TwoTone-Gent

New owner to a nice 2001 E55. While taking her to her new home, I was able to do a nice 'test' from 70 up to 90mph but at that point, had some bouncing of the front tires.

I have noticed an issue that is not good. I have 4 245/40R18's on the car. Plus, some dumbass put 2 Bridgstone Potenza's and 2 Toyo ProXES FZ4's on the car.

I have done my research knowing that the rears are to be 275/35R18's I believe.

Now the kicker on this mess, the matching tires at diagonal from each other instead of the same brand and tire on the same end of the car.

Where can I check on the wheels to find out which are rear and which are front? I do plan to at least put the same tires on the same end of the car. I also can't afford to buy 2 tires right now.

Any help on wheels identification would be appreciated. Thanks.

giovany2429

I dont think the rear wheels will fit up front because they are wider and will rub. Its kinda easy to tell when u take them off 2 will look a bit wider.

IanB

Have a tire shop mount the 2 best, matching tires on your front wheels, and buy some proper sized 275/35/18's for the rear wheels. Sell the remaining 245's to recoup some of your money. I'm assuming here that you have the stock AMG monoblock wheels on the car?

Schweinhund

Rears are 275/35/18. The rims are larger than the front. They cannot be mixed. The rears will also easily accept 285/35/18 which is a much more common size (Porsche 911 Turbo). You will find much better deals including this size in your search. I highly recommend TireRack.com. I run (and have run) 285/35/18's more than once. I currently have the Pirelli P-Zero Nero which I got brand new from Tire Rack for $150 each.

NEWS FLASH: Even cheaper (its a closeout) $132!

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...=835HR80NASOLD

Your bouncing could be caused by an improperly balanced wheel (or a bad tire) but also a blown shock (or worn) shock or shocks.

These are great cars. Welcome!

TwoTone-Gent

Here are dealer shots, havent had much of a dry day to get my own pictures yet! I have looked at both passenger wheels which include one tire of each brand. Both appear to be the same. I am wondering if someone in the past as purchased 2 front wheels. If so, bad to be this way?

TwoTone-Gent

They are the AMG monoblocks. Is it possible that I have 4 fronts?

benzokirk

Eyeballing the wheel lip is the quick way to figure that out. The lip of the rears is a bit wider than the lip of the front wheels. Beyond that, take it to your tire shop to get that question answered.

The wheel specs on our cars are:

18x8.0 et31 - Front 25.0 lbs
#65239
18x9.0 et35 - Rear 26.5 lbs
#65240

TwoTone-Gent

Ok. The rims that the Bridgestone Potenza are on have extra lip to them.



The Toyos seem to fill the rim better.



All tires are 245/40R18.

benzokirk

A couple of things to note here:

1. the "lip" of the rim cannot be seen in these pics.

2. the tire specs you stated above should only be installed on the front tires, IF your wheels are staggered, which they should be.

If your wheels are staggered and the previous owner installed the same size on the rear, that's the problem.

The stock tire sizes should be:

Front: 245/40 R18
Rear: 275/35 R18

I wish you could take detailed pics of your wheels so that we can compare the sizes of the front/rear

TwoTone-Gent

Here is what the Bridgestone 245/40R18 looks like on the rim. Just doesn't look right to me.

benzokirk

Okay, that's a front wheel, now let's look at one of the rear wheels...

TwoTone-Gent

Here is a Bridgstone, passenger rear. Same as driver front.

TwoTone-Gent

Here is the Toyo which is on passenger front and driver rear.

TwoTone-Gent

Hence forth my predicament. I plan to pull both passenger side wheels off tonight. I plan to look on the backside for markings, I believe there are but can't say for sure. The Toyo's are older but I want wheels where they should be.

I am not a wheel or tire expert, don't have a clue. But can a 245/40 go on a rim where the 275/ should be?

