Winter Tire and Wheel Recommendations

[peterk9]

I'm guessing the tire/wheel combos that the dealer has probably have the TPMS. It's up to you which direction you wish to go. Perhaps a call to your local dealership will answer some of your questions. I don't know how much input you would have if getting their Winter tire package. I never checked.
I wanted a specific tire and wheel. That is why I went the way I did.

Peter

 

[abrxx]

I'm guessing the tire/wheel combos that the dealer has probably have the TPMS. It's up to you which direction you wish to go. Perhaps a call to your local dealership will answer some of your questions. I don't know how much input you would have if getting their Winter tire package. I never checked.
I wanted a specific tire and wheel. That is why I went the way I did.

Peter

Thanks Peter. This is all a learning curve for me! I will call a couple of local dealers and see what they say.

Thanks again,
Alastair

 

[abrxx]

Quick call to my local Ford dealer reveals that they will sell and fit four new 18 inch black steel wheels plus four new pressure sensors plus four new DM-V1s for approx $1900 CAD.

 

[peterk9]

I don't have my invoice handy but my total came to around $1880 which included the center caps, the special lug nuts to hold then in place and tax.
It also included the swap of the all-season to Winter wheels. The air was free.

Peter

 

[jnbhobe]

Wow! Had not thought about how much you can spend on snow tires. I bought a set of 17 inch Freestyle wheels without TPMS for $200 and 4 245/65/17 MasterCraft MSR's studded , mounted and balanced for $400 and thought I spent a lot.

 

[Tony407]

I believe the Winter tire packages that Ford advertises does not include that Interceptor wheel. They look like a more 'generic' one with many small holes around the edge as opposed to the 5 that the Interceptor wheel has.

No, the Ford winter package is not the Interceptor wheel.

The cheapest place I could find the Interceptor wheel was online for $178 each, before shipping. And that does not include the center caps, which although optional as you stated, are ridiculously expensive.

I realize folks can get great prices on TPMS sensors on eBay, but I calculated all my options and the cheapest for me was to get everything from Tirerack. The sensors were a lot more than eBay, but the mounting and balancing (if you get the wheels AND tires together) are "free." So by the time I priced everything together separately, if I was trying to bargain hunt for the cheapest individual price, I would still have to pay to have them mounted and balanced locally, and this would defeat the savings of getting sensors on eBay. So for me, it was best to get everything from Tirerack. Which by the way, was a great experience. I got everything to my front door in a couple of days.

Tony

 

[peterk9]

The center caps cost me $20 each through the dealer. I paid around $40 each for the full wheel covers on the 17" steelies I used on my previous 2011 Explorer Ltd.

Peter

 

[Tony407]

The center caps cost me $20 each through the dealer. Peter

$20? My dealer quoted me over twice that and I couldn't find them online for much cheaper. Maybe I was looking up the wrong thing.

Tony

 

[peterk9]

www.fordparts.com lists them at $68.10 each. Part 1130C. I was also surprised when the parts manager quoted the price over the phone but I wasn't going to argue.

Peter

 

[Tony407]

www.fordparts.com lists them at $68.10 each. Part 1130C. I was also surprised when the parts manager quoted the price over the phone but I wasn't going to argue.

Peter

Yeah, that's the reason I didn't go with the Interceptor wheels. The center caps completed the look but were just too expensive.

Tony

 

[BrianT]

....Or you can buy them at Tire Rack (www.tirerack.com) and have them shipped to you. A 235/65R18 DM-V1 is listed at $165 (I paid $215 through the dealer) and would be almost a perfect substitute size for the 20" OEM wheels.

Peter

Peter

Tirerack do have a great price on the Blizzac, but once you add the shipping cost you are back unto the dealer price.
For 4 rims and tires they wanted $336.00 for the shipping.

 

[BrianT]

Thanks for your input Brian.

Sorry to ask so many questions, I really am a car newbie:

So that price you quote for the Blizzaks is the local Ford dealer price for DV-1 in these parts? Do I also need to order a wheel installation kit/wheel locks as well?

Also that Ebay price, is that for a pack of four sensors?

And finally, once I have assembled all of this stuff, what the heck do I do with it? Are you suggesting a DIY job, or do I take all this stuff to a local shop and get them to do it for me?

Thanks in advance,

Alastair

Alastair

I did not get my tires from the dealer, I purchased them from Costco.
I ordered the rims from the dealer p/n DG1Z 1015 A @ $84.95 ea
4 x TPMS BB5Z-1A189-A – 315 MHZ (there are 2 different TMPS I think they use
the 9L3Z-1A189-A – 433 MHZ in the 2015 the dealer will let you know)
4 x Blizzak DM-V1 235x65-18 from Costco for $1042.67 taxes in
20 wheel nuts http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wheel-Cover-Retaining-Nut-6W7Z-1012-CA-F8AZ-1012-AA-/350500259979
4 Centre Caps F87 1130GB $20.00

Took the rims, TMPS and nuts to Costco when the Blizzaks came in, they mounted everything and put my summers in the rear of the Explorer.

