ok, i was given a set of wheels for my car, they all have tyres fitted which are bald. the tyres fitted are 265/50R15, but when the body is on, it
looks like they might hit the wheel arches if the suspension bumps.
when putting a tape measure on the rim, the edge of the tyre (on the top of the wheel) sticks out by about 20mm
for 265/50R15, cooper cobra tyres are the only ones available
could i maybe go down to something like 225/50R15 (225/55R15?), or 235/50R15 if i can find one?
225/50R15 tyres have Falken, hankook, toyo, or Nexen(?) and are about half the price of 265/50R15s and they'd clear the arches a bit better
too...
thoughts? lol
Depends how much width you really want/need!
You need to remove the springs ideally and fully compress the suspension and see where youre running short of clearance, then you can choose the
optimum width and diameter, you dont want to change the diameter too much as it affects the gearing.
What car we talking about here, and what size tyres is it supposed to have? Good place to start 
. If it's a locost, then 265 is quite
mahoosively wide, and a 50 profile seems uncommonly high for such a wide tyre, and therefore the diameter will be a fair bit larger than most locosts
too, so if bodywork is off-the-shelf stuff you may well rub arches. Most locosts would be running something like 195/50 15 or 13s with similar overall
diameter.
If you was given the wheels, and they stick out 20mm from the body; Are the wheels the correct Offset?
its the pickup
the wheels are ones the used to race with when they first started in the 90s, can't find what tyres they used though, but they were avon
slicks.
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the body isn't properly fitted yet, so the aches do put themselves in slightly without the full back end on, but you can see its going to be a
problem
not sure what these tyres were used for, but they are well used lol.
i took one to my tyre shop, and asked what wheels would fit best, but they said they could only give a proce for whats already on there? i think the
tyres are too wide, and i want to kep the profile up as i'd lose the little ground clearance i've got, but could do with coming down
slightly, as the fronts sometimes rub on the chassis on full lock (with the wheels lifted off the ground, not when its siting on the ground)
i think the 'build tyres', as opposed to build wheels 
are too wide
quote:
Originally posted by Davey D
If you was given the wheels, and they stick out 20mm from the body; Are the wheels the correct Offset?
Just to give an aid, (although you probably already know this)
265 = Tyre width in mm
50 = The profile of the tyre as a percentage of the width (50% of 265mm = 132.5mm)
R15 = 15" Rim
Thus the diameter of the wheel will (roughly) be: (15 x 25.4) + (132.5 x 2) = 646mm Diameter
265 is very very wide for any road car leat alone a lightweight 7.
You could decrease the diameter of the tyre by going to a smaller profile (265/40 for example)
Or you could decrease the width (50% of 225 is less than 50% of 265 obviously)
Or you could do both......
But the best thing to do would be to find out the actual size of the wheels, 265 is for a 10" wide rim so if you have 10" wide rims you
can't fit 225 wide tyres as they will be too narrow for the rim and you will have the VW scenes beloved 'stretched look' and fail an
MOT.
Once you know the actual size of the wheel you can properly work out what size tyres to get or get some new wheels that better match the car.
FYI you'll be looking for a stamp (usually on the back of the spoke, but not always) saying something like 10Jx15, with the 10 being the width of
the wheel.
^ ah nice one thanks! wasn't sure if it would be stamped on the wheel. looked up the tech specs on the pickups website, it says 8.5x15"
wheels, doesn't give the actual tyre size though. 8.5 in is about 215mm?
again though, its not a 7, nor is it easy to pick up another set of wheels... they're 6 stud wheels, sort of think you get on isuzu 4x4s and
bedford midi vans lol. unfortunately not ford fitment
so i could look for something in the 215-225mm width? maybe stick with 50% to keep the ground clearance up too?
so what width is the rim ?
it'll say on it, along with the offset if your lucky - this is one of mine:
the 6jx16 means a 6" wide 16" rim, the et52.5 means a 52.5mm offset
[edit] too slow again 
[Edited on 3/3/2011 by mcerd1]
Blake, the width and offset will almost always be present on the wheel somewhere, often on the back of a 'spoke'.
This Tyre Calculator will let you find out the range of rim widths suitable for a given tyre size.
If you are sticking with 50 profile it looks like 245 is about the minimum recommended width for a 8.5" rim.
Your still not gettting the profile measurement, a 215/50 15,it will be 215/2 = 107.5mm, will have a smaller sidewall than a 245/50 15 which is 245/2
= 122.5mm. So each sidewall is 15mm smaller which is what you are going to lose on ground clearance.
Handy calculator HERE that you can play with to see which tyre width and profile combinations give
a similar size to your current setup.
Davie
if your looking for tyres to fit
most makes list a min. and max. rim width for each size of tyre as its not quite as simple as one width of rim for each tyre
(the range of rim sizes depends on the width of the tyre, but also its profile and construction)
see here for toyo R1R's: linky (click on sizes and specs)
that has a 225/45 R15 listed for a max. of a 8.5" rim (recomended 7.5" though)
888R's are similar but not all makes/models will be the same
[Edited on 3/3/2011 by mcerd1]
Forgive me if this has been said, the tyre width is for the tread only, all tyres bow out, some much more than others, this extra width has to be accounted for when considering wheel arches and I believe needs to be covered for IVA.
quote:
Originally posted by mcerd1
if your looking for tyres to fit
most makes list a min. and max. rim width for each size of tyre as its not quite as simple as one width of rim for each tyre
(the range of rim sizes depends on the width of the tyre, but also its profile and construction)
see here for toyo R1R's: linky (click on sizes and specs)
that has a 225/45 R15 listed for a max. of a 8.5" rim (recomended 7.5" though)
888R's are similar but not all makes/models will be the same
[Edited on 3/3/2011 by mcerd1]
thanks for that one. think something around that size is the one. these tyres i've got are far too big for the wheel, and
also, very expensive too, and only seem to be available from cooper tyres. going a bit narrower opens up a whole load of alternatives (inc toyo) and
cheaper too., think i'll be looking for 225-235 tyres
quote:
Originally posted by blakep82
^ ah nice one thanks! wasn't sure if it would be stamped on the wheel. looked up the tech specs on the pickups website, it says 8.5x15" wheels, doesn't give the actual tyre size though. 8.5 in is about 215mm?
again though, its not a 7, nor is it easy to pick up another set of wheels... they're 6 stud wheels, sort of think you get on isuzu 4x4s and bedford midi vans lol. unfortunately not ford fitment
so i could look for something in the 215-225mm width? maybe stick with 50% to keep the ground clearance up too?