at the mercy of the tire nazis

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blackout

New member
I just purchased my MM, and need tires. I am new to MM's and forums so hope this works. I need help because the 'tire nazis' won't install the tires I want because the stock tires are two different sizes. So, I am trying to do my due diligence. My plan is to have all tires the size of the stock rears.
I thought I had this figured out, but don't want to take any chances. I have a canadian built (build date is 08/02 according to door sticker), sold in the USA 2003 MM. As far as I can tell, it does not have T/C (no switch; too early, and no indicator light in the dash when the ignition is first turned on). Another post indicates that units built for sale in Canada have T/C. So, if mine was built in canada for USA sales, would it have T/C?. I have to get new tires asap because am down to the cords on the inside of the fronts. I have read posts on alignment issues, but need to buy new tires first and that brings us to 'what size tire?' vin is 2MEHM75V73X628906 if that helps.
 
All Marauders were built in Canada. If yours was built in August of '02, it's a 300A and doesn't have traction control, so you can use the same tire size all around.
 
blackout said:
I just purchased my MM, and need tires. I am new to MM's and forums so hope this works. I need help because the 'tire nazis' won't install the tires I want because the stock tires are two different sizes. So, I am trying to do my due diligence. My plan is to have all tires the size of the stock rears.
I thought I had this figured out, but don't want to take any chances. I have a canadian built (build date is 08/02 according to door sticker), sold in the USA 2003 MM. As far as I can tell, it does not have T/C (no switch; too early, and no indicator light in the dash when the ignition is first turned on). Another post indicates that units built for sale in Canada have T/C. So, if mine was built in canada for USA sales, would it have T/C?. I have to get new tires asap because am down to the cords on the inside of the fronts. I have read posts on alignment issues, but need to buy new tires first and that brings us to 'what size tire?' vin is 2MEHM75V73X628906 if that helps.
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You can run the same size tires on all four corners regardless of whether your car has T/C or not. If it does, you'll just have to turn off the T/C whenever you drive the car.

Unless you're absolutely in love with the OEM BFGs, suggest you consider going with something else.

If you want to stay with 245/55/18's, suggest you consider Cooper RS-3As.

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=79682&highlight=cooper+tires

Any specific reason you want to go with all four the same size, other than the potential for rotation? If you go with a good aftermarket tire and do an alignment to carfixer's specs, you should easily get 30K+ out a set. Going with all 4 the same size and rotating them won't extend the life muh beyond that.
 
I switched to Nittos. Much better tire and money well spent.

These Nittos stick and grab the pavement/road here in "paradise"....Hawaii.

But, to each his own......

I have 555 Extremes in front 235/50R18 and 420s in the back 255/55R18.

My 2004 Rauder has t/c and before I got the correct size "series' tires in the rear, I had to always press the t/c button on the dash.

It was a pain in the you know what but still was able to drive around.

At speeds greater than 35 MPH, if I forgot to push the t/c button it would engage and cause the car to bog.

If this happened, I would just push the button and smooth accelerating.

Do some checks on tirerack.com and discounttire.com for the right tires for your driving conditions and budget.
 
But can you tell the shop that your marauder comes stock with staggered tires? Surely they can punch it into the computer & see

Sent from my Samsung Droid Charge
 
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On the same tire vein I had a shop tell me they wouldn't install nitto 420s because the speed rating was lower than what came from original bfgs (V rating vs W)

Sent from my Samsung Droid Charge
 
its your car and your money, if they dont do what you want go somewhere else.

Or put your own on like I do.... perks of the job :P
 
I used the following link to compare sizes, ie. diameter and width.

http://ejelta.com/tiresize/

They're just tires. If a shop is using "tire nazi" practices, FORGET them. People think way too far into a simple set of tires. I sold tires for a couple years so I can tell you it's not rocket science. Stick with a similar diameter tire and you're good. Personally I wanted a more aggressive profile so I did 245/55/18 fronts and 275/45/18 rears. Use the tire sizing chart for more options. My rears are just a little shorter than stock but speedo just reads about 1 mph high at highway speeds
 
Cooper RS3-A tires are available in stock sizes.

I think the factory tire sizes are perfect for the car. Wider is ok, if the wheel has been widened. Otherwise you get a balloon effect which looks terrible. Same with increasing sidewall height.

FWIW I've had my Marauder 5 years, gone through two sets of front tires and three sets of rears. I've never had a problem finding OEM KDWS tires online. I guess I was just looking in the right places. I just replaced all four last October, again with KDWS tires in the factory sizes. Search harder, people :D
 
Just bought all new Cooper RS3A from treadepot.com for what I consider darn cheap. $145 fronts, $155 rears. delivered with Ohio sales tax $679.00. Even Summit Racing wants like $190ish each.
 
Thanks for all the info. My goals for having one size tire is simple. I want to rotate tires, and I read somewhere on this forum that one should not use the spare tire on the back because it causes a problem pretty quickly. Something about having two different size tires on the same axle. I travel the back roads of Oregon, and if I have a flat it could be 100 miles to somewhere to get the tire repaired. I know I can change two tires so I have matching rear tires, but I don't want to do that, either (because you I will be changing the tires in the rain). If the info that using the spare on the rear can cause damage is not correct, then no problem with the two different size tires.
I am not in love with the rake appearance of the MM. It isn't anything that is going to make me like the car less.
I have gotten so much information from this website; I really appreciate that you all take time to read and respond to people's questions.
 
One tire size: Yep that's me. Nitto 555 265-50-18 - Very close to OEM size (rear) I have 4 of them on my 300A they grip well and I can rotate them. I think they are good to 168Mph and work well on the occasional drag race.

You need to search for: Carfixer Alignmnet specs. Get an alignment so the new ones wear evenly.

Good luck
 
My guess is that shops that won't put different sized tires on a car are afraid of the liability in case you get in an accident.

Try a different shop. It has been my experience to try and get to know the owner of a shop that will do routine maintenance for me as I don't have the facilities for most repairs. Once the owner or manager gets to know you a little they usually will do what you ask of them. Doesn't hurt to ply them with lunch once and awhile either.;)
 
Or take them off the car and put them in your friends pickup truck 2 tires at a time and they won't know what you are doing with them or what you are putting them on.I always do it that way so them clowns are not touching my car anyway.my. 02.
 
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