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So, based on reviews that I read as well as advice from my local tire guy, I decided to get Nitto Motivo 225/50/17 tires to go with my new Volvo "Amalthea" rims... The Motivos have a 60,000 mile tread life warranty and have a slightly higher load rating at the same 50psi than the OEM 15" Continentals had, so I didn't have to get the TPMS's re-calibrated either. An added bonus; my speedo has been reading 2 mph too high since I bought the TC (based on data from 2 different GPS units). The first thing that I noticed yesterday after I installed the 17" tires and rims was that my speedo is now agreeing with the GPS's at all speeds. I like the ride with the new tires too; firm and stable.

My TPMS light came on today. As much as I would like to delete that whole mess, I hadn't touched it or done anything to the tires or pressures since I bought the TC several months ago. When I got home and checked the pressures the fronts were at 38psi which is to be expected since I had just driven about 20 miles. The rears were both at 40psi which is kind of strange. First, the rears are supposed to be set at 49psi . Since the light didn't come on till they were at 40 psi either the variance allowed is much larger than we have been told or the actual pressure setting is lower than the 49psi on the door sticker. Second, since both tires dropped evenly they either weren't set at 49psi to start with or we are going to have a problem maitaining the "required" pressure. The idea of a tire dropping 9 psi in just over 3 months/3k miles is a little strange especially since we have not had any extreme temperature changes in that time. I'ts been consistently hot around here the whole time I have owned the TC. I reset the rears to 49psi and took it for a drive. I didn't even get a block before the light went out and stayed out for the 10 miles I drove it. I am going to do some experimenting. If the light doesn't come on till it drops to 40psi then I should be able to run 42-45 psi continuously which would be better than the IMO ridiculously high 49psi on the sticker. I really wish I could get it reset to 36psi the same as the fornt but haven't found a way to do that yet.

Its seems like this TPMS is a pain in the ass than anything else.

I just got back from getting the American Racing alloy rims put on. They sure look a lot better than the steel rims and a cheap hubcap.

I despise the TPMS sensors. More complications.

Obviously all they did was just move the wheels from one location to another. And NO you would not get a light in that situation. Each of the sensors has a unique ID code built in. When you reset them using either the manual method or the reset tool you reset the sensors in a specific order. That tells the computer which sensor is located at which wheel. If you don't reset them the computer has no way of knowing that the wheel/tire that was on the right rear is now on the left front. As long as the pressure is correct for where the computer "thinks" the wheel is there will be no error code.

I drive my TC occasionally between Santa Fe and Willowbrook, IL. Each of those cities have a Ford dealership. One of them, after a regular rotation paid for by me, sent me cross country with 49 lbs. in the fronts and 36 in the rear. No lights the entire trip.

We all know volvo as Ford's safety conscious division but it turns out they have an extrodinary selection of wheels for their cars--most of which will fit the transit. The good things about using the OEM wheels are: they are generally high quality, made to stringent safety standards, available CHEAP from Volvo guys that are upgrading. I got mine for $400 SHIPPED with 3,000 mile old tires. The tires are high quality all season Michelins that are rated for the same load and PSI as the transits' OEM tires despite the lower profile. MUCH quieter too. These are 17" X 7" and the center bore was a perfect fit. Plenty of offset to clear the brakes. Watch fleabay and Swedespeed.com --marketplace--classifieds. The swedespeed forum even has an informative post with many pictures of OEM volvo wheels and their sizes/part numbers/names etc.

Hello everyone, I wanted to chime in on my TPMS story. I have finally got the system to work. After calling Ford, spending numerous hours at my local Ford dealership, I think we have the system down. A little backround. I had my tires rotated and asked the dealership to show me how to reset the TPMS per the user manual. They just said to use the handheld device and they will do it, don't worry about. Fast forward 30K miles and bald tires. Continental was the only brand that I could find that met the rating and Walmart had the best deal. Since it is a company vehicle and I have employees driving it, I did not want them to get in an accident and have a lawyer say the tires were not spec. Anyways, after Walmart completely randomized my rims, the TPMS sensor light was on. I get it, unplug the light, who cares. Since I have employees driving, they will ruin $500 worth of tires not knowing if they need to check for proper tire pressure. Not that they would anyways. At this point I went to the dealership and said, show me how to reset the TPMS. After hours and no luck following the manual, they said to take the vehicle. They reset the TPMS with the handheld and sent me on my way. The agreement was they would experiment on one they had in the lot. Here is the final results: Very important!!!!! The TPMS system will not reset if the TPMS sensor light is on. At least on my 2010 When rotating your tires, do not adjust the tire pressure until after you rotate and follow instructions on pages 144 to 146. Once the TPMS knows what rims is where, you can then adjust the tire pressures to the correct pressure for the front and back. I hope this saves someone from going through the crap I did. Good luck! Jeff

