Winter Tires

[bigdude2468]

I have a 2014 XLT, 18" wheels, the standard tire size is 245/60-18. We spend five months in the winter in Utah where we drive the most avalanche prone road in North America, last winter we had 650" of snow. I want to buy a set of snow tires and wheels. The question I have is in 3, 4, 5, years when I trade in the 2014 and buy a 2022 or 23 will the snow tires fit the new explorer? The 2020 Ex still have 18" and 20" wheels but the tire size is slightly different. I looked at a 2020 Ex and the tires were 255/65-18. What happens if I were to put the 245/60's on the new Ex?

 

[Mlarv5]

I have a 2014 XLT, 18" wheels, the standard tire size is 245/60-18. We spend five months in the winter in Utah where we drive the most avalanche prone road in North America, last winter we had 650" of snow. I want to buy a set of snow tires and wheels. The question I have is in 3, 4, 5, years when I trade in the 2014 and buy a 2022 or 23 will the snow tires fit the new explorer? The 2020 Ex still have 18" and 20" wheels but the tire size is slightly different. I looked at a 2020 Ex and the tires were 255/65-18. What happens if I were to put the 245/60's on the new Ex?

There really is no way of telling if your current tires and wheels will fit in the 2022 Explorer. Ford changed the design for 2020 along with the spec's, they seem to change options every 2 or three years to accommodate the changing market.

If it were me I would buy what I needed now and not worry so much about 3 or 4 or 5 years from now. By then you might not want an Explorer or you might want new and shiny.

 

[KayGee]

If you are just talking tires, I don't see why you couldn't use the snow tires you buy now on another vehicle later. If you are concerned about size, you could always upsize slightly now so there is less of a size difference later. (Say 255/60r18 or 245/65r18)

If you are talking wheels also, I believe I have seen reports of them being same bolt pattern, but not sure on widths/offsets.

Best of luck.

 

[peterk9]

........................ The 2020 Ex still have 18" and 20" wheels but the tire size is slightly different. I looked at a 2020 Ex and the tires were 255/65-18. What happens if I were to put the 245/60's on the new Ex?

You'd be in the same boat as I would be. You would require new Winter tires if you want to stay within the recommended 3% maximum diameter variance.
255/65-R18 vs 245/60-R18 Tire Comparison - Tire Size Calculator | Tacoma World, or Tire size calculator: compare tires online
A 235/70R18 is very close to the same size as the 255/65R18 with a difference of only -0.03 255/65-R18 vs 235/70-R18 Tire Comparison - Tire Size Calculator | Tacoma World, or Tire size calculator: compare tires online
I use the 18" steel Interceptor wheels in place of my 20" OEM wheels but the new Explorer has also changed the 20" size so I will have to get new Winter tires, assuming the 18" wheel will fit.

Peter

 

[03WIExplorerLtd]

Remember, winter slicks don't last as long.
Always can get different wheels provided lug nuts work. I will be looking at new set this winter in WI. Had set of Bridgestone DM-1 had 2014/15 winter to 18/19. They were decent, essentially all season this past winter. New models since then, check tire rack

 

[KayGee]

Remember, winter slicks don't last as long.

What do you mean by this?

Every set of winter tires I have that was used during the winter months (roughly nov-mar for me) has lasted many years. I have had several sets that only saw about 1/32" of wear per year and probably would have lasted 8-9 years at that rate if I wanted to push them (as they started with 10-11/32" of tread). I usually replace my tires when they get to 3-4/32" or after 6 years of use. Most vehicles I run snow tires on are daily drivers, so they see 10-15k miles per year with 5-7k of that in winter. 35-45k miles or more out of quality snow tires is perfectly reasonable and many have gotten much more. Also, most manufactures of winter tires say to expect at least 4-5 seasons of use from them.

Winters can wear prematurely if you drive them outside of the range of temperature/conditions they were designed for (ex. in the summer/above 42 degrees consistently), but that would be an owners fault.

 

[03WIExplorerLtd]

They are softer rubber and do not last as long as all season tires. By design

At 6/32 they do not have any winter tread left, its all season. I would expect y all seasons to last longer

 

[peterk9]

They are softer rubber and do not last as long as all season tires. By design

At 6/32 they do not have any winter tread left, its all season. I would expect y all seasons to last longer

They may not last as so-called all seasons but they allow you to extend the time that you get to use them since you don't use them all year. Even with the tread worn down. the softer compound will still grip the cold bare roads better than the OEMs. That is why they are now referred to as Winter and not snow tires.

Peter

 

[03WIExplorerLtd]

Mine were junk at 5 to 6/32.

 

[KayGee]

They are softer rubber and do not last as long as all season tires. By design

At 6/32 they do not have any winter tread left, its all season. I would expect y all seasons to last longer

Everything varies by tire brand /model and how they are used. I know people that leave their snow tires on all year and wonder why they are shot in less than 2 years of driving or why they had a blow out in the heat of summer. When used properly, they have more than adequate tread life.

