[theophile]

Hey all, I've been searching and have found the consensus to be that 235 is too wide for our cars. I have the opportunity to get some great 17" rims which come with Kumho Ectsta 711 235/45 R17 tires already mounted.

Is there anything (within reason) I can do to make these play nice with my car? I currently have 195/65 R15 on there and the back passenger side rubs when I bottom out.

Would love to hear something in the affirmative since these are great rims. Thanks!

P.S. Would narrower tires fit on these rims? I'm not sure how to determine what tires fit on a given rim.

EDIT: to insert pics of the rims I'm looking at getting

 

[hpjunkie]

pic's would help but as far as i know 225's are pushin the limits! Depending on rim width you should be able to go with a narrower tire think my 17' were 7.5 inches wide and i had 215/45/17 rubber fit very nicely!

 

[barrok69]

Hey all, I've been searching and have found the consensus to be that 235 is too wide for our cars. I have the opportunity to get some great 17" rims which come with Kumho Ectsta 711 235/45 R17 tires already mounted.

Is there anything (within reason) I can do to make these play nice with my car? I currently have 195/65 R15 on there and the back passenger side rubs when I bottom out.

Would love to hear something in the affirmative since these are great rims. Thanks!

P.S. Would narrower tires fit on these rims? I'm not sure how to determine what tires fit on a given rim.

you'd probly be fine with 235's if the aspect ratio was lower... but 235/45's will rub for sure.some people are rubbing with 215/45's !

theres no way to tell how wide the rim is by listing what size tire is on it. some people put 225's on 3rd gen wheels and they're only 6" wide so theres lots of overhang and makes for terrible driving characteristics. your best bet is grab a measuring tape, or find out what wheel it is and google it.

 

[benz88]

mount a 205 on there and go for the euro stretched look. people mount 205's onto 8.5" rims all day long so as long as its below that giver'

 

[SuperDave]

If you are at stock height then you'll probably be fine..

 

[girlracer]

i would think they would be too big. but anyways where the hell have you been?

 

[theophile]

Ha, it has been a while, hasn't it?

Lots has happened to me. Got married, started law school, lots of stuff. Haven't had a lot of time/money for the car, but I need to ditch these oval rims and get some round ones :wink:

Okay, the rims are 17" ADR GT-Sport Performance rims.

According to the mfgr website, this rim comes in:
17x7.00 5x100/114.3 40
17x7.00 5x100/114.3 48

I'm not sure which one I'm looking at and I don't have access to them yet.

Basically, I can get the rims plus almost-new tires (Kumho Ectsta 711 235/45 R17) already mounted and balanced for $350 shipped. Only problem is, I don't have the money to have to buy a new set of tires just because these are too wide. These wheels are picture-perfect for this car and the price is a steal. I just need to make these tires work.

Any help greatly, greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[theophile]

In addition to the can-I-make-these-work question, I am wondering, if I do need new tires, which would be best for considerations of speedo accuracy and comfort?

205/50/17
205/40/17
215/45/17
other?

What would you recommend? Thanks!

 

[barrok69]

In addition to the can-I-make-these-work question, I am wondering, if I do need new tires, which would be best for considerations of speedo accuracy and comfort?

205/50/17
205/40/17
215/45/17
other?

What would you recommend? Thanks!

215/45R17 is roughly 3% off... and 215/40R17 is i think 1% off the top of my head....

i went for the 45's because theres not much sidewall to begin with... and made for a better ride choice.

for 7 or 8" wheels... 215 is good. 205 would be too narrow and look silly on our cars.....our cars are not euro :wink:

 

[theophile]

Argh, this is driving me crazy! This is such a good deal and such a frustrating deal-breaker.

According to a tire size calculator, the 235/45/17 are 40mm wider than my current 195/65/15 (one of which (right rear) scrapes). Factoring in the difference in rim width, if the new rims have a 48mm offset, then that would make the outer lip of the new rim stick out 7mm further than the current ones (6.5" w/ 35mm offset). In other words, assuming the new rims have a 48mm offset, the edge of the new tire will stick out an additional 33mm (39mm if the new rims have a 40mm offset).

At worst, I would need another 1.6" of clearance. Can I get that by rolling the lip of the wheel well under? If so, how would I do that?

By the time I buy new tires for these wheels, I've negated the "bargain" of the deal, making it unfeasible. That really, really sucks. If I can make these tires work on this car, I'd like to do it. I just need to know what I'm looking at.

Thanks!

 

[barrok69]

Argh, this is driving me crazy! This is such a good deal and such a frustrating deal-breaker.

According to a tire size calculator, the 235/45/17 are 40mm wider than my current 195/65/15 (one of which (right rear) scrapes). Factoring in the difference in rim width, if the new rims have a 48mm offset, then that would make the outer lip of the new rim stick out 7mm further than the current ones (6.5" w/ 35mm offset). In other words, assuming the new rims have a 48mm offset, the edge of the new tire will stick out an additional 33mm (39mm if the new rims have a 40mm offset).

