1997 Blazer LS 4X4 - Tire & shock recommendations?

Hello,

I'm looking for some suggestions for tires and shocks for a 1997 Blazer LS
4X4.

It's a daily driver with a typical mix of city and highway average annual
mileage put on it. No off roading or towing either.

Currently, the vehicle has Michelin X Radial LT (LT 235 / 75R15) tires on it
that were purchased at Costco about 5 years ago. They have 62K miles on
them. One thought is that if they have given that much service so far, that
I should just put on a new set of those. With that in mind, I checked their
website and only saw Michelin LT 235 / 70R15 tires listed for this vehicle.
Off hand, I don't recall what the difference is between the two sizes (75R
vs. 70R). I think it's the width of the tire and that it doesn't really
amount to much, but I could be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.

Although I'm glad to have gotten so many miles out of the tires, they are,
after all, light truck tires. That may account for their longevity, but also
provides a rougher ride. Would it make any sense to switch over to a P235
Michelin, or any other brand, to help smooth it out some or might that
compromise the treadwear mileage in the process?

At present, I don't believe that the shocks need replacing, but as is
usually the case, they can't be too far behind. My goal is to put a set of
good tires on the vehicle that will, not only, last a long time and perform
well, but also smooth out the ride a bit. To that end, I read a
recommendation a long time ago about using Monroe shocks, however, I don't
recall which specific model was mentioned.

So, does anyone here have a recommendation for a good set of tires and / or
possibly shocks that might give similar performance and yet make the vehicle
ride smoother?

Thanks in advance to those who post a reply here.

Peter.

"Peter Bogiatzidis" wrote in message

> Hello,
>
> I'm looking for some suggestions for tires and shocks for a 1997 Blazer LS
> 4X4.
>
> It's a daily driver with a typical mix of city and highway average annual
> mileage put on it. No off roading or towing either.
>
> Currently, the vehicle has Michelin X Radial LT (LT 235 / 75R15) tires on
> it that were purchased at Costco about 5 years ago. They have 62K miles on
> them. One thought is that if they have given that much service so far,
> that I should just put on a new set of those. With that in mind, I checked
> their website and only saw Michelin LT 235 / 70R15 tires listed for this
> vehicle. Off hand, I don't recall what the difference is between the two
> sizes (75R vs. 70R). I think it's the width of the tire and that it
> doesn't really amount to much, but I could be wrong. It wouldn't be the
> first time.
>
> Although I'm glad to have gotten so many miles out of the tires, they are,
> after all, light truck tires. That may account for their longevity, but
> also provides a rougher ride. Would it make any sense to switch over to a
> P235 Michelin, or any other brand, to help smooth it out some or might
> that compromise the treadwear mileage in the process?
>
> At present, I don't believe that the shocks need replacing, but as is
> usually the case, they can't be too far behind. My goal is to put a set of
> good tires on the vehicle that will, not only, last a long time and
> perform well, but also smooth out the ride a bit. To that end, I read a
> recommendation a long time ago about using Monroe shocks, however, I don't
> recall which specific model was mentioned.
>
> So, does anyone here have a recommendation for a good set of tires and /
> or possibly shocks that might give similar performance and yet make the
> vehicle ride smoother?
>
> Thanks in advance to those who post a reply here.
>
> Peter.
Check out the Tire Rack website. They have extensive specs on tires (like
outer diameter, revolutions per mile, etc.) as well as reviews by
purchasers. Some of the reviews are quite candid and critical, so the
feedback might be genuine. As far as shocks go, I've read a lot of positive
comments about Bilstein. Good luck.