I got a set of Ford Focus wheels to put on my TC. I test fitted them before mounting tires and figured out what the problem is. The lugnuts that come on the TC are the type called cone washer nuts. The cone is a washer that spins freely on the nut so that they can be torqued down without any binding. The cone part is a washer and as such is not threaded. This works fine on the thinner steel wheels because the stud is long enough to reach well in to the nut which is threaded all the way. Alloy wheels are thicker in the area around the wheel studs. So when you try to use these cone washer nuts with alloy wheels the studs are not long enough. They are only long enough engage 2 1/2 threads in the nut with the wheels I got. The stock lugnuts are great for steel wheels, even better than the standard open end lugnuts due to the washer design. But if you are going to use alloy wheels, you will have to get lugnuts that will allow more thread engagement. The type you get will depend on the wheel. Some will use a cone type and some will need the straight "tuner" types. Bottom line: If you put alloy wheels on your TC you must get lugnuts made for those wheels. Also the threads are the standard Ford 12 x 1.5 pitch.

I also like the Euro Focus SVT Rally style wheels. Too expensive to ship though! I actually bought the Transit used and out of state b/c it was ridiculously cheap, couldn't find any used Silver ones in Cali that fit the budget. The dealers are asking close to invoice for a used one and you would still have to pay Cali 10% tax. I've already smogged it and registered it for here. Any interesting side story was the kid working at the smog shop. He was from Turkey and this was the first transit he had driven/checked out/smogged. He liked it, a bit of pride on his part. He also said that it was one of the lowest emission vehicles he had ever smogged. Pretty cool considering this is a 49 state model. It would be cool to lower it, there is a guy on fordtransit.org The UK site working on a kit to sell but I know that it will require repositioning the rear axle above the leaf spring. To much hassle for me I think, but it would finish it off nicely.

Frankly I like my TPMS. This is a bit interesting as to the functionality of the TPMS. This says the TMPS control module is a "stand alone" receiver. interpret this as you will and it may be worth a try to just unplug the module. From the FORD Service Manual : Principles of Operation NOTE: The Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) module is also identified as the Vehicle Security Module (VSM). This module contains only TPMS functionality. NOTE: This vehicle requires 2 different air pressures – 1 for the front wheels and 1 for the rear wheels. The tire pressure sensors must be trained following every tire rotation. Failure to train the sensors will result in a false low tire event. The TPMS monitors the air pressure of all 4 road tires via 4 pressure sensors located in the road wheels. Each sensor has a unique identifier number that is sent to the TPMS receiver during system training. The module retains these identifier numbers in memory and associates them with a vehicle position based on the training order. The sensors transmit pressure information to the module via radio frequency signals once every minute when vehicle speed exceeds 32 km/h (20 mph), or once every 6 hours when stationary. The TPMS/VSM is a standalone receiver located behind the glove compartment. The TPMS function compares tire pressure information against a low-pressure limit. If it determines the tire pressure has fallen below this limit, the TPMS/VSM sends a message to the Instrument Cluster (IC) over the Medium Speed Controller Area Network (MS-CAN) bus. Once the IC receives this message, it will illuminate the TPMS indicator.

Seriously, has anyone just removed the warning light bulb on the dash? I'm asking b/c I remember awhile back people were thinking that the cruise control function was tied to the TPMS, which would be a shame if it actually was. This seems like a whole lotta bother for a feature we don't need.

Anyone just pulled the dash light? I have a TPMS, its called an air guage.

