Winter tire package - discount available

Interested in purchaseing a Winter tire package at a group discount?

  • Yes, where do I sign up?

    Votes: 15 83.3%

  • What is Winter? We only have one season - HOT !!

    Votes: 3 16.7%
  • Total voters
    18
  • Poll closed .
I just ordered some tall center caps and "special" lug nuts for my Snow set up. I should have them Thursday and will report than on the install.

I did have some wheel covers mounted on my 16" snow tire set. The Ford# was posted here several times. So far I have been unable to determine for what model year they are, I did have some that snapped right into the 16" steelies.

I started a separate thread for this topic. Please check and post any info you might have there.

Here is the link:

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6176
 
Has anyone looked at Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50 Winter tires in the 235/55-18 size at $129 each (tirerack) for the rear?

I know it is not an exact match, but its specs are nearly identical to our stock BFG:

Overall diameter is 28.3" H, 9.5" W on 8" rims, and 736 revs/mile @ 45MPH

versus BFG at 28.5"H, 9.9" W on 8" rims, and 724 revs/mile @45 MPH).

And it appears to be as close a match as the Artic Aplin solution which has specs of 28.7" H, 9.2" W on 6.5" rims, and 718 revs/mile @45 MPH.

Tirerack seems to rate the Blizzak slightly better than Michilen and an advantage is keeping the clean look of the car.

Unfornutately, there is no similar front solution, but I'm being told that might not matter as much. Also, they're (a local tire store) is saying not only to keep the overall dimensions the same, but the weight too because of the ABS.

Any thoughts?
 
I put the winter tires on my vehicle Saturday, noon. The local Discount Tire Warehouse that I purchased the 16" Artic Alpine/Unique wheel package through did a bit of grinding, and I was on my way. It snowed Saturday PM here in Minnesota. I was impressed. Traction was 1000% better than with the BF Goodrich it came with. I just need to figure how much weight I need to keep in the trunk this winter. The 2-tires/rims in the trunk and 2-tires/rims in the back seat on my way home from the tire shop seems a bit excessive. Now I need to decide if I want to keep the unmarked squad car look, or get some wheelcovers.

Thanks for getting the information on these tires/wheels out to all of us.
 
help needed

OK, I just had my winter package installed.

After significant grinding, the left front now doesn't seem to be rubbing, but that really didn't bother me much. It still cost less than I thought.

The OEM lug nuts did work (i.e. they did not bottom out) so I did not need to purchase others.

However, I have another problem. The traction control/braking kicks in at 25 MPH now all the time. I have to turn the TC off to go over 25 MPH.

It goes in to the dealer tomorrow, but I am wondering if they are going to tell me that the tires are the wrong size and replacing them is the only way to fix it. I remember that if the size was off enough that there would be problems with the ABS system. Is that what is happening and do I need to start over again?

Any ideas on this? I really would like to go on the highway to work Wednesday. Good thing the dealer is 5 blocks from my house on a 25 MPH speed limit street.

Thanks for any help offered,
-A
 
Wow. First I heard off this. Make sure you have the tires installed properly (215/65r16 in front and 225/70r16 in rear).
It's odd that were able to use the stock lug nuts. Mine were clearly 3/8" to short.
Here are the tire diameters in comparison:

OEM BFG 235/50/18 Dia: 27.3"
Michelin 215/65/16 Dia: 27.0"
Difference of 0.9% or 0.5 mph

OEM BFG 245/55/18 Dia: 28.6"
Michelin 215/65/16 Dia: 28.4"
Difference of 0.7% or 0.4 mph

I can't believe that your Traction control would be that sensitive. The difference in the diameters is less than normal tire wear you would experience. The ratio (front to back) is almost identical. It's only 0.2% off.

Not sure what's going on. The only way to verify might be to put the OEM tires back on and see if the T/C warning goes away.

Above numbers were calculated with a tire size calculator from this website: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

I guess that the guys who run this setup last year did not have T/C available and therefore would have never noticed or known of any problems.

I wonder if any of the other guys who purchased the DTD set had any problems. You may want to start a new thread to get their attention.

Good luck and let us know how things work out.
 
OK People,
Now I am puzzled. Would all 2003 300B people pls check in here if you bought the Winter Tire Pkg and have installed same? What are the results? Are 300B owners going to get ABS/TC error codes?
I have mine in the basement waiting for some definitive hubcap word prior to buying the wrong lug nuts.
Thanks for all replies.
GordonB
 
You know, that's the first thing I thought of so I did check the tires to see that the 65s were in front. Sure enough, I walked out to the driver's side and saw that the 70 was on the rear and the 65 was on the front.

But I didn't check both sides. It was dark out and only one side faces the garage light.

One flashlight trip later . . ..

Now I am both pissed and relieved. Pissed more so at myself for assuming that if they had one side right the other would be right.

Nope! Apparently it was random chance that they got one tire in the right spot.

Sorry for the panic. I had assumed that when I told them "put the big ones on the rear," they were going to listen.

-A
 
Last edited:
duhtroll,
Glad we don't have to POLL 2003 300B people!
Thank you for your honest mistake and courage to admit it before all of your MM brethern. We all goof almost every day. Some goofs are more eveident than other ones!
GordonB.
 
snow tires mounted

I got the snow boots put on over the weekend and I experienced rubbing on both the front left and right wheels. It was more than just weld spatter and I had to shave down not only the wheel but also a little on the brake caliper.

