Tire options

bowez

bowez

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Jul 19, 2024
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Location
Nashville
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93 SC
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I need to replace the tires on the SC (dry rot and flat spots from storage). Issue that's shocking me is finding 225x60-16.

What happened or is it just seasonal, I don't want to put a T rated snow tire on it. What/where are yall sourcing tires? The SC is keeping stock wheels.
 
I put some 225/60R16 Michelin Defenders on our '97 a few years ago. No issues finding that size. Where are you looking and what kind of tires are you looking for?
 
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I just went thru a similar issue with the smaller factory rims on my 95 LX. Ended up purchasing General Altimax RT 45 touring/ all season. They seem to carry your size as well. Offering a $70 rebate when you buy 4
 
All of the front wheel drive cars that made that tire size popular are in the junk yard, and make them harder to come by in any performance variant
 
I have Goodyear Reliant tires, which are a Walmart exclusive tire (apparently largely identical to Goodyear Assurant). Finding the stock size (15") was not an issue. I'm very satisfied with quietness, wet traction, etc.
 
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Try tires-easy.com
 
I've been using the Altimax RT43 on the Lincolns for years now. They're decent all seasons, but I switch them out for Altimax Artctic in the cold months; the RT43s suck in the cold and IMHO aren't all that great on wet roads either. As they've worn down they're harder to keep in balance too - though they are reasonably quiet.

I usually get them online and have a local shop install them, though more places are carrying the Generals locally and can order them in. Tirebuyer.com was one source I used in the past. I will likely need to replace the set I bought in 2019 this year - looks like the RT45 is the successor so I hope there's been an improvement in wet traction. :)
 
I used to run Falken Ziex ZE960 on my Honda before switching over to Firestone Indy 500.

From what I remember, the ZE960 was a good tire and only made the switch to the Indy 500 because they didn't have any more ZE960 the day I went to get new tires. The shop only had the Indy 500.

When I get new tires on the T-Bird, I'm leaning on either the Indy 500, Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+, or Bridgestone Potenza Sport. TBF though, these will be on 18" wheels as I'll be hub-swapped at that time.
 
bowez said:
I need to replace the tires on the SC (dry rot and flat spots from storage). Issue that's shocking me is finding 225x60-16.

What happened or is it just seasonal, I don't want to put a T rated snow tire on it. What/where are yall sourcing tires? The SC is keeping stock wheels.
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I got a decent set of Michies on my Cougar from Costco.

Michelin Defender T+H All Season - 225/60R16

20220513_175018.jpg
 
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theterminator93 said:
I've been using the Altimax RT43 on the Lincolns for years now. They're decent all seasons, but I switch them out for Altimax Artctic in the cold months; the RT43s suck in the cold and IMHO aren't all that great on wet roads either. As they've worn down they're harder to keep in balance too - though they are reasonably quiet.
Click to expand...

I put those on my Cougar's stock sport wheels soon after I bought it. I went up a size to 235/60-16. They held the road pretty well, and when pushing them didn't scream like cheap tires.

@White Lincoln every time you post a picture of your Cougar it makes me want to put the stock wheels back on mine. They are nice looking wheels; you have a very clean car!(y)
 
White Lincoln said:
I got a decent set of Michies on my Cougar from Costco.

Michelin Defender T+H All Season - 225/60R16

View attachment 10745
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It’s a sin Mercury didn’t keep 7 spokes as an option on 93-95s. I got sucked into the hubswap/mustang wheel world early on but in part because I could never find a good set of those with centercaps I wanted
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
Why did MN12s have a different bolt pattern to begin with?
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The MN12 platform in its infancy started as a Taurus platform derivative, which obviously deviated drastically as development went on, but the bolt pattern is the same because the driven hub is similar(not identical but same bearing), basically an artifact.

