Ok.. so I dropped by the dealership to get a part ordered for a warranty repair.. nothing serious.. moisture in one of the lights above the rear license plate.. and I asked the parts guy about their winter tires.. I need them.

His quote was "about" $850.00 for steel wheels and 16" rubber for the limited 235/70 16's and the rubber is Korean Nexus Winguards. Includes installation, balancing etc. Wheels alone were 100.00 each!!

Let's get some canadian price quotes going from those of us who are going to swap their rubber this year!!

Just out of curiosity, what are the OEM sizes for rubber on GL's and GLS 16's? Based on the above post I assume they're 235/70 16's. My LTD has 18" stocks so I can't comment.

This post has been edited by wjw: Aug 25 2009, 01:24 PM

Pretty hard to beat Costco. Steel rims are usually around $50 each, plus they carry Michelin X-Ice and other leading brands at competitive prices. They usually go on coupon early in the season too.

If you're running 16" rims, Canadian Tire is still clearing out the Michelin XC LT4s. It's not a snow tire, but an excellent truck tire that is reputed to last forever and handle snow quite well. I paid under $700 Cdn including installation, balancing, PST and GST.

Yes, my Limited has 18's too. The only difference in the Canadian Limited/GL/GLS is the 18's have a lower profile, so u can put 16's on for the winter as they have a higher profile.. clearance stays the same. 235/70's are what the tires are.. I'm sure u could get away with 235/75's if push came to shove. The 18" is a 60 series tire

Being as I get to travel toNorth Bay, Sudbury, Ottawa etc in the winter for club sports.. I want a really set of snows (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) The Korean tires seem to have an excellent rep.

ok.. KAL Tire way overpriced.. another shop selling the same exact package way cheaper..

Rims, Cooper X Arctics, Balanced, Installed tax in.. 795.00

You were right on for the 235/60-18 down to 16 size (235/70-16)
(IMG:http://i519.photobucket.com/albums/u359/boredemployee/Stock18vs16tire.jpg)

I looked at Canadian Tire a while ago:

Tires
http://shrunklink.com/cqsr
http://shrunklink.com/cqsu
http://shrunklink.com/cqsw
http://shrunklink.com/cqsx

Rims
http://shrunklink.com/cqsp
http://shrunklink.com/cqsq

The Canadian specs are:
P235/60R18
P235/70R16

I used to work for Goodyear years ago going thru college.. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/thumbsup.gif)

Here are the optional tire sizes from Tire Rack:

16" Recommended: 235/70-16
16" Alternate: 225/70-16


Minus Wheel Diameter: 17"
(Smaller wheel diameter than O.E.) Explain

17" Recommended: 235/65-17


Original Equipment Wheel Diameter: 18"

18" Recommended: 235/60-18

BTW, you can get alloy wheels at Tire Rack for 99 each US and Bridgestone Blizzaks for 89 each US for a total package price of $752 US including mount and balance, before shipping. 235 65 17

Shipping for tires only was 131.00 Gets pricey with the exchange.. personally, I'm going steel wheels for the winter

This post has been edited by Pinto_Siftbean: Aug 25 2009, 06:06 PM

The steel rims at Walmart are either 50 or 60 bucks a piece, depending on size. Tell your dealer you'll supply the rims or to sharpen his pencil. If you want to spend a 100 bucks on a rim you might as well get the alloys from Canadian Tire.

Also, last year, Walmart sold the Dunlop Graspic II's for a really good price so you may want to see what they're offering this year.

You really should do a serious pricing from Tire Rack and have them shipped to a UPS store in Buffalo or whatever is close to you. You may be surprised at what you can get.

Here are the results of a search I did on TireRack (shipping is to Grand Forks):



Not sure what kind of levies, duties, and taxes will apply at the border when I bring them back over though. When I had my Canadian address as the ship to it showed this:



I'm guessing the duty and tire fee will still have to be paid at the border, and likely one or both of the taxes. Not sure though.

