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20 inch tire trouble

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Old 02-09-2012, 09:02 AM
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20 inch tire trouble

I have Roderick Rw2 20x8.5 Et 45 and 20x10 Et50 wheels and I had set of 225/35/20 and 255/30/20 tires picked out. But I was going to shop around and was told I needed 235/30 and 275/25 tires wich are almost triple the price. They said the overall diameter is too large. So I ckecked into it and the tires I had picked are 26.0 & 26.1 OD. The Nittos I am told to use are 25.5 & 25.7. This is so close that I dont know if it will make much difference. I know people run the largrer series tire but not sure if this will hurt anything other than speedo being off. I dont want to lower it and it is a sport. The tires I have picked out should have slight stretch for more clearence. Let me know what to do. And yes I should have thought of this before I got the wheels. Thanks
Old 02-09-2012, 09:23 AM
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14' CLS550
Well if your not lowering then I don't see the need to stretch soo much.. Its your car, but the ideal rim size for your car is really 19" not 20". I'd be a little worried about the 275/25 that's really thin side wall.

Last edited by bigigg; 02-09-2012 at 09:29 AM.
Old 02-09-2012, 12:27 PM
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I didnt want a 275/ 25/20 but thats what I was told. If I go to a 275/30/20 and 235/35/20 the overall diameter would be 26.5 for both. I just dont want to screw up my car. It is 4matic. I am also not sure how that 255/30/20 would look. I dont want it to be too stretched, just a little. Bottom line is I dont want to spend 1600 on nittos with 0 sidewall but I dont want to damage drivetrain ect. Thanks for any info
Old 02-09-2012, 01:15 PM
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14' CLS550
I'm doing 235/35/20 and 275/30/20 on my E class. Since its 4matic most important is that overall radius is same front and back. Overall radius is larger than stock that means it will be reading slower mph and less miles on the odometer. As for damage to the drive train.. Idk.. Your going to see there's not too many companies that make 235/35 tire and also a 275/30
Old 02-09-2012, 02:56 PM
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'11 C350 '13 F150 lariat
you will have ALOT of stretch on a 255 w a 10" rear. I run 10" rears w a set of custom 19s I built w a 275/30/19 and its stretched a little, but it matches w a slight stretch on 235/35/19 up front on 8.5's. Like I told u earlier, when u go 20s on a w204 you have to deal w the tire problem. You want a 275/25/20 on the rear, you will have alot of stretch w a 255 very noticable and the lip looks weird like that with certain tires especially if they have bead protectors
Old 02-09-2012, 03:19 PM
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I test fitted 20" on my rwd C300. 225/35r20 on a 20 x 8.5 wheel fit fine no rubbing in the front. In the rear a 245/30r20 on a 20 x 10 wheel. It fit but no room like an inch away from wheel well. You need a 265/25r20 or 275/25r20 in the rear with a 20 x 10 wheel. Jimmythegreek is correct the rim sticks out with 255 you won't like the look.
Old 02-09-2012, 03:43 PM
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crappy pics from phone but you get the idea. 225/35r20 20x8.5 front wheel. 245/30r20 20x10 rear wheel. need to use a lower profile number like 25 for both stretches it more.
Old 02-09-2012, 05:25 PM
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Thanks for all the ideas but I still am not sure. The 275/25r20 Nitto tire is only .4 of an inch shorter than the 255/30r20. Thats almost $600 dollars more for less than half inch for just the rear. I had 245/35r19 on 19x9.5 on my bmw and the stretch was perfect. It was deffinetly stretched but not scary looking. Maybe a little much for the old folks. I am looking at a cheap brand tire so I am just not sure how true to size they are and if the stretch will be scary. The tires are Nankang Ns2 and have got good reviews every where i have looked. I have been looking for hours trying to find pictures. I know the front will be perfect just not sure on rear. Sorry if I am being a tard, just trying to not to get murdered by the wife and still make the car look good. I am considering just buying one tire and getting it mounted. I was also wondering what the ofset was on the guy who mounted the 245/30s on the 20x10 was. Mine are ET50, would that tuck into the fenders. If it wasnt so damn cold and snowy I would just put a wheel on the car and measure it out. Might have to bust out the snow suit and moon boots. Thanks guys
Old 02-09-2012, 05:46 PM
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I run a 245/30/20 front and 285/25/20 with no issues, but I'm not lowered (toyo tires)
Old 02-09-2012, 05:53 PM
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late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
You require to keep the rolling circumference of front to rear within 2% or you will mess with the ESP.