Tire rack recommends replacing Winters at 5/32", but if you started with 12/32", that's a lot of tread life. The key with winter tires is not to drive on them at temps above ~42° as that will cause them to wear more quickly.

I believe transport Canada says 5/32" is min for snows. Some tire shops say down to 4/32" is fine and others say to replace when they get to 7/32" (which seems a bit ridiculous).

All depends on how much snow/slush/ice a person encounters in their area. I have driven on winter tires in mi down to 3/32" and they were still light years better than even new all seasons.

Kal tire did a study comparing snow tires to all seasons at 25/50/75/100% wear and 100% worn snow tires still allowed same or better snow cornering and ice braking than brand new all seasons.

Mine were junk at 5 to 6/32.

I've bought many snow tires (premium to much lesser known brands) over the years and never had any that were junk at that wear level. Some people just seem to have more problems than others...

 

[onestout]

Snow tires will have 2 sets of wear marks in them, 1 for when the snow effectivity is gone and 1 when they are no longer legal to use on the road. The more premium winter tires are all-season tires capped with a winter compound, once that compound is gone you may as well use them in the summer until they are wore out. I don't put a lot of miles on per year and a set of snow usually last me until I sell the vehicle.

 

[peterk9]

............................................. The more premium winter tires are all-season tires capped with a winter compound, ................................................

Do you have a link to that info? BTW, the term "snow" tire is an outdated term since it doesn't accurately reflect the true capabilities of the tire, mainly improved cold weather traction.

Peter

 

[CDW6212R]

Winter tires will last a long time in the conditions they were made for, cold of course, but the road surface matters more than that. Winter tires will wear out the fastest on bare pavement, at any temperature. So be easy driving on pavement with Winter tires, avoid hard cornering. On snow you will naturally drive easier than on pavement, which helps them last a lot longer.

My old Winter tires are over ten years old I'm sure, I just bought a new set to replace them. So the old ones though not dry rotted, I need to put on this Winter, and leave them on until I wear them out.

 

[onestout]

most tire manufacturers say or not if they are a dual compound on their website in the information. Blizzak's were one of the first many years ago to do this, I think they were from the start, my X-ice are this way also. My General Arctic's were not, that softer compound makes for a lot of flex in the sidewall.

 

[peterk9]

....... that softer compound makes for a lot of flex in the sidewall.

That's what I was concerned about. If it was an all-season tire capped with just a softer compound added to the tread, the sidewall would still be stiffer. I wasn't able to find anything about the '2 stage' manufacturing.

Peter

 

[Steve Boat]

I did Blizzak tire on mine first snow they seemed GREAT! I will post again when they have 5K on them

 

[Ironworker40]

I found this on tire rack
NOTE: The first 55% of the Blizzak DM-V2's tread depth features the NanoPro Tech Multicell Compound while the remaining 45% features a standard winter tire compound. When the Blizzak DM-V2 is approximately 50 percent worn, a depth indicator molded into the tread design lets the driver know that the remaining tread is reaching the end of its ability to provide beneficial snow traction

Good to know as I own a set and I din't know this.

 

[peterk9]

I have the same tires just installed and noted that message on the Tire Rack site when I was doing some research on various tires.

Peter

 

[stillmarried]

I am planning to replace my old snow tire/wheel set up on my 2017 Explorer Limited.
I want to purchase the PIU steel wheels and Autonation White Bear Lake provided the necessary part numbers:

PIU 18” diameter steel wheel DG1Z-1015-A, $109.14 each.
Wheel center cap # is DG1Z-1130-C, $66.10 each.
TPMS sensor is F2GZ-1A189-A, $55.19 each.
lug nut is 6L2Z-1012-BA, $5.39 each, (need 4 per tire if using al locking lug nut)
locking lug nut is F5TZ-1A043-A, $60 for set of 4.

One concern that Autonation mentioned was that the locking lug nuts may not fit with the wheel center cap. Can anyone confirm if they were able to install these locking lug nuts on their Explorer using this set up? I hate to risk buying the set for $60 and then not work.

I found Bridgestone Blizzak 255/60R18 snow tires at Sam's Club for $220 each tire, and $20 for mounting.

Can anyone confirm that they used these same parts on their winter tires/wheel set up using PIU steel wheels?

Wow that puts each tire wheel assembly at over $500 each, and I have not got cost yet on additional shipping and taxes!

 

[peterk9]

I don't know if you tried Levittown Ford for the parts or not. Levittown is a forum vendor and offers forum members a discount.

Levittown Ford Super Center EF Vendor

I would like to extend a warm welcome to Benny from the Ford Super Center. www.LevittownFordParts.com - sales@LevittownFordParts.com - 877-460-9497

www.explorerforum.com

I had the same setup on my 2017 Platinum and had to use 5 new lugnuts for each wheel. The center cap clips onto the lugnuts to hold it on.
I had the Blizzak DMV-1 winter tires on the 2017.

Peter