Didn't try shipping to Canada - didn't know they'd figure out the duty for you. Not sure if that will be the end price since they quoted taxes before conversion to CDN. Anyway, good price as well - the tires are likely 150 or more in Canada.

At the border it would be hit or miss as to them charging duty. They may ask you only for the taxes. Rims are likely made in China and the tires maybe in Japan so both likely have duty but you may not have to pay it.

Congo

This post has been edited by congo: Aug 25 2009, 10:10 PM

Here's what I found at Canadian Tire:



Different tires and rims, not sure if they're better or worse than the ones from Tire Rack, but they were the cheapest tires I could find on the Canadian Tire site that fit.

Here are links to the ones from Tire Rack.

16x7 Sport Edition F2 Silver Painted
http://shrunklink.com/cyel

235/70R16 Bridgestone Blizzak DM-Z3 Blackwall
http://shrunklink.com/cyem

Tire Rack also had a preferred package that had Continental ContiCrossContact Winter tires for a total of $540. They didn't seem to have the proper size in those at Canadian Tire for comparison.

This post has been edited by jaydee77ca: Aug 25 2009, 11:02 PM

Yep.. I can get steel wheels for $60 locally. I did the tire rack search and I can get cheaper here after doing some digging around and popping in to a couple of local tire shops.

My question is what is the preferred winter/snow tire? Performance in snow, etc. is, of course, very important....but in Seattle we do not get a winter long problem.
I am also concerned with noise and handling. I have made wrong choices in the past. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grin.gif)

This post has been edited by grayland: Aug 26 2009, 09:46 AM

If the steel wheel is not hub centric, you may have vibration. Most of the aftermarket wheels I have dealt with do not fit well on the hub, so when the mechanic puts them on, the hole in the middle of the wheel is larger than the piece you are fitting it over. Be aware if you choose to go with the cheaper wheel what you may be getting yourself into.

napafan,

I've heard people talk about this but I don't understand why since the 5 lugnuts should position the wheel centrally on the hub. No?

Congo

06 Tucson and 07 Accent here. Both with http://www.tirerack.com "winter wheel and tire" sets! First simply can not say enough good stuff bout them! The Accent set has two winters on them, and the Tucson only one winter so far...

Tirerack DOES ship north too...

A thought or two to consider.

On my Tucson - stock wheel is a 16" non-steel wheel. Tirerack does not offer a steel wheel for the Tucson at all (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) Who wants to buy 'nice' wheels for weinter use? Plus, better in snow (and cheaper) to go down to 15" wheels, and buy a taller tire 0- plus, not a 'weird' tire size like the OE tires.

After much reading, I found that the factory stock Elantra 15" wheels (08 model) fit the Tucson fine - does not touch the calipers or anything! But hyundai wanted $85 bucks per wheel.

Called Tirerack, explained my issue, what I had done, and wanted to do - his only concern (which I did not think of) was would the new steel wheels match the GVRW of my Tucson? A quick check confirmed it! They sold those same steel Elantra wheels for $40 bucks each, then I got the correct size Bridgestone WS60 winter only studless tire (God's gift to snow driving) and bout $450 later I had a full set mounted, balenced, with hub-caps no less - sitting in my garage waiting for the winter! (that was last summer)

On the wife's Accent - it was much easier! Her car came with the rubber-band tires on 16" alloy wheels - horrid in winter weather - way too wide! The Tirerack had a wheel and tire match (didn't have to make my own) that were 14" steel wheels with the WS60 tires - in the garage for like $400 bucks total.

Best thing I've done in quite a while!

FYI - the winter tires are the exact same height on both cars so the speedo and handling is not off. Softer sidewall and rubber of course, so some minor changes in driving feel - no MPG drop!

Since the summer tires get less miles per year, while you have the investment of two sets of wheels and tires at once, your total cost per mile over time is not any higher - and what is the peace of mind for your better-half, or yourself worth? I did my car as I am the primary driver in my house, and now for two sets of parents - did my wife's simply to feel better and score points (IMG:style_emoticons/default/innocent.gif)

HTH