Tire Experts Needed

[Skiordie53]

Just got a set of 4 05 Town car 17" rims really cheap for snow tires. Been seacrhing and playign with tire calculators for 2 days with no avail. I came up with 215/55/17 front and 245/45/17 rear. i have been told this will not work. anyone else have some suggestions. rims are on their way too late to just get 16"s as some members of this board liek to tell me.

[blackf0rk]

Im more interested in why those tires wouldn't work. I'm not saying that they will - I would just like to know why they wouldn't. What have you been told?

[David Morton]

If you get a tuner you can make any tire that will fit work, just modify the tire parameters for the PCM to use with the tuner.

[2003DOHC]

Just got a set of 4 05 Town car 17" rims really cheap for snow tires. Been seacrhing and playign with tire calculators for 2 days with no avail. I came up with 215/55/17 front and 245/45/17 rear. i have been told this will not work. anyone else have some suggestions. rims are on their way too late to just get 16"s as some members of this board liek to tell me.

Stock front tire 235/50/18=27.25 dia. 215/55/17=26.31 dia.
Stock rear tire 245/55/18=28.61 dia 245/55/17=25.68 dia.
You would not want a smaller in dia. rear tire.

[Skiordie53]

I was told becuase of tire diamiter. can anyone help me find something that will work.


also if i purchase an xcal2 can i change tire diamiters int he pcm.

[snowbird]

Try this secret link from UK to calculate front and rear diameter.

http://www.tyresave.co.uk/tyresize.html

You then open another window with say, Tirerack, and go with sizes research. Tirerack will give all size available for a given brand or all available manufacturer for a given size.

You are now a tire moding expert !. :D

The computer like 5% bigger rears but will tolerate 2-3 % difference. If you're willing to drive with TC off all the time (Thats what i do in the winter), then you can go with an easy same size on all four corner and benefit from a four way possible rotation, a plus with the fast wear those soft compound tires exibit. Now, a lot of combination can work but for winter, the thinner tires usuallly work (grip) better at a little cost on the handling side.

[ADE 1000]

Based on my investigations last year, the 17" combo that will work is 225/60-17 front with 235/65-17 rear. Finding a 17" matching set in these sizes was difficult, but possible.

[SergntMac]

There are no "experts" here, we're all guessing. Moreover, "park it". I know you don't want to hear either, but both are true. That said...

"Winter" tires present you with two problems. 1) Driving through thick accumulation of snow, i.e. deep *****, and 2) getting decent traction and safe control on snow affected roads. Roads otherwise clear.

Problem #1 is affected by tire width. Skinny tires cut through snow accumulation better than fat tires.

Problem #2 is affected by lack of tire width, i.e. fatter tires provide more traction on "slick" roads, otherise clear of snow obstruction.

Somewhere inside these concerns, a reasonable agreement between width ideal for one condition, meets up with a width ideal for another condition.

235/65/17 on all 4 corners sounds about right, but look at stock "all season" radials for Town Cars, for better prices.

[bigslim]

You can this thread out. I had put some Lincoln wheels on my old 03' and used 225/60R17 on the fronts and 245/60R17 on the rears. It worked fine for cars with traction control. You can click on the red boxes and see the rims I had on it. Here is that old thread:http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=6905&highlight=winter+tires

[Skiordie53]

Big slim, what brand tires did you use. tire rack did not list anythign for those rear sizes and only run flats for the front size.

[Black Terror]

Stock front tire 235/50/18=27.25 dia. 215/55/17=26.31 dia.
Stock rear tire 245/55/18=28.61 dia 245/55/17=25.68 dia.
You would not want a smaller in dia. rear tire.
The tire size quoted here are well within range of PCM(1.04 %)
215/55/17 = 26.31 dia.
245/55/17 = 27.61 dia.
These figures are using tire calculator that checks out with all tire manufacurer specifications.

[bigslim]

Big slim, what brand tires did you use. tire rack did not list anythign for those rear sizes and only run flats for the front size.
They were Michelin.

