Fifty150

motive, means, and opportunity

High 5

After reading the warranty, it seems like nothing is covered. Unless the tire is defective. Meaning that what you describe does not sound like the tire was defective, and your tires are simply worn down because of normal use. I think what they would consider a defect would be tread separation. If through no fault of your own, and they will try to blame you, the tread comes off. It could happen. But not likely to happen.

Owners of AWD SUV tend to overestimate their vehicle's ability, and their own driving skills. I've learned over the years that even if you do not have a great amount of experience driving in snow, reducing speed makes a world of difference. I see a lot of people actually cutting in and out of traffic, and speeding beyond the posted speed limit (meant for dry roads) in those little cross-over type sports utility vehicles which do not have a true 4 wheel drive system. Most people that I know with 4 wheel drive, like with a Jeep or truck, would never drive like that.

It all depends on the part. Certain brands we are familiar with, just because we see them everywhere. But that doesn't make it good. Dorman, Wagner , Four Seasons, Champion, Fram.........you've heard of the brand, but the parts are nothing special. I find that unless it is a specialty aftermarket part, like FlowMaster muffler, Eibach shocks, & PowerStop brakes, your best bet is OEM. Buy a Motorcraft part for your Ford. What good is saving $5 on a thermostat, if it doesn't work?

Hokum! Sounds to me like the service advisor was feeling you out to see what else he could talk you into. There is no way that your tires could be that worn, at 15,000 miles. Almost 20,000 miles on my OEM tires, and they still look new. Looks don't mean anything. Go measure the tread. There are several popular ways to check your tire tread depth. One easy way is the penny test. Simply insert a penny into your tire's tread groove with Lincoln's head upside down and facing you. If you can see all of Lincoln's head, your tread depth is less than 2/32 inch and it's time to replace your tires. Check Tire Tread Depth | Goodyear Auto Service https://www.goodyearautoservice.com/en-US/tire-basics/tread-depth

One of the worst collisions I've seen was a guy on a motorcycle hitting a deer on the freeway. Luckily for me, wildlife in The City is usually limited to small animals. But lately, coyote, mountain lion, wolf, fox, peregrine falcon have all been seen roaming the streets. Hopefully, they will prey on the seagull, pigeon, raccoon, and skunk. In San Francisco, Animal Care & Control officers have a membership card. I wonder if that is a Ford OEM Colt Automatic Rifle, or an aftermarket accessory. And no, that is not my address. Just a coincidence that they are on 5150 whatever street. Dog catchers are not coming to my house fully armed, with search warrants.

We used to be able to depend on war, plague, famine, poor health, and economic conditions to keep the population in check. That no longer works. We haven't had a good war in very long time. Only minor skirmishes that do not kill enough people. A big war is needed to reduce world population. Technology in sanitation, pest management, & medical care has taken away plague & poor health. In today's world, too many people have access to basic vaccines, antibiotics, pesticides, and sticky glue traps. In the U.S.A., there is enough food available that there is no excuse for anyone to be hungry. I don't have the answer to why people don't eat, but there is enough food for all. Politics is the barrier. And I'm not a politician. I can't figure out how to fund feeding. The world food supply is abundant. Without economic and political barriers, everybody in the world could eat. The French & Germans learned the hard way back in the 60's when they taxed our chicken. In the U.S.A., all that we have for population control is motor vehicle deaths and violent crime. Not that I advocate for taking population control into your hands, and simply running over and killing all of the extra people who do not need to be alive.

In my photo, the seats are in the flipped down for cargo position. If you already have the cutouts in the right position, you are already ahead of the game. No need to mark and cut yourself. Are the anchor points also intact? From what I have seen, not being a body shop worker, 1st generation and 2nd generation are different. I believe that all the 2nd generation, 2013 - present, would have the same parts. For your 2014 model, it was imported as a wagon with seats. The seats were then removed so that the vehicle can be sold as a van. This will explain why your floor kit already has the cutouts for the seats to anchor to. Find any 2nd row bench seat, and they should fit, as long as you also source all of the mounting hardware. Now what are you planning to do about seatbelts?

Are those low price tires from a Chinese company which nobody has heard of?