Since then I have chafed the rims twice myself.

Brian

 

[Halwg]

I'm going the cheap route. I paid $500 with shipping for 4 Cooper Weather-Master WSC tires and the local tire shop is going to mount and balance all for for $73 on my existing wheels and store my summer tires for me. So even at $73 each time they do the change over, it's way cheaper than buying extra wheels, and I have a place to store the tires.

Having this done tomorrow.

 

[peterk9]

Peter

Tirerack do have a great price on the Blizzac, but once you add the shipping cost you are back unto the dealer price.
For 4 rims and tires they wanted $336.00 for the shipping.

Hi Brian. I was just providing another option. Using Tire Rack for just the tires and including shipping ($174.88) plus figuring in the tax, I would have saved $46 unless there are other fees. Personally I prefer shopping 'at home' and through the dealer in this case. Much less hassle all around. Anxious to see how this big MKT performs in snow.

Peter

 

[peterk9]

I'm going the cheap route. I paid $500 with shipping for 4 Cooper Weather-Master WSC tires and the local tire shop is going to mount and balance all for for $73 on my existing wheels and store my summer tires for me. So even at $73 each time they do the change over, it's way cheaper than buying extra wheels, and I have a place to store the tires.

Having this done tomorrow.

Good morning Halwg. You have a very good set of Winter tires there. With all the salt and materials they throw on the roads up here I didn't want to risk damage to the alloys. Many have complained about alloys pitting after a few Winters. A neighbour had a Buick Lacrosse and did the tire swapping thing on the OEM rims and found that after a couple of changes he had a slow leak in two of the tires. Turned out that the stretching of the tire bead due to removing and reinstalling a few times didn't allow for a tight seal on the wheel any longer. I started having the dealer store the tires ($30) when I got the Explorer. This time there was no charge for storage. It has been trying to snow here the last two days but it has only been a few flakes so far. Good luck with your setup, I'm sure that you'll find the tires to be a very good investment.

Peter

 

[geezerglide]

Hi Brian.

Anxious to see how this big MKT performs in snow.

Peter

My old 2010 MKT c/w the Blizzaks performed great in all snow conditions. The deepest snow I had to go through was just almost to mid grill, I know if I went looking for deeper snow to drive through it may have made, granted this is Alberta, Montana, Idaho type snow dry and pushes aside and through easily.

I asked a question on another post about the duct under the front on left side on Sports with the towing package, I an assuming in deep now that it may get plugged up,if it was removed for the winter would that create any problems?

Thanks,

geezerglide

 

[peterk9]

Not sure about the Sport since the duct is used to help cool the turbos. If it was just there on other Explorers as part of the towing package I think it could be removed. Maybe some one will know for sure.

Peter

 

[Tony407]

Got the Blizzak DM-V1 tires and Interceptor 18" wheels installed today along with the TPMS sensors. Hope they will fit the 2016 Explorer if I get that next. Weatherman is calling for possible snow flurries in a couple of days. As for the black wheels, I don't think they look too bad. In any case I prefer functionality over appearance and at $88 each, I'm not complaining.

Peter

Wait a second... I'm not sure how I missed this. Did you really only pay $88 each for the Interceptor wheels? How on Earth did you find them for that cheap? All the dealerships I called were at least $250 each, and the cheapest I could find them online was just under $180 each. If I had known you could get them for $88 I would have gone this route!!!

Tony

 

[BrianT]

Wait a second... I'm not sure how I missed this. Did you really only pay $88 each for the Interceptor wheels? How on Earth did you find them for that cheap? All the dealerships I called were at least $250 each, and the cheapest I could find them online was just under $180 each. If I had known you could get them for $88 I would have gone this route!!!

Tony

Tony

For some strange reason, the interceptor rims are cheaper here in Canada than they are in the USA.
p/n DG1Z 1015 A @ $84.95 ea here in Canada.

Brian

 

[Tony407]

Tony

For some strange reason, the interceptor rims are cheaper here in Canada than they are in the USA.
p/n DG1Z 1015 A @ $84.95 ea here in Canada.

Brian

Oh man...you're not kidding. I wish I had known that beforehand. Not sure how much shipping or taxes would have been from Canada though. Still, I wonder why the same wheel is so much cheaper than in the U.S.

Tony