Who has replaced their 22" tires

[Going_Going_Gone]

...What brand did you buy, and are you satisfied with your pick?

Wife's '21 is in for service and the tech emailed me a video of him checking tread depth, but totally missed the cracks and missing chunks in the Goodyear tires that have me contemplating replacing them. BTW, only 17K plus miles on them with 5/32 tread remaining. I am considering Continental Extreme Contact DWS, but interested in alternative recommendations too.

 

[Meadster71]

I just replaced my 22”s after detailed research I decided against Pirreli’s due to bad ratings on rain and snow, plus others for this size. Lincoln recommends Continental which doesn’t seem too bad but I think I found better check out Yokohama Geolander X-CL XL. 50k mile, good reviews and all rating categories including rain snow were Good to Best ratings, way above even the other known brands.
I’ve driven them for 2 months now and they drive nice, much smoother than OEMs (Goodyear garbage). Handle very well well in rain and about to test snow season here in Upstate NY which I expect will be much better than the OEMs which were terrible in snow. Tires look nice also as last point. Tirerack was best price on sale delivered for $319 each w/ roadside insurance. No regrets.
Curious what you think after reading up on them. Good luck.

 

[EcoBrick Bob]

I replaced mine with 18" wheels and Michelin Pilot 4 SUV summer tires. This saved me almost 120 lbs of unsprung weight. There is an amazing difference in handling and stopping power. Our Aviator no longer wanders, especially when the road has dips in the asphalt. The 22' Goodyears are JUNK!
I had this 18" set on our 2020 Explorer ST that originally had stock 20" Michelins.Those Michelins actually were decent tires, but wanted summer rated tires for better handling as we never see snow, so don't need A/S or winter only tires.

If I were wanting to re-tire the 22" rims, I would replace with Michelin Pilot Summer rated tires in the same size as stock, or go with the Continental DWS. Our children have purchased the A/S Continental DWS for both passenger cars, as well as for a newer Ford Expedition, and F150 pickup and love them. They definitely ride and handle much better than the stock tires they replaced. TireRack tire ratings are generally spot on for choosing the type of tire meets your specific needs. They have never steered me wrong in the nearly 40 years I have done business with them.

 

[Young Lincoln Owner]

We have Continental Extreme Contact tires on my wife’s; we both like them. Not sure how many miles I’ll get out of them.

I’ll be happy if I get over 40k out of them. We had a MKC before this car & the most I ever got was 40k.

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[peterk9]

...What brand did you buy, and are you satisfied with your pick?

Wife's '21 is in for service and the tech emailed me a video of him checking tread depth, but totally missed the cracks and missing chunks in the Goodyear tires that have me contemplating replacing them. BTW, only 17K plus miles on them with 5/32 tread remaining. I am considering Continental Extreme Contact DWS, but interested in alternative recommendations too.

Are you looking at 21" or 22"? You say the wife has 21" but the thread title references 22".

Peter

 

[Meadster71]

Are you looking at 21" or 22"? You say the wife has 21" but the thread title references 22".

Peter

I think OP used ‘21 meaning 2021 Aviator, with 22” tires being the question… But OP to confirm, I’m not speaking for them

 

[Going_Going_Gone]

Yes, as shown as "My Lincoln" in the lower left corner of the ID box, it is a 2021 Aviator with gloss black 22" rims and tires.

 

[peterk9]

Yes, as shown as "My Lincoln" in the lower left corner of the ID box, it is a 2021 Aviator with gloss black 22" rims and tires.

My mistake. Sorry about that.

Peter

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[inmanlanier]

If you were happy with the OEM tires (those that came down the assembly line on the car) in terms of traction, noise, ride, etc. - you may wish to consider that exact tire part as a replacement. (Sorry - I'm not sure if the Goodyear's you mention were a replacement set). Note - aftermarket sales of the 'same' tire will be different, but Tire Rack has a database of the actual OEM tire part number that came on your car and can source the exact same replacement.

We have the PN for our 2022 Michelins and will be doing just that when the time comes assuming they are still available.

