Just a few questions for someone who doesn't know a thing about Tires... (me)
All regarding my 2002 Ford Explorer XLS 4x4 4.0L 4-Door
Well, I noticed two small "holes", no bigger than the eraser at the end of a standard pencil. One you could see white mesh like material, and another one the rubber was getting ready to go (it was just "flapping", but you could also see the same stuff under it). I took it to a Tires Plus store and the guy said it does need to be replaced, but as long as I was going to be driving around town and not putting too many miles at a time on it. Well, I'm going to be putting about 3500 miles on it in the next 2 weeks and over hot cement, so I figured I'd buy new ones. These tires only had 41,400 miles on them, and the guy said I had at least 5000 miles more to go in them.
Anyway, the guy recommended that I go with a set of Bridgestone Dunlap All-Terrain tires, and to go to the next size up. Factory had Michelin P235/70R16, and they put on the Bridgestone P245/70R16.
I did ask about speed differences, and he said it was about a 1/6" taller than a new tire of my OEM size, and wouldn't make more than 2mph difference on my speedometer.
Question #1: I bought 4 new tires and went ahead and replaced them all. It didn't even occur to me about my spare tire, which is still a P235 size tire. IF, for some reason, I do need to put on the spare, being of different size, could that harm my vehicle (4x4 system? etc)? Do I need to be looking into also replacing it with the exact same size tire? Or will it suffice in "an emergency" and be able to drive on it until I am able to find a suitable replacement.
Question #2: Regarding the torque on the lugnuts... what ft lb do you make sure it's set at? I've been told 90ft lb on up to 120... I don't want to over-torque it, yet I don't want it to be under. What's a safe number?
Thanks for the info!
Tim