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Newbie struggling with winter tire questions


Julie Barron

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Hi all, I'd appreciate some help.

 

We just recently got a 2015 Ford Edge Sport with 20 inch tires. We traded in a Ford Escape 2013, but would like to use our winter tires from that vehicle if at all possible. The tires are Goodyear 235-55R17 and it appears the bolt pattern is the same between the edge and the escape, according to a few websites I've visited. But can anyone confirm whether these tires will work?

 

Many thanks!

 

Julie

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Check the center bores too. If the center bore is larger on the Escape wheels you can still use them but you will have to be more careful installing them. If the bore is too small you'd have to get them machined.

 

As for tire size I would recommend checking out Tire Rack or Discount Tire Direct websites and see what sizes they recommend for your vehicle. I think that size should be OK but again I would use their data to confirm.

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Thank you! According to the link below, the bore size is the same at 64.3. The stud size is different however-12x1.5 for the Escape 2013, 14x2.0 for the Edge 2015. It's the only difference I can see in that chart. Does that make a difference?

 

http://rimboltpattern.com/Ford_Bolt_Patterns.htm

Edited by Julie Barron
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The 2015 Edge and the 2013 Escape use wheels with the same bolt pattern and center bore size. The smaller Edge wheels (up to 20") also have the same 52.5 offset but the larger (21" and 22") wheels had a smaller offset of only 50mm. That 2.5 mm isn't enough to worry about except that the Edge wheels are also wider so you will probably see some difference in how they fit under the wheel wells.

 

But the big concerns are that the '15 Edge doesn't come with a 17" wheel in any trim level so they may not fit over the brakes and you may have a significant change in your speedometer/odometer because of the difference in overall circumference (depending on tire size).

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Thanks, that's very helpful. SO how would I know for sure whether or not the tires will work?

 

There are a number of tire size calculators online like this one: http://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp

 

The 21" tires on a '15 Edge Sport are 265/40-21. The 17" tires on a '13 Escape are 235/55-17. The difference in circumference is about 7.3% meaning that using the 17" wheel/tire combination (if they even fit over the brakes) will cause your speedometer to register 7.3% higher than your actual speed. When the speedometer indicates 60 mph, you'll actually be going only 55.6 mph... a significant difference that not only affects the speedometer but can also adversely affect things like stability control and anti-lock braking systems.

 

If the wheels will fit over the brakes, you could make it work by replacing the tires with 225/70-17 winter tires which are only 0.2% larger making your actual speed 60.1 mph at an indicated 60 mph - not enough to make any practical difference.

Edited by TheWizard
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Bottom line is the OE Edge tires have a load rating of 102. Tirerack shows the Goodyear tires in 235/55-17 have a load rating of 99 at most, so your Escape tires do not meet the load requirements of the Edge. Therefore no matter how well they might fit, they are not safe to use on the Edge.

BTW check what size your mini-spare is. If it's 18in, then it's likely that the 17in wheels won't clear the brakes anyway.

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Waldo that is not true. Just because the load rating on the OEM tire is 102 does not mean that it's the vehicle's load minimum for a tire.

 

Seriously Julie just go into a reputable tire shop and discuss it with them. They have lots of tools and resources to determine if they will work or not.

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It's not irrelevant. The optional 21's have a lower profile tire compared to the stock 20's. So TheWizard's calculations are still valid when comparing either the 20/21's to your Escape wheels.

 

This is correct. The 20" standard tire is 245/50-20 and the 21" optional tire is 265/40-21. Because of the lower aspect ratio, the 21" is within 1% of the 20" in overall circumference so the calculations when comparing to your 17" wheels is almost the same.

 

I know you wanted to avoid buying new tires but the tires you have on the Escape wheels are not suitable for the Edge. I suggested the alternate 17" tire size so that you could at least use the wheels (if they fit over the brakes) and only have to buy winter tires rather than both wheels and tires. 17" tires are generally less expensive than 20" tires so you could see significant savings over buying 20" winter tires and either another set of wheels or paying to have the tires mounted and balanced twice a year.

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Waldo that is not true. Just because the load rating on the OEM tire is 102 does not mean that it's the vehicle's load minimum for a tire.

 

Seriously Julie just go into a reputable tire shop and discuss it with them. They have lots of tools and resources to determine if they will work or not.

 

You are correct, but how would you ever know what the minimum load would be? Even the most reputable tire shop does not have access to the data Ford uses to determine that. If any tire shop ever tells you it's ok to run a lower load rating than what your vehicle came with, then they are not reputable. Manufacturers are always trying to squeeze the largest wheels/tires on a vehicle that they can, so if a vehicle ever had any "excess" load capacity it would mean that the manufacturer did not optimize the package space and therefore are spending more to design/build the vehicle than they need to.

 

On that point, it's worth noting that the 21in size that Ford uses on the Edge is an XL tire with a 105 rating. Had Ford not chosen the XL, that size would have been a 101 rating. So obviously Ford decided that a 101 was not good enough and spent extra money and compromised other things to go with the XL. Therefore I would conclude with a very high probability that 102 is the minimum load rating for a tire on the 2015 Edge (at least based on Ford's standards).

Edited by Waldo
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They went with the tire they did on the 21's because it's basically the cheapest option available in that size (while still maintaining decent quality and eco rolling resistance to help with mpg's). Do you not consider Tire Rack reputable? You used them to get your own information. Well go on there and look at what they recommend as alternatives to the OEM tire...yup more than half have a 101 rating, which is not only lower than the 105 you think is needed for the 21's but it lower than the 102 you concluded was the minimum requirement for the standard Edge.

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TheWizard- great idea to use the wheels from the Escape tires and just add new tires that will fit the Edge. We've been trying to sell the old tires online but haven't had any luck, and would be virtually giving away the wheels for the price anyway. That never occurred to me to keep them and use them. Great! Thanks! Made my day!

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They went with the tire they did on the 21's because it's basically the cheapest option available in that size (while still maintaining decent quality and eco rolling resistance to help with mpg's). Do you not consider Tire Rack reputable? You used them to get your own information. Well go on there and look at what they recommend as alternatives to the OEM tire...yup more than half have a 101 rating, which is not only lower than the 105 you think is needed for the 21's but it lower than the 102 you concluded was the minimum requirement for the standard Edge.

 

Ford doesn't buy tires off the shelf, they have them custom designed from the manufacturer. If they'd wanted a 101 load rated tire they could have had one, and it would have been cheaper. Ford's standards are a little more conservative than industry requirements, so the question is who do you trust more, Ford or Tirerack?

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Those are all off the shelf tires sorry to inform you. They weren't "designed from the manufacturer". They choose what is best suited for the application and enter into purchase agreement with the supplier. How do I know this? I worked almost 10 years for the largest OEM parts supplier in the world and yes we supplied to Ford. You can think what you want, but reality is that you are wrong.

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That's total BS. So you think Tirerack or any other tire place is just showing you the same size tires with no filter for load acceptance? That means I could purchase tires that they say fit my vehicle but are in fact unsafe? Is that what you are trying to say? And if an accident was caused by this misunderstanding of their selection of "what would fit" do you not think they would be opening themselves up to lawsuit after lawsuit? No, they have a set parameter of tire selection and tolerances for each make and model based on the vehicle specification. Call them and ask. Ask if they would recommend one of the tires they list as an alternative to the OEM (but happens to have a lower load rating than the OEM).

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