Oversize Tires

[Dsawyer]

Im looking to put 235/75/15 tires on my 2010 TC. Has anyone done this? Im running into clearance issues on the front. Use wheel spacers? I plan on lifting 2ish inches also.

[jrm223]

Using spacers on the wheels will push them further out of the wheelwell, which then makes the steering arc wider/longer - meaning the tires will run into your fenders & bumper even faster because of the wider arc. 235/75R15 is just going to be too large for a TC. I'm running 215/65R16 General Grabber AT2's on my 2015 TC cargo, 27" overall diameter - those 235's are around 28.9" diameter. And then there's all that weather-checking/cracking on that tire, hopefully that is just meant for mock-up only?

 

If you want to run 29" tires, you're going to be doing a lot more work for them than anyone here is familiar with on these vans. Probably opening up the wheelwells wider, then the 2" lift will wear out CV joints a lot faster, so you'll need to replace halfshafts a lot more often, etc. I've reprogrammed my computer for the 27" tires, but I don't remember offhand if it has circumference options large enough for those tires - you would need around 2300mm circumference, FYI. For the amount of work you'd be doing, I think you'd be better off removing the drivetrain and putting a 4x4 frame/drivetrain under it like people have done with everything from classic cars to Mustangs/Camaros/Firebirds, etc. At least then you'd have some real benefit (4x4) from all the trouble of going to tires that size. Using a ladder-frame would put the tires probably a foot or more below their current location, far out of the wheelwells. So, in the end, it would look like a van version of the "bro trucks" that are running around with 8" lift on tiny 33-35" tires that actually fit on a stock full-size truck without any lift. Or, just go with 27" tires (215/70R15, if that's an available size), which raise your van 3/4" from your stock tire size and don't have an endless nightmare of fitment problems. Depends on whether you want to be some sort of pioneer into this realm of 29" street-tread tires on a FWD cargo minivan, lol. 

[JustinVP]

On 12/7/2020 at 11:13 AM, jrm223 said:

I've reprogrammed my computer for the 27" tires

 

How’d you do that? Forscan? Last time I dug through the forums I didn’t think it was on option in the TC.

[Don Ridley]

This was from an older version of Forscan. It's possible the latest version has more options.

 

[jrm223]

Yes, Forscan. They finally released an updated version back around fall 2020 that allows a lot more circumference selections for the tire size. That was the only setting I changed related to tires and the speedometer/odometer reads correctly now. There is a "tire size" setting, but I couldn't figure out how/where to input the "Customer tire size" as it was called in Forscan, so I left it at the old tire size and haven't messed with it since.

[JustinVP]

Excellent! Adapter ordered and I’ll finally have a reason to mess around in Forscan. If I’m lucky maybe I can also find a way to permanently turn off that bloody backup sensor instead of hitting the off button all the time (bike rack is a permanent fixture).

[JustinVP]

I can confirm that Forscan now works great for adjust speedo for larger tires.

 

Running 215/65r16 Geolandars I bumped it up to 2070 circumference and it's bang-on perfect now when compared to a GPS speedo app on my phone. Based on prior threads I only changed the circumference, no other settings.

 

First time in Forscan was a bit nerve wracking when that warning message came up that said (paraphrasing): "don't do this, you'll brick your car". At least that's the impression I got. Ha!

Edited April 13, 2021 by JustinVP

[olddanriver]

I just replaced the stock 215 55 16 Conti's with new Quiettrac tires in 225 60 16.  It's been a month now and no issues except for a speedo error.  My Garmin shows 4 mph over at 70 on the display.  No issues with shifting that I can tell.  Ride has definitely improved let alone being much quieter.  Not sure how to access what you talk about as Forscan.  Suggestions??

Thanks.....

[Don Ridley]

Forscan is free software that is a scantool for Ford vehicles (read trouble codes, check misfires etc..). It can also change some settings like adding cruise control. You need to buy a quality adapter if your are going to make any configuration changes. OBD Link is strongly recommended.

 

Read about Forscan in various posts in this forum. Read the following tutorials.

 

Here is a tutorial for changing settings in a Escape. You can follow this to change the menu setting for wheel circumference.

2017 Escape FORScan CC Instructions.pdf - Google Drive

 

Here's more info on Forscan. 

FORScan Tutorial - Google Docs

 

[SurfVan]

Just put my order in for an Adapter. Going to head on this journey as a newbie. 2018 Ford Transit XLT convert. 

 

Thank you all for the resources. 

 

I am trying to increase clearance but dont care about 'look' and would prefer a comfy ride. It looks like a rolling circumference of 2005 mm is the maximum circumference setting in ForScan. So my tire options are:

 

215/50 R17?

215/60 R16?

Any other recommendations?

Edited October 13, 2021 by SurfVan

[jrm223]

2005mm is an old limit that has been resolved in current versions of Forscan for a year now, I was able to correct my speedometer/odometer for 215/65R16 tires. That said, my General Grabber AT2's are near worn-out with something like 62-65K miles, so I'm going back to OEM size after the other pair of tires from Tire Rack arrive (sent in pairs that got separated during shipping).