In terms of the front tires, where do we encounter the greatest areas of interference? I recall seeing lots of scrubbing on my old white one, but ONLY on major bumps and it was in the upper fender well.

I am looking to throw some fresh rubber on my Mandrus wheels. The OEM size 225/40/18 is a bit stretched. Naturally, 235/40/18 seems like the next best step but then the OD of the tire is 25.4"... nearly a half inch taller than OEM OD of 25.0"

This is not a big deal while at stock height, but I do plan to go lower eventually. My next consideration is 245/35/18 as it's 24.8" OD but the width concerns me... right now I have about enough space to fit my knuckle between the tire and the dreaded suspension nut.

Wheel specs are 18x8.5 +32mm offset.

Les is running a 18x9 +30mm offset with no interference on the suspension nut, so I feel confident that the 245/35 will work.

Tire experts, I should be okay with this tire on my aftermarket wheels, correct?

Cheers,

 

With the 32 offset 245's should fit. I get some rubbing on the plastic inner fender well. If I took the time with a heat gun I believe the rubbing could be solved. I believe that a 255 is the maximum and only if your willing to roll the fenders and "polish" the inside suspension bolt. I estimate that I still have around 5mm of inside clearance with the 245's on my car.

Les

 

Good info Les, thank you. If nothing else I can do like you mentioned and "polish" that outbound side of the nut down...

I think the 245 will be a huge improvement to the turn-in responsiveness and overall grip of the car... I'm currently running a 275/35 in the rear so this will help balance out the handling...

The drop on my SRT won't be as severe as the one on my Limited... I'm thinking 30mm/35mm with the H&R Touring Cup Kit

 

I have 235/40 in front and get the rubbing on the inside well on tight turns..... I also ground the suspension bolt down and rounded it to keep it from hitting or cutting the tires...... no issues with clearance now....

 

Bringing this one back from the dead. I just ordered 235/40/18s for my wilhelms to put on before the dragon. I have had some slight front well rubbing with the stock size so hopefully these are not too big. The 225s as you know were just a little stretched looking.

Here is what happens if you daily drive at -2 for too long. Hoping to get KMAC installed + aligned with the new rubber before the dragon. Enough other people have gone 235/40 with/without drop that it should not be an issue (hoping) will let you know/see in a few days.

 

Only took a day for tires to arrive. After looking at my current setup I only had a fingertip gap between tire and front of the wheel well at full lock (there is a little hump where the plastic ends and well starts, that is where I have rub marks) With the tires sitting right beside the car the height difference is very little and mine are worn down a bit. I currently have 4 dot pads on the front so I ordered some 5s from the MB dealer just to be safe. Trying to find a good place to get K-MAC install, spring pads, mount/balance and alignment this weekend. From the quick eyeball I'm feeling ok about them.

 

Sounds great dude!

As much as I want to go wider in the front, I don't want to lose the load rating (most 245/35's are SL load rated) and I won't have the vertical room for the 235/40's...

So, only other option is to get a narrower wheel and keep the 225/40. Will be getting new wheels next spring, trying to stretch my tires out until then.

 

Got everything scheduled for Monday. Mount Balance, Front K-MAC, .5 pads, Alignment, Single Wrench (not looking forward to bill :P)

I did some playing around today. I am a bit concerned at this point with the 235, still looks like it will work but there wont be much room to work with anywhere.

Side by side (about dead even with fender height, .5s should fix that hopefully. Going from 1s to 3s in the back decreased the front gap and jacked the rear up higher than the 8mm of the pad so hopefully something similar happens up front.


Beside the rears (285/30/19) looks taller in pic but the 285s are a tad higher.


My non scientific measuring




Couldn't really compare width. I laid them both down but were about even because of the rim mounting. Only difference once mounted should be the sidewall, the curve of the 225 should be gone and the 235 should be nice and flat. Worst case I have to get some 225s again, don't want it to happen but my own fault if it does. At least it shouldn't be hard to sell the 235 if it comes to that.