I've posted this elsewhere, and some folks like to challenge it - but there is a huge amount of R&D (emphasis on the "D" part - testing) with the tires that came down the line on your car. The industry term is Noise, Vibration and Harshness - aka NVH. The NVH is a combination of all parts - springs, bushings, shocks, and several elements in the tires (rubber compound, belt configuration, belt material, quantity, weave, etc.). Those OEM tires are custom designed for your Aviator and different than the same brand/name/size tire that your local shop sells. Switching to another tire (including the aftermarket but same brand/name/size) may alter the tuning to the point where you lose some of the quietness and/or smoothness. If this doesn't matter to you - rock and roll and buy something else.

As a point of information, I experienced this by actual experience over 30 years ago with cars (changing OEM tires and the car was no longer riding as smoothly or quietly). Then my buddy rented out 3 bays in his shop in 1984 to Ford for use by the roving Ford crews who were finalizing the suspension design on the original US Taurus mules (released for sale in 1986). They spent over a year in different regions of the Country changing multiple suspension parts each day trying to tweak their mules and achieve the desired goals of NVH. I got a bit of time to speak with the gents and they enlightened me. Being an engineer it all made sense to me. Another later example of this was on my Genesis sedan where the OEM tires had a recall. The replacement KUHMOs were OK - but not great (small harmonic vibration at speed). Obviously I didn't want to go with the defective original tires, so the replacements I bought were Continental - they were even worse regarding ride and noise. The last tires I got were Toyos and they were the best - but still had some harmonic vibration. All of these choices were quality, round, well manufactured tires - but they were not tuned with the Genesis and as such the ride was not super smooth as it should have been.

Good luck.

 

[peterk9]

Thank you for posting that very interesting information. I was not aware of the amount of testing done on OEM tires. Unfortunately, for those of us who use winter tires, that guideline won't be possible.

Peter

 

[Going_Going_Gone]

Yes, the Goodyears are the OEM tires. I kinda disagree with you about those tires being different from the same tire sold in stores for any number of reasons, but the main one is availability for a single replacement tire. Not every tire distributor is going to stock multiple versions of a particular tire and, if they were that much different, then replacing a single defective tire would likely create minor drivability issues. Given the number of recalls Ford is experiencing lately, I would have to speculate that price has been a critical determination as to which supplier's parts to use...cheaper, but good enough.

Secondly, I am not an engineer, but have work experience in both selling and servicing Goodyear tires (summer employment long ago) and as a test driver for Ford/JLR (retirement job) employed through sub-contractors. In MY experience, Goodyear tires have primarily been basically "average" performers--not the worst nor the best and the set on our Aviator leans heavily toward the lesser rating. Regarding the parts tested on the "mules." I was also impressed by the degree of documentation submitted to corporate engineering on the different components.

Since you brought up Genesis, Wasn't it Tiger Woods who identified a control issue with the SUV tires (at speed)?

 

[peterk9]

I wonder if Lincoln has a standard brand for the Aviator. Both my previous 2020 and current 2023 came with the Michelin Primary tire. During one of my trips to the dealer for service, I saw an Aviator in the showroom that had Goodyear tires. I believe it may have been a 2022 model.

Peter

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[EcoBrick Bob]

I rarely purchase the OEM tires as replacement tires. Yes, if you are completely satisfied with the original tires, you probably should purchase identical replacements. However, even Tirerack may not have the OEM tires depending on how long you have owned your vehicle. Vehicle MFG's also consider tire cost. For instance, Ford uses Hancook on lots of their vehicles, and there are many unhappy Hancook owners who switch.

I purchase tires based on my driving style and what I want the tire to be best at. Currently we live in areas that are always warm and never see snow. So... A/S tires which are a compromise tire, are not what I buy. When we spent some or all of the winter up north, I had winter specific tires on an extra set of rims for all our vehicles driven in winter, like Peter.

If one is more demanding of what is important to you when driving, like tires that are better in rain, occasional deep snow, ride quality, guiet etc. I too recommend Tirerack's website for their personal testing as well as purchaser data rating most tire brands and tire type. While I have been purchasing performance tires from Tirerack since the middle 80's, I still price shop.

While I tend to purchase Michelin's, my children and I feel that Continental DWS versions are the best compromise for price, handling, all season driving, as well as ride quality.

 

[inmanlanier]

Yes, the Goodyears are the OEM tires. I kinda disagree with you about those tires being different from the same tire sold in stores for any number of reasons, but the main one is availability for a single replacement tire. ....

