Project Milan gets new wheels and tires

[michaelluscher]

Goodbye bent factory 17" steelies with bogus eBay Fusion wheel covers because it looked real ghetto with no covers

I wound up getting 4 16" base model alloys from an eBay store that turned out to be an outlet for roadreadywheels.com

Turns out I could've bought direct from them, saved maybe $40 in shipping and tax, but you live and learn

These are the base 16" alloys on Fusion SE and Milans without any Rapid spec option packs

4 new Schrader (they're OEM) TPMS sensors were bought, and 4 original center caps that don't fit quite flush (gotta recheck that)

And a McGard wheel kit with locking nuts, because there's a place reserved in hell for the person who came up with Ford's two piece lug nut

The tires are the same Continental TrueContact Tours that I put on the late Taurus this time last year

Smooth, quiet, excellent in the wet, and I specced an H speed rating, because I always like the implied strength of an end cap ply

...let's see if I get more than 6 months out of them this time

An alignment was had, because the car got new inner/outer Motorcraft tie rods, due to age and play

I suspect the LCA or thrust arm ball joint is creaking, but there's no play, so I'll let it ride till spring when I can lower the subframe and change them out

It drives better than any car with a $2600 purchase price has a right to

It's not perfect, but I doubt I'll be spending hundreds on adjustable upper ball joints for camber and upper A arms to compensate for caster

Here it is parked next to it's CD3 relative, a rather beat up looking MKZ

TBH, the 17" wheels (especially Premier spec alloys) look much better on this body, but I'm going for NYC grade pothole resistance, and cost effective tire replacement

These should easily give my sister 3-4 years of good service before needing replaced

Considering AFAIK, the springs and dampers are all original all around, it sits quite level

Impressive for 107k

 

[michaelluscher]

Varying between 7³²" and 10³²"

Somebody's gotta need them

 

[michaelluscher]

These wheels are nice, but the Motorcraft brake pads dust badly, they need fairly frequent cleaning

The tires have a few hundred miles on them, and they've broken in quite nicely, steering has firmed up yet the ride has improved

I took it for a jaunt up and down 440/287 and a stretch of the NJ Turnpike

Dead smooth at 70, still good at 80, I don't think this car is meant for 80+, but that's too fast anyway

Also very quiet, much better than the included V rated RT43s

No hydroplaning that I could pick up on, but why would they

Oh, and a guy on craigslist gave me $150 for my old set, and I threw in the solid lug nuts, since I don't need them

He's fixing up a Fusion for his daughter on a budget, and those tires had too much tread to throw away

There's always someone in a worse spot than yourself

Tomorrow is 3-6" of snow, and my Camry is down, let's see how these perform