (I mentioned to the guys at DIscount Tire that I have a floor jack and and an air compressor so it's a breeze to change tires. They said I will be liable if a wheel comes off and causes injury to someone. They would be happy to change over my AT/MT's for no charge for me, even though I didn't buy the MT's there. Those guys are awesome.)

I've got 45k between the two sets and am not close to needing another set of either, yet.

I expect my MT's to wear rather quickly once they reach a certain point. Thats the wrap on the Goodyear MT's and I just saw it for myself on my buddie's E series 4x4.

[badassastro]

Welcome

[T.Low]

I just read a very comprehensive AT tire test, as scientific and controlled as you could have for an off/on road tire test, from an Austrailian off road mag, which included 9 different sets of tires, all mounted on identical type of wheels, etc.

The overall winner was the Pirelli Scorpian ATR. I've owned a set of those and was very impressed, but they were on my F-150 so I never really put them to the test except ice and snpw street driving on steep hills. I was blow away at how well they did.

Internet search Australian 4WD Action issue no. 167 All Terrain Tyre Comparo. Amazing article. (I read the actual magazine, not sure what you may find on the internet.)

[Xibious]

Ive tried to find something on Overland for almost a year, how did you get a hold of them, the site is 404

[markmitchinnh]

Welcome to the club-nice start with your van. Check out hercules tires too, I had the hercules terra tracs on my 4x4 S-10 they are a quiet tire with excellent all around grip. I even towed a van up a grass hill in the rain with them last spring. Good looking tires too. And great in snow.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Ive tried to find something on Overland for almost a year, how did you get a hold of them, the site is 404

Try Overlandvans.com

[JonnyAWD]

Just got a set of mastercraft courser axt tires. 255/70/16. Love them. Great warranty

[Xibious]

This might be old news already but ...

I had a van just like that, towed my cargo van from cali to chicago with it.

I put Dunlops on it, 235/75s I believe, they rode great, no noise and just a great thread design for all weather conditions. I even did a little off roading in NV with it

On my other vans I put 235/70s I think, almost 31" Mudders from Hercules, check out the pics or my profile for more info

[doyoulikeithere]

31's will require trimming for sure. Maybe quite a bit. Depend on how you drive your van I guess.
235-75-15 is a good size. its about 29" depend on brand/style.
I've had a couple sets of 235-75-15 on 2 different lifted vans.
I've had to do a litle bit of trimming on the front end to keep them from rubbing the WW back bottom corners.
I had hopes that when I did a GEN 1 it would be less of a problem than my GEN 2 was.
Turns out they both needed bout the same trimming and massaging with a BFH.
Its all good ! Welcome Aboard !

PS: Do the 02-05 vans come with 16" wheels?