At worst, I would need another 1.6" of clearance. Can I get that by rolling the lip of the wheel well under? If so, how would I do that?

By the time I buy new tires for these wheels, I've negated the "bargain" of the deal, making it unfeasible. That really, really sucks. If I can make these tires work on this car, I'd like to do it. I just need to know what I'm looking at.

Thanks!

from your math... not really checking if the values are correct or not.. but you say tires will stick out an extra 33mm....overall correcT? so that would make it only 16.5mm per side extra that it sticks out

 

[theophile]

Actually, you're right, sort of. The tire is 40mm wider so that's 20mm per side. The offset only deals with the space between the hub and the mount point, so that would mean that the difference in clearance between the new tire and the wheel well would either be 13mm or 19mm (depending on the offset of the new rim). That translates to either .5" or .75".

Can I buy 3/4" by modifying the lip of the wheel well? How?

 

[hpjunkie]

to roll the lip in you'll need a hammer and dolly wrap the dolly in a rag so you don't scratch the paint and work the lip up slowly it will take time and patients. As well you may have to make some small straight cuts into the lip so that it can de rolled up without warping anything this is the easiest way that I have found to do this! Someone else may have a better idea!!

 

[theophile]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is a "dolly"?

 

[hpjunkie]

It's an autobody tool they come in a variety of shapes and are mainly used for dent removal this is what you need a general purpose dolly

 

[oneredry]

you could take a baseball bat and kinda roll the fenders that way. a dolly is a smaller hammer with a flat head that is more or less designed for sheet metel (easier to work with)

 

[benz88]

Argh, this is driving me crazy! This is such a good deal and such a frustrating deal-breaker.

According to a tire size calculator, the 235/45/17 are 40mm wider than my current 195/65/15 (one of which (right rear) scrapes). Factoring in the difference in rim width, if the new rims have a 48mm offset, then that would make the outer lip of the new rim stick out 7mm further than the current ones (6.5" w/ 35mm offset). In other words, assuming the new rims have a 48mm offset, the edge of the new tire will stick out an additional 33mm (39mm if the new rims have a 40mm offset).

At worst, I would need another 1.6" of clearance. Can I get that by rolling the lip of the wheel well under? If so, how would I do that?

By the time I buy new tires for these wheels, I've negated the "bargain" of the deal, making it unfeasible. That really, really sucks. If I can make these tires work on this car, I'd like to do it. I just need to know what I'm looking at.

Thanks!

nonono. the higher the offset the more the rim sticks in!!! not out.

Just buy some 205's for the rims, you can get them on up to a 9" rim but they'll have the stretched look.

 

[barrok69]

Argh, this is driving me crazy! This is such a good deal and such a frustrating deal-breaker.

According to a tire size calculator, the 235/45/17 are 40mm wider than my current 195/65/15 (one of which (right rear) scrapes). Factoring in the difference in rim width, if the new rims have a 48mm offset, then that would make the outer lip of the new rim stick out 7mm further than the current ones (6.5" w/ 35mm offset). In other words, assuming the new rims have a 48mm offset, the edge of the new tire will stick out an additional 33mm (39mm if the new rims have a 40mm offset).

At worst, I would need another 1.6" of clearance. Can I get that by rolling the lip of the wheel well under? If so, how would I do that?

By the time I buy new tires for these wheels, I've negated the "bargain" of the deal, making it unfeasible. That really, really sucks. If I can make these tires work on this car, I'd like to do it. I just need to know what I'm looking at.

Thanks!

nonono. the higher the offset the more the rim sticks in!!! not out.

yeah...stretched rims..... don't even try taking a corner at speed in those... lol.

the car will wobble like a mofo, and you have the potential of popping the tire off the rim....plus the pressures those guys run in those tires to keep them seated is rediculous.

Some tire shops won't even install them because of the even higher initial seating pressures that you need to pump them up to.

 

[theophile]

Yeah, that look horrible. And I figured that our about the offset. If the rims have a 40mm offset, the difference between the current rims/tires and the new rims/tires would be that the new ones would stick out 19mm further than the current ones. If the new ones have a 48mm offset, then the new ones will only stick out 13mm further than the current ones.

Keep in mind that this is taking into account that the new rims and the new tires are wider than what I have now. The offset will be higher either way, which helps, but with everything factored in, the new combo will stick out further.

As for the rolling of the lip, this is all new territory for me. I'd like to know how feasible it would be for me to do this on my own. What would the procedure be? Is there a howto somewhere or something?

 

[benz88]

dont go above +42 of offset. they'll be rubbing your inner fenders in the back of the rim over any bump if you get a +48 as they stick out way less then stockers.