Its running fine now and I can't wait until winter is over, but at least I'm prepared now.

With the OEM tires off, I took a good look at the tread wear, and with less than 11,000 miles on them, I'll be ready for new ones by summer. Any suggestions out there for what a suitable replacement would be?
 
Weld spatter

Before I try and mount the wheels I'd like to smooth down the weld spatter. Is it on the inside of the new rim, all the way around? How much did you take off? Also, what type of lug nuts did you end up using and where did you purchase them? Thanks for answering these questions.

John T.
 
Mine was all the way around, but others have reported not having any, so it appears that each case is unique. The new lugs are just standard 1/2"-20 13/16" hex and I picked them up at Advance Auto Parts.
 
I had my tires put on today, my dealer said they had to do a little bit of grinding on both sides to make them work.

The service manager also told me that all 4 of my tires were NOT balanced properly. The dealership installed a new high speed balancer today, and tested it with my tires before they put them on. Each tire was off by quite a bit.

My first question was did they have their machine set up properly?? Well, the technician from the wheel balancer mfr was there to set up the machine, and he had just finished calibrating it. After they tested my first tire, the tech re-checked the calibration of the machine, and it was right on.

So they ended up having to rebalance all four tires....

For those of you who have not yet installed your winter tires, I would recommend having the balance checked before you put them on.....

Also received my wheel covers today, and will put them on later this evening...
 
I guess we get for what we paid for. I do still appreciate MMM2003 for helping us out to get the tire setup, but so far nothing but concerns and questions from those who installed them already. I havn't yet install mine and to be honest a little worried. Just seems like no one is that sure about these rims.
 
MMM2003 said:
ORDERING INFO HAS BEEN ADDED ON PAGE 4 OF THIS THREAD! DON'T BE STRANDED IN THE SNOW NEXT WINTER! I WAS JUST INFORMED OF AN ADDED BONUS. BUY THIS SET AND GET A FREE DVD PLAYER. CHECK FOR DETAILS ON PAGE 5 OR CALL MITCH @ 800-589-6789 EXT. 352

15 ORDERS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED. ONLY A FEW LEFT. $500 PACKAGE PRICE IS CONFIRMED check page 7 for details!

After seeing more and more posts in regards to this, I took the liberty and contacted tires.com about a group discount for our specific requirements. After a little bit of negotiations they are offering us the following, if we can get 15 or more people together:

Michelin Artic Alpine

2 x 215/65 x 16 (front)
2 x 225/70 x 16 (rear)

mounted on "Unique" brand OE style steel rims (16x6.5 with a 42mm offset)

Above "package" has been purchased by members before and matches our front to rear ratio and wheel diameter almost perfectly and the Michelin Artic Alpine are an excellent choice for winter driving.

To sum it up: The package includes 2x 215/65r16 and 2x 225/70r16 Michelin Arctic Alpine tires, Unique OE style steel wheels, mounted and balanced, shipped for free and no sales tax.

Total package price offered to MM.net members is $500.00.

Regular price if purchased individually thru discounttire.com would be $556.00 per package. Basically they are offering us a 10% discount.

Packages won't be available until mid September. Therefore we have some time to get people signed up for this.

For those of us, who are not fortunate enough to live in a climate where this is no concern or to have a second vehicle for winter driving, this is a great solution and opportunity.

Below is a link for more info on the tires.

tire info link

If you are interested (no commitment at this point), please send an email to peter@dettmer.net with your real name & screen name, so that I can contact you when the packages are available.

I got the OK from Logan to post this information, since we don't have a "tire supporting vendor" on board. All transactions will be handled thru discounttire.com.

Sorry no changes on tire size or brand possible. WYSIWYG !!

edited by MMM2003 to add ordering info note
Click to expand...


Is the winter package still available?
 
Hey DetGeno,

just saw your post.
Anyone who is concerned, that the balance of their wheels might be off, should contact Mitch and ask him, if DTD will cover the cost for balancing, if it is required. (I'm pretty sure they will, if you find that the balance is off, but get Mitch's OK prior to proceeding)

If you have it checked and everything is fine, you will have to pay the dealer for his work.
 
Well the one

thing that crosses my mind is if you are grinding of weld spatter from the wheels, then that in itself might throw the previously balanced wheels off atleast a little bit. However that ofcourse wouldn't explain all four of the wheels being out of balance. Perhaps we've all learned our lesson dealing w/direct tire. I mean between the extra month that we had to wait for these tires, the brake caliper rubbing, out of balance wheels, and not yet even receiving that free DVD player that was promised to us, it just seems that the story has changed so many times AFTER the money was passed. Perhaps you can say "well then why didn't you just return the wheels for a refund w/out even mounting them Billy?" But the answer is that I planned ahead to be all ready for the snow, and now that the temperature is 17 degrees and they're predicting a possible snow fall in my homestate for this weekend, I'm not prepared to go shopping for snow tires to fit a Marauder. I had thought that I had all of this squared away 2 months ago.:rolleyes: Chalk up another piece of evidence of the ethical decline amongst American businesses......."The customer is always WRONG"
 
Thanks to this tread I took the information regarding the price, size and wheel information to my local dealer. He couldn't match the price but with free tire rotation (twice a year) the discount will soon be gone. Paid $650 plus tax. I had no problem with weld spatter, or balanceing but it did take 4 weeks to get them!
 
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