Speedo can be corrected with Star if you run non standard rolling circumference.

It is best to adjust profile so that rolling circumference remains stock.

Tirerack gives revs per mile on all tyres to check you stay within 2%.
Old 02-09-2012, 08:19 PM
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14' CLS550
Im sorry but 245 on a 10" wheel is crazy, 265 is a big enough stretch. Another thing to consider is the load rating if your stretched.
Old 02-09-2012, 09:01 PM
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Just found a member that had same size wheels and close to the same offsets that used falken 225/35/20 and 255/30/20. It looks very nice and looks like the wheels would tuck right up in the fenders if it was slammed. His user name is C3NTHUSIAST and I sent him a message to see how he liked it. I would have no problem using Falkens if they will work alright. They dont look to stretched like I was woried about. His car is the only photo I can find with this combo.
Old 02-10-2012, 08:01 AM
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late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
Be careful stretching tyres. It can be dangerous & lead to failure. You are operating outside the tyre's design parameters.

If looks are more important than safety then refrain from sustained high speed driving.
Old 02-10-2012, 12:51 PM
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'11 C350 '13 F150 lariat
you will have no problems with clearance if thats your main worry. You could run a 285/25 and clear no problems, so stick w the tire price dilemma. Personally the lowest width Id go is 265/25/20 on that 20x10 wheel, thats the border of stretch looking good. I have 19x10 w 275/30/19 and its equivelent stretch to 9.5x19 w a 265/30/19 and matches perfect w a 225/35 up front on a 8.5. I run a 235/35 up front just to have a little rim protection w that set of wheels. I know its a $$ deal w wheels/tires it sucks. When you do 20s you run into crazy prices on tires. Did u check to see if sumitomo makes a 265/25/20? I LOVE the HZR3 line they are great tires, I have multiple sets. Falken 452s are also great at the same price point. Just settle on a rear tire and size and post it here when you are sure of it. I will calculate the proper front tire to match diameters for you so your close enough to make it work
Old 02-10-2012, 12:59 PM
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'11 C350 '13 F150 lariat
go to ebay and type this in and hit search

285-25-20


the first listing is a pair of goodyear F1's for 400 buy it now brand new 2 tires. Grab those and then order a set of 235-30-20 from wherever or tirerack for your fronts and mount them up. They will just clear w a 50 offset and are great tires for 200 a piece out back. The fronts may even be more LOL........the only other cheap tires i see are vredensteins for 295 a peice in 275-25-20 and personally I wouldnt save 50 each tire at 300+ for cheap tires at this point especially w that low profile. a 9.5 inch rear in a 20" wheel woulda made your life alot easier
Old 02-10-2012, 09:08 PM
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Thanks for all the info. I wish I had seen it earlier. I stoped at my local rim shop and ordered one Falken 452 255/30r20. I know it is a stretch but another member has this exact tire,rim and offset combo and it looks nice. I also went to falkens website and found the tread width is 9.5 and rated to fit a 9.5 wide wheel so this is not a crazy stretch. I also know for a fact that this little amount of stretch wont be safety issue. Lowriders stretch 155 on 8 inch wheels and bounce ,hop, whatever in there million pound ghetto rides without problems. Drift cars run stretched tires too. I googled it and the main thing is to keep them properly inflated. Also the other member on the forum said he had this setup for three years no problems. I only ordered one, so we will mount it and see. Worst case senerio is I will be getting 275-285 25 tires. I will let you guys know on monday.
Old 02-11-2012, 08:22 PM
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No tyre manufacturer approves of this use of their tyres. Drift cars operate in a controlled environment. They run the tyres really hard. None of these applications are high speed.
Old 02-11-2012, 09:16 PM
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Originally Posted by tom willard
Lowriders stretch 155 on 8 inch wheels and bounce ,hop, whatever in there million pound ghetto rides without problems.
It’s beyond my comprehension why anyone would choose to even minimally emulate their “ghetto” idiocy and antics. To each his own.
Old 02-14-2012, 06:38 PM
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Got the tire.

The Falken 255/30/20 got mounted and it looks perfect. It has a slight stretch but nothing crazy. The guys at the rim shop told me it wouldnt work but I ordered anyway and now they said they were wrong and are going to use this for future applications. They said it is hard telling what brand tire is going to work and not work since they are not always the same even though the size is.

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