[metroplex]

"Winter" tires present you with two problems. 1) Driving through thick accumulation of snow, i.e. deep *****, and 2) getting decent traction and safe control on snow affected roads. Roads otherwise clear.

Black ice is a major problem for all tires.

Thick deep slush is a problem at high speeds. Slow down so the tire can displace the slush.

Decent take-off traction and control is accomplished with decent snow tires and some weight in the back of the car.

Ice: Good luck and slow down. Correct fishtailing slowly and gently. You may hit a curb or two if there's not enough room. Parking the car is the best solution.

Snow tires are generally soft and mushy. The "sport" snow tires are OK until you hit deep snow. But the sport snow tires are better on dry and wet pavement. My Dunlop Graspic DS-1s are horrible on dry and wet roads. But they're decent in heavy snow if you keep the speeds low. They're useless on black ice and ice.

In MI, whenever it snows, the snow stays there on unplowed and unsalted roads for at least 2-3 weeks. That means having to deal with 3"-4" of unplowed snow at the very least, on a daily basis until you hit the main roads.

I save up enough leave as possible so I can stay home when its snowing or icey outside.

[Skiordie53]

Blackterror the rear tire size i had quoted was a 245/45/17/ i have not seen anything in a 245/55/17. would a 245/45 work or am i again back at square one?

[SergntMac]

Blackterror the rear tire size i had quoted was a 245/45/17/ i have not seen anything in a 245/55/17. would a 245/45 work or am i again back at square one? IMHO, both sizes are much to wide to provide reasonable safe traction in snow above 2" accumulation. My advice is to look for a tire with less of a footprint, something under 7" wide, properly inflated. Maybe this link will help your search? It will give you the cross sectional width of the tire in inches.

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTireMath.dos

The 245/45 tire is 9.65" wide, and the sidewall is 4.34 inches tall. Very compatable with the Marauder, but I do not recommend them for winter driving. Tires that are almost 10" wide will turn into snow plows, and anything less that a full time snow tire with a snow aggressive tread in the rear, will not overcome this snowplow effect.

BTW, how wide are the Lincoln wheels? The general "rule of thumb" from industry experts, is that the cross sectional width of the tire should not exceed the width of the wheel by more than one inch. So, the 245/45/17 should have 8" wide wheels. Hope this helps.

[Black Terror]

Blackterror the rear tire size i had quoted was a 245/45/17/ i have not seen anything in a 245/55/17. would a 245/45 work or am i again back at square one?
That is out of range, so back to square one.

[Dragcity]

Anyone know how tall we can go before we have rubbing issues in the wheel wells.? I am looking at 29.4" tall 225/75-16 Rears and 28" tall 215/70-16 Fronts.


Anybody tried this combo?

[snowbird]

Anyone know how tall we can go before we have rubbing issues in the wheel wells.? I am looking at 29.4" tall 225/75-16 Rears and 28" tall 215/70-16 Fronts.


Anybody tried this combo?For the front, no sweat. I'm running 235-70-16=28.95"

For the rear, i run the same 28.95". Your scenario will fit with more than needed clearance, at least, with the police pack genuine 16" wheels i'm using. But that a pretty thin and pretty tall setup. Not for the faint of the heart. F350 club owners will probably want to invite you at their parties , but it's always nice to meet new people !!

[Sully008]

For the front, no sweat. I'm running 235-70-16=28.95"

For the rear, i run the same 28.95". Your scenario will fit with more than needed clearance, at least, with the police pack genuine 16" wheels i'm using. But that a pretty thin and pretty tall setup. Not for the faint of the heart. F350 club owners will probably want to invite you at their parties , but it's always nice to meet new people !!
Talking about thin, I got the winter wheels and tires from the previous owner of my MM for $500 Cdn. They look like they've never been used.:D He has Pirelli Scorpion Ice and Snow tires, but the sizes are F: 215-65-16 and R: 215-70-16 on 16" CVPI wheels. The offset is ~3%, and I've had no T/C or ABS problems. I'm thinking he went with the smaller width to cut through the deep stuff we'll be getting soon.