Larger Wheels

[Specialift]

Hi, Looking to fit larger alloys to my new connect 2016, does anyone have any info on maximum wheel size but with sensible tyres, maybe 18", Thanks.

[G B L]

There was another post about 18" wheels that fit . The only issue is as the wheel gets bigger the sidewall profile Gets smaller. The result of this is that the ride gets harder and the tire takes less and less abuse from potholes and on road objects .

[Ccrew]

Focus ST 18" wheel/tire combo will fit our Transit's and can be picked up on the used market. Problem is the weight rating on most, as in doing early research only the Continentals that came on my 17" factory wheels are the only ones at that time with the correct rating. That may or may not have changed in 8 months since I researched.

[G B L]

I think even with the proper weight rating the side wall height reduction would make the ride hard and very susceptible to road damage on the kind of roads where I operate.

The cool look has to take a back seat to the service requirements in my case.

[G B L]

I think larger tires on the 16" wheels are the only way to go. Larger wheels make the tire sidewall smaller relative to the total tire diameter.

If they would fit I would consider a 15" wheel and tire with the same total diameter as the 215-55-16 inch , this would make the tires ride better and take abuse better.

They won't , the brakes in the front are too big. The brakes are a good thing

[uberconnect2015]

[uberconnect2015]

Ford Focus ST 18"wheels with 235/45/r18 tires.

Edited May 27, 2016 by uberconnect2015

[NateTheFknGreat]

I think even with the proper weight rating the side wall height reduction would make the ride hard and very susceptible to road damage on the kind of roads where I operate.

The cool look has to take a back seat to the service requirements in my case.

Form > Function

It's all about the style.... I've bought some 19x8.5 front and 19x10 rear wheels and they have some poke to them but after I bag my TC, it should look pretty good... I guess I shouldn't mention stretching tires on them either? lol..

I'm also thinking of grabbing another set of 19" wheels to be able to have different looks....

[MLB]

On 5/27/2016 at 3:46 AM, uberconnect2015 said:

Ford Focus ST 18"wheels with 235/45/r18 tires.

 

  Any rubbing issues?  Over speed bumps?  Have you figured how much the speedo is off?  I just bought 18's and I'd love to get taller sidewalls like that. 

[Beta Don]

The sidewalls aren't taller  -  The 16's have a 4.66" sidewall and the 18's are only 4.16".  That's over 10% shorter

His 235/45R18's are 4% larger in circumference than the 16's, so the speedo should be off by that same amount.  The ride will be noticeably worse of course and with the slightly shorter sidewalls, you'd need to be careful of bending a wheel if you hit a chuck hole

Don

Edited June 16, 2017 by Beta Don

[MLB]

On 6/16/2017 at 10:37 AM, Beta Don said:

The sidewalls aren't taller  -  The 16's have a 4.66" sidewall and the 18's are only 4.16".  That's over 10% shorter

His 235/45R18's are 4% larger in circumference than the 16's, so the speedo should be off by that same amount.  The ride will be noticeably worse of course and with the slightly shorter sidewalls, you'd need to be careful of bending a wheel if you hit a chuck hole

Don

Taller compared to the rubber bands you see on some cars where they've gone too big with the wheels.

Those are HARDLY that.  And these are light vehicles.

Unless you looked up his specific tire you are using generic diatmeter specs that can in fact change dramatically from tire line to tire line within a manufacturers product lines, much less among manufacturers.  Not hard to find .5" diameter difference in the "Same size" tires among the choices.  With motorcycles you can look at lower or raise seat height a little by choosing a tire with a different diameter, all while keeping the same size tire. 

I get your paranoia with bigger wheels, but you're overstating the problems.  Lots of us have been upsizing for decades and we're still here and have never broken a wheel or flattened at tire on a pothole.  You would be correct if we were talking about putting 20's on this vehicle, but nobody is.  

You mention that as you're older and drive easier that your transmission and brakes last longer.  My TC is a delivery vehicle in (slow speed) city use over mostly pretty good streets.  When there potholes, I steer around them.  Or brake to slow down.

Think how much abuse your wheels take (or don't) is any different than your tranny/brakes when you driver easy?   

Edited June 28, 2017 by MLB

[Beta Don]

3 hours ago, MLB said:

Taller compared to the rubber bands you see on some cars where they've gone too big with the wheels.

Those are HARDLY that.  And these are light vehicles.

