When I purchased my 2000 XE in December it came with steel rims on it and new tires. Since then I have purchased the 15" Alloy rims from that year. What I'm planning on doing is keep both sets of rims the steels will stay as is with the tires on them for the winter. However I need to purchase tires for the alloys, what size tire do I want that I will use only for spring summer and fall for regular road use?

Thanks in advance.

Stock size was either 235 or 265/70/15 depending on whether or not you have the Sport Package (which came with alloy rims to begin with). But since you bought used, someone might have swapped the original alloys out?

You can put on 30x9.5 (slightly smaller than the 265) or 31x10.5 (slightly bigger) with no problem at all except maybe some mudflap trimming with the 31s depending on the actual tire. You can go bigger still but with more trimming/rubbing issues.

You won't be disappointed with the Michelin Crosss Terrain SUV in the 265/70-15 size.

Ok sorry about the stupid questions but I've never dealt with TIRES really for any of my cars. I just replace what was already on there.
What would the advantages be? I'm probably not going to go bigger because I dont want to cut the mud flaps. So why would I go smaller.

PS thanks everybody for your suggestions.

Just stick with the 265x70... the only reason to go smaller would be to save a few bucks... Paul was right... the Michelin Cross Terrain is the best street SUV tire on the market right now... while it is the most expensive by a long shot, it will last the longest (about 60k-70k miles)... when I was working at NTB the tire had no mileage warranty, as it was a brand new tire and Michelin was waiting to see what wear would be like, but this was by far one of the best tires I had ever dealt with... well worth the extra $$$... my .02

Actually, the 30 X 9.50 is almost exactly the same diameter as the OEM 265/70 R15 tires (check the tirerack website); the width is slightly less. The 31 X 10.50 is about an additional inch in diameter, and has slight interference problems. I replaced my OEM tires with the Michelin LTX tires in the 30 X 9.50 size. Here are my observations after 3 months on the new tires:

Good: The LTX's have a stiffer sidewall, resulting in significantly better handling. My fuel economy has also increased about 1.5 mpg. The lower rolling resistance is very noticeable. The diameter is virtually the same, so there are no problems with speedometer error, over-gearing, etc. The tire is an LT (light truck) tire with a load range C rating, so it is more rugged, despite the higher weight rating on the OEM tires. The tread is very deep; the tires should last around 80,000 miles. The white lettering on the Michelins adds to the appearance of the X.

Bad: A truck tire is, well, a truck tire. The ride is slightly stiffer. The tread width is about 3/8 inch narrower than the original tires. The section width is about 3/4 inch narrower than the OEM tires. Section width is the maximum distance from sidewall to sidewall. These measurements were done with a simple ruler, so accuracy not guaranteed. The LTX series truck tires have a mostly square cross-section, rather than the oval cross-section of the P series car tires that came with the Xterra. Therefore the new tires appear less aggressive, and more utilitarian (more of a Land Rover appearance).

My opinion? I would definitely choose the 30 X 9.50 Michelin LTX's again.