Also keep in mind in 89 Mustangs were 4 lug. The only Fords with 5x4.5 were the ancient panthers, Lincoln Mark VII and trucks. 5x108 was progressive and European to the engineers
 
KevinVarnes said:
I put some 225/60R16 Michelin Defenders on our '97 a few years ago. No issues finding that size. Where are you looking and what kind of tires are you looking for?
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I've tried FireStone and Tire Rack and both come back with next to nothing (like 3 option and none were correct speed rating, yes my SC uses it). I've also looked at Sam's and Costco. Discount Tire and Amazon so far look like the best options, though I'm used to going to the tire shop and getting tires not ordering them online.
 
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So go to the tire shop? That is all I do. I don't want to have to deal with having them shipped in and then mounted and all that garbage. I see 27 different options on Belle Tire's website. 22 if you dismiss the obviously cheap Chinese tires. Still a decent selection. Many have already been listed above.
 
KevinVarnes said:
So go to the tire shop? That is all I do. I don't want to have to deal with having them shipped in and then mounted and all that garbage. I see 27 different options on Belle Tire's website. 22 if you dismiss the obviously cheap Chinese tires. Still a decent selection. Many have already been listed above.
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Interesting. My Costco is a tire shop and they have them in stock usally if I need new tires.
 
XR7-4.6 said:
It’s a sin Mercury didn’t keep 7 spokes as an option on 93-95s. I got sucked into the hubswap/mustang wheel world early on but in part because I could never find a good set of those with centercaps I wanted
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I can relate. It was hell finding the ones I wanted and sufficed with the ones on eBay. the center caps... I have lots of stories on here about finding those.
 
KevinVarnes said:
So go to the tire shop? That is all I do. I don't want to have to deal with having them shipped in and then mounted and all that garbage. I see 27 different options on Belle Tire's website. 22 if you dismiss the obviously cheap Chinese tires. Still a decent selection. Many have already been listed above.
Click to expand...
Local shops don't have access to anything, hence the reason for the post.
Well they do have Snow Tires, put not much need for them in Nashville.
 
bowez said:
Local shops don't have access to anything, hence the reason for the post.
Well they do have Snow Tires, put not much need for them in Nashville.
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Seriously? So Amazon really is taking over the brick and mortor stores....
 
White Lincoln said:
I can relate. It was hell finding the ones I wanted and sufficed with the ones on eBay. the center caps... I have lots of stories on here about finding those.
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The center caps were all over eBay 10 years ago. I bought two new ones then to replace the worn ones. Really wish I have bought a few extra
 
Kenz said:
The center caps were all over eBay 10 years ago. I bought two new ones then to replace the worn ones. Really wish I have bought a few extra
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Don't you hate that! It's like "I should have invested in Microsoft when I was 15"! (Bill started Microsoft here in Albuquerque when I started highschool here.) Crap. Showing my age again.
 
If you can deal with 225 55 16, the bfg comp 2 as tires are stiff and fairly sticky; the load rating isn't a problem unless you load it full of passengers and luggage. Thats what's been on lazarus for the last 2 sets.
 
Grog6 said:
If you can deal with 225 55 16, the bfg comp 2 as tires are stiff and fairly sticky; the load rating isn't a problem unless you load it full of passengers and luggage. Thats what's been on lazarus for the last 2 sets.
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Well that is better, wonder why the 55s are now a bit more common the the 60s were the tire for decades.
 
I had a set of BF Goodrich tires for (BF Goodrich Premium Touring 205x70rx15) 15 years on the Cougar. They only lasted 30k and were worn out, literally, there was not much tread left. The reason I went with Michie's on the Cougar is my Town Car has had the same Mitchelin's on it for 15 years also (40k) and they still have good tread.
 
Comp2s are summer tires for performance cars. I ran them on my ZHP for ages. I have them on the GLI as well. They are sticky when warm but you won't get 30k out of them even with rotations. They also have zero grip below 40° even in the dry.

As a Knoxville resident, I would not recommend them for our climate unless you have dedicated winters.
 
bowez said:
Well that is better, wonder why the 55s are now a bit more common the the 60s were the tire for decades.
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Be forewarned your speedometer/odo is going to read fast with that height, it looks goofy too.
 
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