I get your paranoia with bigger wheels, but you're overstating the problems.  Lots of us have been upsizing for decades and we're still here and have never broken a wheel or flattened at tire on a pothole.  You would be correct if we were talking about putting 20's on this vehicle, but nobody is.  

First, I have zero 'paranoia' with upsizing to larger wheels  -  I've done it myself on more than one vehicle.  So long as you stay with the stock overall circumference of the tires *and* you can find properly sized tires correctly rated for the vehicle you're driving there's no problem . . . . other than a rougher ride and the distinct possibility of bending a wheel

All FWD vehicles use wheels where the spokes are about flush with the outside of the wheel and that makes the inside lip of the wheel very easy to bend.  My daughter's Mazda 5 came with 205/50R17's and she managed to bend all 4 of the OEM alloys during the life of the OEM set of tires  -  None of them badly bent, mind you, but enough that the tire store refused to mount new tires on them.  We bought a new set of Mazda 3 take-off wheels and she bent 2 of those with the second set of tires.  Her car weighs 3,500 pounds and she never carries more than 2 or 3 people in it

Gen 2 TC's are all rated at more than 5,000 lbs GVWR  -  I'm not sure of your definition of 'light vehicle' but ours are heavy enough that they require specially rated tires rated to carry the weight.  Only a small percentage of the available 215/55R16's are rated for our vehicle and when you go up to 17's or 18's, the selection is even smaller.  True, *you* can mount any tire you like, rated correctly or not, *but* you'll have to do a bit of hunting to find a tire store which would mount them  -  In the event of a fatal accident caused by the use of incorrectly rated tires, the store you bought them from would most certainly be held liable in the ensuing lawsuit

You can take my word for it (or not) but the 18's from the Focus ST will be very easy to bend on a vehicle as heavy as a TC, so unless you have better roads in your neck of the woods than we have here, I would most certainly buy an extra wheel or two while you can find them  -  Likely you'll need one or two sooner than you think

Don

[MLB]

On 6/28/2017 at 2:03 PM, Beta Don said:

First, I have zero 'paranoia' with upsizing to larger wheels  -  I've done it myself on more than one vehicle.  So long as you stay with the stock overall circumference of the tires *and* you can find properly sized tires correctly rated for the vehicle you're driving there's no problem . . . . other than a rougher ride and the distinct possibility of bending a wheel

All FWD vehicles use wheels where the spokes are about flush with the outside of the wheel and that makes the inside lip of the wheel very easy to bend.  My daughter's Mazda 5 came with 205/50R17's and she managed to bend all 4 of the OEM alloys during the life of the OEM set of tires  -  None of them badly bent, mind you, but enough that the tire store refused to mount new tires on them.  We bought a new set of Mazda 3 take-off wheels and she bent 2 of those with the second set of tires.  Her car weighs 3,500 pounds and she never carries more than 2 or 3 people in it

Gen 2 TC's are all rated at more than 5,000 lbs GVWR  -  I'm not sure of your definition of 'light vehicle' but ours are heavy enough that they require specially rated tires rated to carry the weight.  Only a small percentage of the available 215/55R16's are rated for our vehicle and when you go up to 17's or 18's, the selection is even smaller.  True, *you* can mount any tire you like, rated correctly or not, *but* you'll have to do a bit of hunting to find a tire store which would mount them  -  In the event of a fatal accident caused by the use of incorrectly rated tires, the store you bought them from would most certainly be held liable in the ensuing lawsuit

You can take my word for it (or not) but the 18's from the Focus ST will be very easy to bend on a vehicle as heavy as a TC, so unless you have better roads in your neck of the woods than we have here, I would most certainly buy an extra wheel or two while you can find them  -  Likely you'll need one or two sooner than you think

Don

Bunch of bs......

 Got a problem with the weight rating of Focus wheels?  BUY FUSION WHEELS. Duh...  Oh, they weigh EXACTLY the same, if not more depending on the model.

 The TC weighs 3500lbs avg, that's a LIGHT vehicle in todays markey.  Since you insist on posting the LOADED limit that I"ve already explained I will never use, It seems mostly like you like being a negative nay saying know it all.

 As the TC comes with up to 17" wheels, 18" is +1, ridiculous to say that there will be a problem with that. 

Sounds like your daughter should avoid some of those endless deadly potholes you seem to have everywhere.

as for your lame sizing argument, just look at any car that's been for sale for 20+ years.  They used to come with 15" wheels standard, even pickup trucks. NOW many of those same vehicles come with 18" standard and go up to 20 or even 22".