From what little I know, tires are kind of a "gray market". Around here, a handful of distributors sell all the same tires, to different tire shops and garages. Different distributors may have access to particular brands and sizes, then trade amongst themselves to control pricing. The shops never know what may be available at what price, as it could change daily, depending on what each distributor wants to do. They could announce sales, rebates, et cetera to push certain brands, styles, sizes......or hold back and price up something popular. Suddenly, there is an artificial lack of availability for snow tires, where they will make you order & wait for delivery, to justify a higher price. When if fact, they have a warehouse full, because the factory produced a large volume right before winter. Shops who move higher volume, get better availability, and lower pricing with incentives. Smaller shops sometimes have to pay a distributor more than what a retail customer may pay from a larger shop. But that is how a free market works. That is how Wal*Mart can buy & sell volume at lower price points. Now comes the online sellers. They have muscle to flex. They can order more from a factory than a regional distributor. They can command a larger shipment, with priority. They can sell at a huge discount because they are getting distributor pricing, and selling directly to the end user. The problem now, for the end user, is how do you get that tire installed. Most people that I know, do not have the equipment to mount & balance tires. Independent tire shops will charge up to triple for installation if you carry in the tire. Wal*Mart charges $13 per tire. Costco wants $15 per tire. But they will only install an OEM size tire onto an OEM wheel. They will not install a different size tire onto an aftermarket wheel. Independent shops and garages have quoted $30 - $40. Chains like Big-O, Firestone, Midas, et cetera all have franchisees who could set their own pricing, quote low, then add on hidden charges later. Same way the $19.95 coupon oil change becomes $50 out the door. Some tire shops refuse to install any tire which they didn't sell. Independent shops will not accept your shipment, knowing that you are not going to stay home from work, accept 4 tires from the delivery person, then drive around with 4 tires in your car, from shop to shop, looking for installation. I remember loading 4 tires into my pickup, driving them over to drop off at a tire shop, then going home to drive my car over to the shop. But I figured that if I am saving $100 per tire, then it's not so bad to pay for the installation. But pricing isn't a fair comparison. Amazon.com has 215/55R16 sized tires around $50. But those are tires from Chinese brands nobody has heard of. As opposed to walking into a tire store and being quoted $150 for a brand that you have heard of like Goodyear, Firestone, BF Goodrich, Toyo, et cetera. I'm taking the chance that here in The U.S.A., unsafe, unrated tires cannot be sold. Or that at least Amazon.com is not selling illegal tires. Supposedly, tires sold in The U.S.A. must meet regulatory standards. https://www.nhtsa.gov/equipment/tires https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/393.75 But the truth is that there is very little oversight and enforcement.

Here is the OEM part, if it helps. But I am pretty sure that you will need something aftermarket.

Just ordered tires on Amazon. On the webpage with the tire, there is an option for installation. I choose Sears Auto. $19.99 per tire for installation. Amazon will deliver to Sears, then I bring my car in. Pretty easy so far. And the tires on Amazon are a lot less expensive.

Thanks Don Ridley! That is more information. Of course, the real problem is me. I need to repair my wheel and reinstall the tire back into position.

The obvious solution is to repair the damage and reinstall the tire into it's original position. Which I intend to do. I am just confused by how the system works.

I have been driving with the spare tire on the passenger side front tire. The original tire and wheel are now tucked in the spare tire carrier. In the course of 2 weeks, the TPMS low tire indicator light came on twice. Last week, after the spare was on for 3 days, the light flashed for a while, then became solid. I thought that I actually had a flat or puncture. I pulled over, checked every tire's air pressure, and proceeded to remove and inspect each tire. All tires had a reasonable PSI, and I could not find a nail or screw. That was a lot of wasted time and effort. Boy, did I feel like a moron, on the side of the road, jacking up and removing all the tires, looking for a nonexistent road hazard. After a few hours, the light turned off. Today, the light flashed, then became solid, and stayed lit for about 10 minutes. This time, I did not take all the tires off on the side of the road. In theory, TPMS should have detected no air pressure the last 2 weeks, since the wheel, tire, & sensor have been in the spare tire carrier. I want to trust in the technology. But it is difficult at best, since I do not understand it. On my F-150, the dash light has only activated when I really did have low tire pressure. Which works great, because that alerted me to check the tires, add air, and then look for a puncture. All things that I should have been doing anyway, but was too lazy, until the dummy light came on. Right now, I have a slow leak on one of the tires, and I cannot find a hole to plug. But with 10 year old tires, it could be leaking from just the tires being old....bead seal, valve stem, et cetera. The F-150 sensors are mounted on the wheel. The Transit Connect is a part of the valve stem. I wonder if there is different technology, and if they work in a different way.

Don't make my mistake. Stay away from the Mustang II if someone tries to hook you up with a vintage collector's classic.

It's just as good as the guy who fishes Florida storm drains from the side of the road with his van illegally double parked.

If they can't figure out how to refund you, tell them that you will accept cash. They have petty cash on hand to buy donuts every day. They can go without. You need to be reimbursed for your loss.

People tend to fall for junk science and fake news.

Didn't we have a similar situation in the 70's when there was talk of 6pack rings being dangerous to the environment? In some societies, there's less "disposable". People often supply their own containers for take away food, or restaurants reclaim the food container for reuse. Kind of like when milk came in a bottle, and the bottle was returned.. Look at all of the meals delivered in metal tiffin boxes in India, and bento boxes in Japan. Now Japan Is the world's leader in using disposable chopsticks. The Hong Kong of British Colonial Rule, people went to a restaurant with an insulated bottle to buy food. Even push cart vendors on the street sold food in regular bowls with utensils, which would be washed and reused like a regular restaurant. I don't even want to think about how many little foil packets of single use prophylactic products are polluting Thailand. Go ahead Mike. Bring the discussion to self driving cars. And if anyone wants to advocate for drinking straws, feel at liberty to state your point.

Interesting. You both have the same car.