LET ME TRY AND HELP EVERYONE WITH THE RESET OF THE TPMS. I TRIED THE PROCEEDURE IN THE OWNERS MANUAL, BUT IT DID NOT WORK. I SPOKE TO AN EX STUDENT OF MINE WHO WORKS AT THE PARTS COUNTER AT THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP AND HE GAVE ME THE SECRET. I FOUND ON E-BAY A FORD ACTIVATION TOOL PART NUMBER 8CZT-1A203-AA FOR ABOUT $35.00. IT WORKS BUT THE FORD GUYS TOLD ME THAT A MAGNET WORKS JUST AS WELL. THEY RECOMMEND ONE OF THOSE ROUND MAGNETS YOU FIND IN THE BOTTOM OF AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION PAN. FOLLOW THE PROCEEDURE FROM THE SERVICE MANUAL NOT THE OWNERS MANUAL. 1.TURN THE IGNITION SWITCH TO THE OFF POSITION, THEN PRESS AND RELEASE THE BRAKE PEDAL. 2. CYCLE THE IGNITION SWITCH FROM THE OFF POSITION TO THE RUN POSITION 3 TIMES ENDING IN THE RUN POSITION. 3.PRESS AND RELEASE THE BRAKE PEDAL 4. TURN THE IGNITION WWITCH TO THE OFF POSITION. 5. TURN THE IGNITION SWITCH FROM OFF POSITION TO THE RUN POSITION 3 TIMES, ENDING IN THE RUN POSITION. THE HORN WILL SOUND ONCE ANT THE TPMS INDICATOR WILL FLASH IF THE TRAINING MODE HAS BEEN ENTERED SUCCESSFULLY. 6. IT MAY TAKE UP TO 6 SECONDS TO ACTIVATE A TIRE PRESSURE SENSOR. 7.WITH IN 2 MINUTES OF THE HORN SOUNDING, PLACE THE TPM ACTIVATION TOOL ( OR ROUND MAGNET) ON THE LEFT FRONT TIRE SIDEWALL AT THE VALVE STEM AND PRESS AND RELEASE THE THE TEST BUTTON TO TRAIN THE LF TIRE PRESSURE SENSOR. THE HORN WILL SOUND. 8 DO NOT WAIT MORE THA 2 MINUTES BETWEEN TRAINING OR THE PROCESS WILL HAVE TO START OVER. REPEAT STEP 7 FOR THE RF, RR, THE LR IN THAT ORDER, THE HORN WILL SOUND BRIEFLY WITH EACH RESET. TURN THE IGNITION SWITCH TO OFF. IF THERE IS NOT HORN, THE RESET WAS SUCCESSFUL. IF THE HORN BEEPS TWICE WHEN THE SWITCH IS TURNED OFF TRAINING WAS UNSUCCESSFUL AND NEEDS TO BE RE DONE. WOODY

I'll never come close to 1600 pounds in the rear and I can always add a little air if I need to. The problem with that high a pressure is that it makes it very susceptible to lift-throttle oversteer as I found out . I can handle it but not sure the wife can. Tire pressure has the least effect on body lean of all the components involved. Spring rate is the primary factor followed by sway bar rate then shock absorber valving with tire pressure bringing up the end. The TC has plenty of spring rate and a monster sway bar under the rear so body lean doesn' seem to be a problem. I didn't notice it in the few laps I got to do on the track at Summit Point. The next time I get to Summit Point I am going to take the pyrometer and check some tire temps. With that kind of pressure I will bet the difference between the edges and center of the tread will be at least 15*

NABOTTLE; EARLY LINCOLNS 94-99 MARK WHEELS HAVE THE SAME BOLT PATTERN, AS DO MERCURY SABLE, FORD WINDSTAR, AND A FEW OTHERS. I AM NOT SURE IF THEY GO AS BIG AS 18 OR 20 INCHES, BUT THEY ARE AVAILABLE IN 16 AND SOME 17. TRY SOME OF THE WHEEL REFURBISHING SITES AND MAYBEE YOU'LL FIND RETRO WHEELS THAT MIGHT FIT YOUR FANCY. TIRE RACK IS A GREAT PLACE FOR TECH INFORMATION, TIRE SIZE CONVERSIONS, AND TIRE PRESSURE MONITORS. WOODY