 Fact is, you don't know what the hell you are talking about and you just like screaming "FIRE!!!!"

 Thanks for nothing, done here......

Edited July 3, 2017 by MLB

[Loafer]

Yikes, did somebody suggest square wheels?  I musta' missed that. I'll have to go back and read again... Yup, round wheels do work better. Now, I don't  want to get ego involved in this but round wheels are better than square wheels, by god, and I'm sticken' to it.   Now, I'm not sayin' that square wheels look bad on all vans, just look at Dodge!  They look great on Dodge vans! But over here at Ford they have a different design concept, round is the bomb. They make big rounds, lil' rounds, thick rounds, thin rounds cause that's how they roll   Now when a Dodge hits a pot hole, dey' gets stuck! But when Ford hits a pot hole dey' keep on rollin' one way or nudder'   Uphill or downhill makes no diff...dey keeps on rollin on roads, drives, or lawns, whatever   So don't be square, eat some bbq and shoot the works!

[Beta Don]

http://fordstnation.com/focus-st-tires-rims/8868-19-vs-18-rims-focus-st.html

"Avoid 19's. Unless you live somewhere with ice sheet smooth roads. The 18's on this car are already a bit thin on sidewalls. I know a guy who has bent 4 wheels of the course of 1 year (normal street driving), and I bent one enough to where I replaced it. 17's are much nicer (I have those for winter)."

If the 18's are that easy to bend on a Focus, they eon't be any less likely to bend on a TC

'Nuff said

Don 

Edited July 4, 2017 by Beta Don

[transmiter]

A pal of mine fitted a new set of Advanti 18's wheels. He bought it from 4WheelOnline then installed a 235/40R18's tires. Looks really sexy, but a bit bumpy. I think the 40 series is a rare tire spec right?

[mrtn]

40 is pretty standard profile index for performance tires.

[Beta Don]

To increase to 18's, 225/45R18 is usually the preferred size, and will give you a better ride than the 40 series 235's.  However, the 225/45's are almost 3% too large in circumference when compared to a stock tire and the 235/40's are actually closer to the correct circumference

IMO you would be less likely to bend a wheel with the 45's

Don  

[OLDSCHOOLFOOL]

My goal is larger & wider tires, not larger diameter wheels. Finding out real quick that not much fits the TC. At least not in what I want.

[OLDSCHOOLFOOL]

On ‎2‎/‎22‎/‎2016 at 8:00 AM, G B L said:

If they would fit I would consider a 15" wheel and tire with the same total diameter as the 215-55-16 inch , this would make the tires ride better and take abuse better.

They won't , the brakes in the front are too big. The brakes are a good thing

 

Will 15s fit over the brakes on the rear? I'm referring to the wheel specifically with no regard to the tire. Never mind the front. I don't have any 15s to test fit. Circa 2016.

[Beta Don]

I think they *probably* will

 

The rear rotors are smaller and on my van with 16" alloys, I can easily stick my fingers between the caliper and the wheel rim  -  It looks to me like there's a good bit more than 1/2 inch of clearance there and that's all you'd need

 

Go buy a 15" steel 5 x 108 wheel at the wrecking yard and give it a try  -  They *might* even let you jack it up and try the fit before you buy it

 

Don 

[G B L]

A 15  could fit the rear but it is definitely no go in the front on a gen 2.   I looked into it for mine , I was trying to increase the tire sidewall height to improve ride and protect the wheels.  

[Beta Don]

I really wish 15's would fit all around on the Gen 2's for the same reason.  I did that exact thing on my Mazda wagon, switching from 195/50R16 to 205/55R15 on wheels which weighed almost 5 pounds less than the factory alloys and boy, what a difference it made in ride comfort and I couldn't detect any loss in handling . . . . maybe even an apparent gain with the wider rubber on the lighter wheels

 

Don

[OLDSCHOOLFOOL]

1 hour ago, G B L said:

A 15  could fit the rear but it is definitely no go in the front on a gen 2.   I looked into it for mine , I was trying to increase the tire sidewall height to improve ride and protect the wheels.  

 

Yes, I just checked it and there is a TON of clearance back there. Maybe an inch or better. Ride or protection is not my goal. Someone on here said it perfectly. "Form > Function"

Cost however is starting to matter. I have acquired over the past few months 3.5 sets of wheels with virtually brand new tires on them. Sometimes a Wheel Whore has to sell something.

[G B L]

You should see behind my shop!