John Comiez Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Picked up my 2014 Transit Connect Wagon a couple of weeks ago and now I'm looking to get a winter wheel/tire package for the long Michigan winters. Surprisingly I'm having trouble finding a place that will sell me wheels. I tried both tirerack.com and belle tire which is a local store I have used successfully in the past. Both places said that they don't have any wheels that will fit the 2014 Transit Connect. I've done some research and I think the 2014 Transit Connect and the 2014 Focus use the same size wheels: 16" x 6.5" 50 mm offset/5.75" Backspacing 5 x 108" stud pattern same center bore (wrote down the number but can't find the sheet). So in terms of packaging and clearance I think I could buy any 16" wheel that fits on a 2014 Focus. So I'm confused as to why both tirerack and belle tire say they don't have a wheel that fits my car. The TC is in their system since it will bring up tires that are compatible, just not any wheels. Has anyone bought any aftermarket wheels for their 2014 Transit Connect? Right now the only place that will confirm a compatible wheel/tire/TPMS is the dealership which will sell me a set of crappy and heavy OEM steel wheels + Michelin Ice-Xi3 + the Ford TPMS system for $1800. If I pick a nice set of what I think are compatible alloy wheels on tirerack.com along with the Michelins and a TPMS system it comes out to $1150. I'm having trouble spending $650 more to get a pair of steel wheels instead of a nice pair of much ligher alloy wheels. I'm hesitant to buy a focus set on the chance that somehow my info on the wheel size is wrong. Another consideration is that the Transit Connect is a much heavier vehicle compared to the Focus (at least 1000 lbs heavier). Wheels must have a weight rating so maybe its possible that none of these two stores actually have an alloy wheel that can handle the much heavier vehicle. Anyone have any history or info in on any of this? Thanks. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windguy Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 glad to hear you got yourself a new TC. sweet! I'm sure you have seen that there are a bunch of threads on wheels and tires, but for Gen 1 TC's. have you checked to see what the difference is between Gen 1 and Gen 2 wheels and tires? If they are the same then your question might be answered. I'm curious myself so please keep us posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Comiez Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 Windguy, good suggestions. One thing I didn't check is what wheels are offered for the Gen 1 TC. tirerack.com does offer a very wide selection of wheels for the Gen1 TC. It lists the size as 16" x 6.5" with a 5-108 stud spacing. The wheels that it offers have offsets ranging from 40 mm to 50 mm. So the Gen1 wheel looks identical in size to the Gen2 wheel. The question is whether they are rated to the same weight capacity so I checked the GVWR specs off of the ford website and it says the Gen1 GVWR is 5005 lbs and the Gen2 GVWR is 5280 lbs. So, the GEN2 is a heavier vehicle but only by 280 lbs. 280 lbs pounds doesn't seem like that big of a difference especially since it is split over 4 tires. I plan to call tirerack on Monday and see if I can get an answer why they offer wheels for a Gen1 but not Gen2 since the wheels appear to be identical in size and the vehicles are rated to **almost** the same weight. Right now I'm leaning towards buying a nice aftermarket alloy set off of tirerack and then having a local shop put on gen2 compatible TPMS and winter tires. The second option is to buy a set of used wheels. I found OEM gen2 16" alloy wheels at originalwheels.com for about $225 a tire including shipping. This would guarantee a compatible tire albeit at twice the price per wheel versus aftermarket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windguy Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 I checked the Ford Accessories offerings and they don't offer any wheels for Gen 1 (2013 or older). See the link below for wheels for Gen 2 (2014, 2015). These wheels don't list other years as being compatible so that's worth digging into. Maybe you can find these Ford alloys at a better price and you know it fits and matches what you have now, assuming they are the same. http://accessories.ford.com/kit-wheel-10767.html getting the right fitting wheel can be a challenge sometimes. last winter I bent the wheel on my Volvo wagon and ordered a "compatible" steel wheel through the local Discount Tire (America's Tire). Everything fit just fine in terms of mounting, but the wheel cover wouldn't fit. I had to get a Volvo wheel at 2X the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oregon Don Posted November 22, 2014 Share Posted November 22, 2014 rimsntires.com shows some aftermarket rims and rim/tire combos with prices to fit 2014 Transit Connect. I couldn't find much else specific on line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdrider Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 I bought a set of winter wheels for the 2014 Transit Connect from MyPartsGarage.com. They were less than $60 each, and listed by the manufacturer as a fit for the 2014 TC. Some wheels may appear to fit based on their specs, but retailers are reluctant to sell them unless they are specifically listed by the manufacturer as fitting the vehicle. Otherwise they are not certain they will fit and/or there may be safety issues. Consumer reports rated winter tires, and based on their information, I bought Pirelli Winter 210 Sotto Zero Series II. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHEP Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 hdrider I could not find winter wheels on mypartsgarage.com Any help ? Thank you Dan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdrider Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 (edited) Contact them by email. That's what I did and they were very helpful. They had the wheels for me in less than 24 hours. (I did local pickup, since they happen to be located in Chicagoland.) Edited December 4, 2014 by hdrider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHEP Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 Thank you, hdrider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHEP Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 hdrider I ordered wheels today thank you. I have factory Aluminum wheels on now so I guess I need lug nuts for steel wheels Would any one know of the thread size ? Looking for after market ones. Ford wants $11 EACH. THANKS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hal Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Thread size is 12-1.5 mm. You should be able to find them at any auto parts store as it is common to many cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jutasi Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 Just got my 2016 transit connect xlt wagon. Standard steel wheels with 215/55 R16 tires. I'd like to replace them either with a set of stock alloys, or maybe something else with more bling. What are the "specs" for this wheel - I know the bolts are M12 X 1.5, but what is the spacing, offset and width? Any recommendation of possible economical options are welcome!! The van seems very well built, but it took 7 months to get from when I placed the order. If these are so hard to get, they should become collectible really fast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G B L Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 Tire Rack has lots of wheels that fit . Go to Tire Rack .com and put in the vehicle info and there are 0ver 50 different wheels of stock size or larger that will fit. The site has a photo simulator that puts all the wheels on the TC. Have fun looking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NateTheFknGreat Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 On July 29, 2016 at 1:20 PM, Jutasi said: Just got my 2016 transit connect xlt wagon. Standard steel wheels with 215/55 R16 tires. I'd like to replace them either with a set of stock alloys, or maybe something else with more bling. What are the "specs" for this wheel - I know the bolts are M12 X 1.5, but what is the spacing, offset and width? Any recommendation of possible economical options are welcome!! The van seems very well built, but it took 7 months to get from when I placed the order. If these are so hard to get, they should become collectible really fast! The bolt pattern is 5x108... Only a select few cars have the same pattern... Jaguar, Volvo, Some Fords, Range Rover... Not much to choose from... I've read on the Ford Focus forums that some guys have done the axle swap with the Mazda 3 axle hybrids.... It's a lot of work but if your looking to get or gain a better selection of wheels, it'll be worth the money... I have a set of 19x8.5 front and 19x10 rears... I was able to find the set off a Jaguar... I'll be stretching some tires on them and also putting AirRide on my TC... I'm one of those guys... Form > Function.... I need to make the TC mine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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