Lastly, I know where the MB crank Jack goes. I see the rubber post for a lift to Jack the car. Is there a way to use a normal floor Jack to put Jack stands under this car? Doesn't seem safe to put frame Jack stands on those small posts.

Thanks for assistance.
TTG

benzokirk

Oh my... the previous owner obviously didn't have a clue as to what should be where on the car.

The front wheels and tires should be:

Wheels:
18x8.0 et31
Tires:
245/40 R18

The rear wheels and tires should be:

Wheels:
18x9.0 et35
Tires:
275/35 R18

This will take care of the problem, because your current set up seems to be very confusing

TwoTone-Gent

So if I indeed still have both sets of wheels, that would mean a set of 245/40 R18's are mounted on 18x9 wheels. I don't know enough about this to say it's safe to even drive. I mean, it has been this way for probably a couple years before I purchased it last week.

benzokirk

Correct!

I wouldn't want to drive it in wet weather, but it's probably okay for now... at least to get it to the shop to corrections. I think it will feel kinda crazy, and I bet you'll notice an immediate difference when your fitment is corrected. I certainly wouldn't do any hard cornering with it set up that way. The wheels are staggered for a reason, but it's probably not so bad since the previous owner has the same size tires all around.

The problems you mentioned at the top of your post, with the wheels bouncing, I would say is a suspension problem that's probably unrelated to the tire/wheel misfit issue.

Keep us posted on the correction, I'm curious to know what the tire shop will say when they see how it's set up now!

TwoTone-Gent

Backside of Bridgstones...



Backside of Toyo. It's going back up front!

giovany2429

When i bought my 02 it also came with 245/45's all around. I put the correct size tires and it made a hell of difference. Car felt more planted and i didnt squat as much during take offs. It was pretty easy to tell the back wheels from the front tough as simply looking at them when i took them off you can clearly see the two that are wider

TwoTone-Gent

Just took it for a test drive since switching driver's side wheels/tires. This puts ET31's all in front, ET35's on rear. Hit 100+ no front wheel bobble. The left front Toyo does sound like it has a flat spot noise, probably why they snuck it to the rear so I wouldn't hear it so bad during test drive.

I plan to milk it for a while but not too long. I will gets some good 275's for the rear, put the fairly new Bridgstones on the correct rims. Not my daily driver. At least I know what the issue is.

...And knowing is half the battle!

Thanks my new brothers & sisters for all the input. Lots more to work on, lots more to learn.

benzokirk

One more thing to consider that I didn't think about before: if, in fact, the wheels were installed diagonally, I'm willing to bet that you also had a directional problem, meaning... most brands can only be installed to rotate in one specific direction (obviously, forward). If you, say... take a right rear wheel and place it on the left front of your car, the travel direction of the tire could very well be reversed and could do considerable damage to the tire. I actually don't believe it is safe to drive it like that. Without doing any research on the tires you have (I'm tired tonight - no pun intended ) I would encourage you to inspect the tires for directional arrows or something that indicates rotation direction.

Other than that, I think you're on the right track now, and you're absolutely welcome. This is what we're here for, and we all enjoy sharing information or we wouldn't be here!!

TwoTone-Gent

Update. This is why the last couple number *&%$# let this tire go. Control arm about to pop, causing a camber effect, wearing the inner tire out. Replacement parts installing tonight, new rear tires this week, moving the 245's to the front rims where they belong!

benzokirk

perfect! let us know how it turns out after new parts are installed

TwoTone-Gent

She's pulling to the right....ðŸ˜* time for an alignment after tires this week.

TwoTone-Gent

Just got better.

I have discovered today after trying to get 2 new front tires, that one of the front wheels is...

... a rear et35 not an et31.

So I have been on the road for the past 2 years with 3 et35 rear wheels on one et31. Maybe why it would pull a little to the right when I would stop.

Now to find 1 decent monoblock et31 18x8.

A question the wheel experts, can I put an et35 on the front if I have better luck finding that size?