Winterizing your LS

I might be trying to do the impossible. I would really like to go to one all season car and still have a real car, that is, a rear drive. Right now the LS is a strong contender but I know it is going to take special care to get through the winter.

First Question, what are people using for Snow tires for the LS-V8, with the 17" wheels and where is the best place to get them.

Secondly, has anyone found a 16" or 17" Winter wheel. When we tried to use our Mark in the Winter we had mounted Winter tires. Even though they were 16", I calculated what aspect ratio 15" tire would be the same height and then when to the Junk yard and found 15" rims to fit, which landed up being a 1978 Chrysler Cordoba of all things. This arrangement yielded great results, the tire was not as wide and with studs it really was quite good in the snow. Also the nice wheels didn't get all crapped up.

I am looking for any ideas to make this vehicle more winter worthy.

Thanks
Barry

Don't know where you live...and that makes a difference, obviously. I live in NW Ohio. We get some snow, but not enough, in my opinion, to warrant dedicated snow tires. I use all-season tires on all my cars except the Vette. Once they get down to 4/32 in the winter (I'll run down to 2/32 in the summer), I replace them. Unfortunatly, the LS uses a somewhat unusual wheel configuration. All years and models are the same, though. Jaguar S-Type wheels will fit. Aftermarket choices are severely limited in the smaller sizes and only marginally better in the larger ones (18"+). The V6 LS comes with 16" wheels, so you should be able find a set on eBay with a pretty pricetag since many of those owners are upsizing.

The LS does pretty good in snow, in my opinion. The standard traction control helps a lot in daily stop-n-start traffic, as does the relatively heavy weight and good balance.

In the rain or dry, it will run circles around a stock Mark.

[QUOTE=OldRelayer]
First Question, what are people using for Snow tires for the LS-V8, with the 17" wheels and where is the best place to get them.

Secondly, has anyone found a 16" or 17" Winter wheel.
I am looking for any ideas to make this vehicle more winter worthy.
[QUOTE]

Last year I started looking for steel rims. These are impossible to find with the front offset for the calipers being so large. Volvo has a steel rim that will fit the bolt pattern but the front wheels will need a spacer.
I ended up getting the cheapest aluminum cast wheel I could find (PRIMAX 618 16x7) and putting Toyo Snows on them. This would cost about the same as getting the steel Volvo rims anyways. The car looks good even in the winter. I keep the original 17x8 OEM for warm weather driving.

[QUOTE=OldRelayer]
I ended up getting the cheapest aluminum cast wheel I could find (PRIMAX 618 16x7) and putting Toyo Snows on them. This would cost about the same as getting the steel Volvo rims anyways. The car looks good even in the winter. I keep the original 17x8 OEM for warm weather driving.

Thanks for the reply, this is just the kind of advice I was looking for. If I understand it correctly the hole pattern and the rim will clear everything properly. Actually I think my 225/60/16 snows and studs will fit this rim so for around $500, I am in, wow. The couple of place on the Net that had them didn't list the Lincoln LS and listed it as being used on a Front Drive car, not sure that makes much difference. Where did you get yours?

Thanks you so much for this very useful post.

Barry

$500!?!

Here's a set for $150. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7951692345&category=43956

If the price stays low I would go for the rims at the auction.

At the time I looked at E-bay and the wreckers across North America, and the price of an OEM set was more than the Primax.
My rims were purchased from an automotive customizer here in Stratford Ontario (K and K Racing). He called his supplier, who looked up the bolt pattern, told me the price, and I said OK. They were in the next morning. Before that I had tried many different steel rims, but none that could clear the caliper. What a waste of time.

Can someone help with exactly what is important for buying these wheels to ensure they clear my calipers etc?

For example will:
5X100 AND 5X4.5 UNIVERSAL 5 BOLT PATTERN

Work?

Also what happens if i find cheap snow tires that are 225 60 16 versus 55 that was factory. That is a slightly taller sidewall which means wider radius tire so for each rotation i would be going farther then the cars speedometer indicated AKA i would be going faster by about 5% then indicated on the speedometer. But clearance wouldbe fine right?