temp357 Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 They make tires in the right size. The load rating is only 1400lbs @ 51 psi, but I don't really use my transit connect to haul that much stuff. I've had pretty good luck with yokohoma tires in the past. They are available in 205/65r15 load rating 92S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willie Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Looks like you may be the first to try those, but thanks for posting up another option for consideration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slybert Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 I am looking at these Yokohama tires too, they're probably driving better than the Continental's. Does anyone can give us some feedback on replacement tires? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spooner Posted May 3, 2017 Share Posted May 3, 2017 I recently put on some General Altimax RT43's with new wheels and I'm liking them so far. From the reviews they seem to last forever and they have been very good in all the rain we have had recently. I only have 5k miles on them so far but I'll be posting up as I get some serious miles on them in a year or so. Price was very reasonable too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loafer Posted May 4, 2017 Share Posted May 4, 2017 (edited) I just put on the Michelin Defender LTX M/S which is a light truck touring tire. It is rated at 1709 load capacity. It has a 70,000 mile rating, and is good on wet, dry, or snowy surfaces. It has a very high rating for road heat resistance , and also for minimum road resistance for better mileage. Being a light truck tire I expected a significant difference in road shock, and it is a little, but not too much different than the passenger touring tires. They drive and handle very well. They are more expensive. I needed them because I will from time to time be approaching Connects 1600 lb load capacity. I checked the weight of the Roof Rack, Roof rack basket, hitch, hitch basket, stereo speakers and boxes, and a constructed elevated wood bed and mattress to be apx 400 lbs. total, leaving 1200 lbs of remaining cargo weight. Once all items are installed a fully loaded shakedown trip to Cali will start in mid May. I used a Rhino-Rack heavy duty roof rack (rated at 220 lbs, and a Go Rhino cargo basket to top it. It required longer bend bolts than standard to mount it. I found 6X5 inch 3/8 stainless bend bolts at Fastenel. And 3/8 stainless securing knurled screw nuts from J.W. Wingo Inc. I went through all of this custom fitting just to have a 60 " long cargo rack with a six inch rise. I can carry the full rated 165 lbs of cargo and not exceed the 220 lb roof load limit of the Connect. With myself, gear, and inventory I will be running at about 1500 lbs. With mostly highway driving I expect to get reasonably good gas mileage as well. I hope Ford planned as carefully as I did...LOL. ***Pics to follow when complete Edited May 4, 2017 by Loafer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beta Don Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 On 6/14/2014 at 9:32 AM, temp357 said: They make tires in the right size. The load rating is only 1400lbs @ 51 psi, but I don't really use my transit connect to haul that much stuff. I've had pretty good luck with yokohoma tires in the past. They are available in 205/65r15 load rating 92S. I'm a big Yokohama fan too - Got them on all my other vehicles and will probably be putting them on my 2014 TC when the time comes too. They do make a couple different tires rated for use on the Gen 2's with 16 inch wheels, but Yokohama doesn't make anything 'legal' for the Gen 1's with 15 inch tires My advice would be to go to the Tire Rack website and enter your vehicle details and check for the tires that are rated for your van and not even think of mounting a lesser tire, just because the size is correct. The rating of the tire is very important. No good tire shop would mount any tire without the proper rating on your van - I'm sure you could probably find one somewhere who would, but if they would be willing to do that, IMO you should be dealing with a more reputable shop! There are only 5 or 6 'legal' tires listed on the Tire Rack website for Gen 1 TC's with 15 inch wheels. The Generals and the Michelins are there along with a Bridgestone and an Sumitomo, but they say the OE Continentals are the 'best seller' for your van - I would stick with one of those listed there for sure Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSUPC Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 I am running Yokohama's on my 2012, but I moved up to the 16" wheels. Like Beta Don said, there just aint a lot of "legal" tires out there for the 15" wheels on the Gen 1's. The XL load rating is pain for the 15". :( Will walk out and snap a picture of the ones I have and get the model and size as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSUPC Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 These are the Yokohama YK740 GTX in 225/55 R16. The replaced the Yokohama YK580's that I swapped the original Conti's out for. The 580's were awesome and I loved them. Got over 100k miles out them and never had a problem (mostly highway miles) The 740's look and feel nice on the van. But, and this is due to my neglect, the life of the tires for me was not good. But as I stated this is my fault as I have put off an alignment job and tire rotation for the last year. With these two problems removed, the tires should get close to the same 100k mile point as the 580's. The guy at Discount Tire about peed his pants when he calculated up the driven miles on the 580's since they put them on. I actually looked at the Avids but decided to go with these instead and move up to the 16" wheels. But I carry the max weight on a regular basis and cannot take the chance on a lower load rating tire, or I would have probably went with the Avids or maybe even one of the Coopers tires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slybert Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 What if you mount lower rated tires, because you does not carry much, and that you inflate them to, say, 36 psi as it is probably the higher pressure that they can hold.The TPMS will turn on the warning lamp because the spec says 40/49. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSUPC Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 On 5/11/2017 at 2:40 PM, slybert said: What if you mount lower rated tires, because you does not carry much, and that you inflate them to, say, 36 psi as it is probably the higher pressure that they can hold.The TPMS will turn on the warning lamp because the spec says 40/49. This would be true. But a good tire shop can reprogram the TPMS sensors to a lower activation pressure to match the lower running pressure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G B L Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 The Tpms sensors in My Gen 2 do not trigger at 36 lbs so it could work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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