I would have to speculate that price has been a critical determination as to which supplier's parts to use...cheaper, but good enough.

... In MY experience, Goodyear tires have primarily been basically "average" performers--not the worst nor the best and the set on our Aviator leans heavily toward the lesser rating.

... Since you brought up Genesis, Wasn't it Tiger Woods who identified a control issue with the SUV tires (at speed)?

Yes many like to disagree with me but I am 100% certain on the uniqueness of OEM (i.e. assembly line) tires. No one knows this factoid and most don't care - but the discerning ones (or learned ones like me) who have such druthers seek out the OEM part number and get just what they expected. Yes, aftermarket the tire manufacturers optimize for different considerations; likely wear being one and cost the primary factors.

The OEM price for a tire is peanuts because of volume.

Clearly if the OEM Goodyears are sub-par - don't replace with the same. I wouldn't either. But our Michelins on our '22 are excellent in all aspects - wet and dry traction, mileage (currently approaching 30K with good life left, and NVH. I don't mind if I pay a premium for the correct part since my past life experience is that aftermarket tire NVH has never compared to OEM. On my '84 Turbo GT Mustang, I even sourced OEM Ford struts (made in Japan - they were in a Ford box that was misprinted but contents from Tokiko).

I think your last comment was rhetorical, but if not... I didn't have the Genesis SUV - I had the sedan (now marketed as the G80). Believe it or not, as I understand it Sachs did alot of the original suspension testing (purportedly with input on the design). The testing was supposedly done originally in Europe for that car. It was a wonderful car. We had a 2010 and a 2015. I miss them.

 

[Going_Going_Gone]

Slow day, couldn't resist a little gallows humor.

 

[EcoBrick Bob]

I didn't know that Aviators with 22" wheels had Michelins. Every one I have seen close up had the Goodyears. Definitely a good idea for Ford to change all 22's to Michelins.

I purchased an Aviator w/ jet package including 22" Goodyears, because I liked the looks, was sick of black interiors, wanted the TT 3.0 400 hp engine, and assumed it would handle similar to our 2020 Explorer ST which had 20" Michelins. We picked up the Aviator 110 miles from Naples, so had a chance for a great comparison on the handling comparison between the ST and the Aviator. Immediately we noticed the Aviator was wandering and greatly affected by the road surface. Since Florida roads are relatively smooth, the ride seemed similar, though the Aviator was definitely quieter. I thought perhaps that the Aviator needed an alignment, but the wandering and added steering responses didn't change. Eventually I got used to the handling. Since I had the Michelin Pilot 4 SUV summer tires at our Iowa home, I installed those wheels and tires when we got back in May. What a shock, as the ride actually improved (they are 60 series vs 45 series). THe pilots are summer only, and max performance, so handling is very responsive and road surfaces don't make them wander like the Goodyears. I realize many Aviator owners aren't as picky as I am, and may have a totally different perspective on what they expect. I am now extremely happy with our Aviator. I enjoy driving it, like I enjoy driving our Corvettes. Yes, I have changed the Corvette tires too. Got rid of the run-flats with same Michelin Pilot agressive summer tires. Also, have had the Mag Ride modules modified to ride much softer when in Touring mode.

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[inmanlanier]

Mine are not 22". I have the reserve. They are 20".

 

[inmanlanier]

Bizarre - I just edited my last response and it disappeared. I'll try again.

I, too enjoy spirited driving, having autocrossed and road raced competitively for much of my adult life. The Michelin 20" Primacy tires handle with aplomb driving the twistees of the Eastern Continental divide in Highlands NC. I don't push them like my F type R, however on the Pilot Sport 4s tires

As I was typing this, I just learned my neighbor and bud just yesterday acquired a 22 Reserve Aviator with guess which tires - your 22" Goodyears. He's a Ford parts guy. We were talking just now and he can check their system to get the manufacturers who were approved for OEM delivery on your car and also get the part number if you're interested. If you PM me your VIN number, I'll have him get the data and then I'll share it with you.

 

[RedGeminiPA]

Mine are not 22". I have the reserve. They are 20".

Reserve was available with both, depending on options. My mom's '20 Reserve has 202A with 22" wheels/tires.