 

Word of advice, you can measure til your arm falls off, but if that tire isn't inflated to running pressure it will not be full size. Tires do swell quite a bit when inflated, in all directions, width and height. The rim it is installed on also makes a bit of difference, depending on how it stretches the tire around.

 

I don't know the offset your running on the front so I'll limit my comments to what I know. I ran a 235/40/18 on the stock rim but the clearance to the suspension bolt was a credit card width. It was ok on the street but I ran a 5mm spacer at the track. With a 32 offset a 245/35/18 fits perfectly. If your lowered more than 1/2 inch in the front even the stock tire will rub a little here and there under the right circumstances. I'm currently running a 255/35/18 on the front and it would hit the fender lip on huge bumps or under panic braking. I rolled the front fenders a bit and now it's fine. Thats on a 18 by 9" rim with a 32 mm offset. You can extrapolate from my numbers with my 1/2" drop in front. If your lowered more than me the inner fender liner will be rubbed when turning sharply. The fender liner can be coaxed to bow out of the way, I've done it, but it didn't stay bowed out of the way. With conviction you could get it to stay bowed IMO. You have the tire, mount it and make the adjustments necessary. I polished the inner bolt but I don't think it was necessary. What can I say, I'm a worry wart like you.

Les

 

Good points. I wasn't even thinking about moving yet just being able to turn the wheels side to side like I can now without rubbing would be a good start.


Worry for sure! I just want everything to be working properly. Last thing I want is any kind of failure due to something I did / could have avoided. Plus as my daily I need it to last

I'm on Eibachs (1.1" drop) but moving to 5 dot pads from 1dot original. (So ~1/2 drop from where I was stock (+4mm from current))

Wheel is 18x8.5 32mm offset.
New tire 235/40/18 = 25.40" diameter

Compared to yours
18x9 32mm offset
255/35/18 = 25.02" diameter

Looking at the calculator I am ~10mm closer to the liners but you are 10mm closer to the nut and fender. Not sure what to think of that but maybe I shouldn't have argued with the tire rack guy when he called lol. Guess I will just worry till Monday and go from there. Looking at my current setup it's only 5mm bigger all around but again, hard to tell. As long as its sorted by Friday morning for the drive to the dragon it's all good. Can't wait to get on those curves with the new setup.

Thanks again for all the comments and thoughts guys, I don't know anything but I wouldn't even know that without this place

 

Your fine on the inside and outside. The only place you'll rub is in the rear fender liner which has room to give. You wont hurt anything and it'll only rub in situations like turning sharply while backing up. Nothing will break and it won't hurt the tire. If it drives you crazy, pull the wheel, loosen the fender liner, heat it with a heat gun, bow it out of the way and tighten it back down. The screws that hold the liner onto the fender lip will be close but will clear. According to me.

Les

 

Title threw me off......... you can buy "chubby rubber" at the drug store.

 

You can get it at the dollar store here!

 

Can you pick me up a few in XL, probably need a few for Fontana (cute roommate!) lol

 

I prefer "bareback"

 

lmao !!!!!!!

 

That's all I need to know then, thank you o'wise one! Now onto the rear to do new sway bushings.

 

Tires are on, def closer to the bolt but the rest is about the same, couldn't really tell the difference in the well areas. Used to be able to slide finger between the bolt and tire, now it takes a little force to get my nail between the bolt and tire. Not sure if I should round it or not, there is definitely room just not sure how much movement there is in that area. I took it to my test spot down the block (off camber tight circle) and kept pushing, did not hear/feel anything before they started losing traction.

The stretched look is definitely gone but I had gotten used to it so now these seem a bit off. Will take me a bit to adjust and give final opinion. If I were to say now I think they look a little big when paired with the 285s I have in back. I have to shine em up sit back and just look at the profile for a bit. Will supply some pics soon but doesn't look like any contact problems so far. Thanks again guys!

 

you can use 245-35-18's and have plenty of clearance if you use .47 in spacers and longer bolts