jonlovesuti

i just got a set of 15x8's and i'm running 225/50 tires on them and of course they rub on the fenders. i've raised the back of the car up as much as possible until i can roll the fenders at work but i'm wondering what i should do about the front. J's Racing fenders are out of the budget at the moment and i don't think Chargespeed makes EK wide fenders. any ideas??

please no comments from people who have a "friend" who did this or that. i'd rather hear something from someone who's actually done this sorta thing before, thanks

98civdx

What should you do until you can roll the fenders?

Have you raised the front up?
Swap the wheels for something diferent, or be careful.


Really not sure what you are trying to get by posting this.

jbpnoman

Here's an idea, run the correct tire size. On a 15" wheel, the correct size is 205/50r15. By running 225/50s, you're putting way too much rubber under your car, and throwing your speedometer off drastically. You also didn't say anything about your offset, but I'd be willing to bet that's wrong, too. Our cars aren't made for 8" wheels without drastic modifications. If you're on a tight budget, drastic modifications are generally out of the question.

Get the correct sized tire, or get the correct sized wheel, or pony up the cash for the modified fenders.

Before you complain that "that isn't what I asked", know that you aren't going to get fixes or ghetto rigs here, you're going to get proper solutions. We're a tech forum for a reason. We tell people how to fix problems the correct way.

EsotericImage

iTrader: (8)

project91crxsi

your doing it wrong, 15x8 with 165/45 tires

jbpnoman

Here, I'll lay out proper tire sizes for you, since I'm sure you don't know how to resize.

205/50R15
215/45R15
195/55R15

195 would be borderlining on the too thin side for an 8" wheel, but there are a shitload of tire options. 215/45R15 only exists in one tire, and that's the Proxes T1R. Expensive, summer only, and hard to get your hands on. 205/50R15 exists in a shitload of sizes, and is the correct tire for you. That's what I have on my 7" wheels, and have zero rubbing issues even back when I was tucking.

Once again, assuming your offset isn't completely wrong, get rid of the 225/50R15s you have, get a proper (and better) set of 205/50R15s, and stop trying to fix something that isn't a problem.

95civicproject

HAHA ^^^^^ WELL SAID ( and i said it in all caps i must be SUPER serious) haha

project91crxsi

if he has +15 offset or lower even 195/50 will rub, 195/45 is a good size but if your looking to go really low like i said before 165/45's will do the trick. im running 15x8's +10 offset 165/45 and im slammed and dont rub at all. comes close to rubbing the lip of the wheel on the fenders tho lol

jbpnoman

165/45R15 will still be the wrong size - it will throw the OP's speedometer off. Also, a 165 width tire on an 8" wheel is stupid, non-functional, and dangerous. Hella flush isn't tech. If you want advice on hella flush, go to the appearance forums. If you want advice on how to make your car run correctly, read what I've already posted. I've handed the OP three different options to solve his problems already.

doood

iTrader: (1)

165/45 on an 8" wheel?

jbpnoman

Some people's kids these days, what're ya gonna do

project91crxsi

for one im not a kid, and two i daily drive with 165/45 with no issues. im not trying to argue or be a dick, im just saying with the tire sizes you gave him hes still gonna have issues with rubbing. if his offset is low the tire stretch is the only thing that will help clear the fenders, other than just raising it up of course

Yoitshector

I know very little of tech but wouldn't stretching your tires be dangerous? Serious question

jbpnoman

You may not be a kid by age definitions, but running 165/45R15 is defies the basic mechanics and physics of traction, handling, and suspension dynamics.

Lets start with the first, and easiest to explain, part - tire sizing and how it relates to your transmission and speedometer. I'm going to leave gear and wheel size ratios alone, since they don't matter in this conversation. For a speedometer to read correctly, your tires' rolling radius has to be as close to the stock size as possible. Stock size is 185/65R14, which gives a stock rolling radius of 73.7". Simply stepping to a 15" wheel gives you 195/55R15, which also has a rolling radius of 73.7".

From that, you can either do the complicated math, or you can do it the easy way. The easy way is this: for ever 10 CM added to your tire width, subtract 5% from your sidewall. For example, 195/55R15 becomes 205/50R15, or 185/60R15. The smaller the tread width, the larger the sidewall has to be to maintain rolling radius. A tire with 165 tread width would require a sidewall of 65, or a tire size of 165/65R15. Good luck finding a tire that doesn't suck in that size.

Your "oh so awesome" 165/45R15 creates an 11.2% change in rolling radius, completely throwing off your speedometer.

Now lets look at it from a traction and handling standpoint. As I've already mentioned, the first number in the tire size is the tread width. Also as I've already mentioned, the correct tire size is 205/50R15. That gives a contact patch of 26281 square cm. Your 165/45R15 gives you a contact patch of 19500 square cm. 74% less contact surface, with the same tire compound, means 74% less traction. That means more tire spin on acceleration, a longer stopping distance, and less traction through heavy turns.

Now we can look at tire beads. Tire stretching puts stress on the beads, stress on the wheels, and the pressure required just to seat the beads puts stress on the tire itself. Tire stretching also exposes the sidewalls to road hazard damage.


So, an improperly sized, stretched tire throws off your speedometer, cuts your contact patch by 74%, and exposes the sidewall, tread, and wheel to unnecessary damage. Throwing off your speedometer is dangerous - you don't know how fast you're going, and are either at risk for traveling too slow causing traffic problems, or traveling too fast and getting a ticket. You're causing a hazard to yourself and other drivers by severely reducing your stopping times, as well as your traction through turns. You're also creating a hazard for yourself and other drivers by exposing your wheels and tires to unnecessary stress, severely increasing the risk of a blowout. At "slammed" heights, a blowout creates the risk of more than just having to roll to the side of the road. I've seen slammed cars dig into the blacktop and flip, just from a simple blowout.


Do I really need to go into more detail about why the OP should get tires in the correct size? I've got plenty more facts where these came from.

Bradshaw

in my 3 years as a tire technician, i've never seen a 165 45 15.

listen to the man. there is a lot of stupid **** people get away with, but your just playing a game with a time bomb. something WILL fail and could possibly hurt not only you, but other people as well. wheels/tires is definitely no place to come short on.

why not make it easy on yourself and run the 15x7s and 205 50 15s which has been a proven setup. i can't imagine the 225's looking that much better, just looks over stuffed.

project91crxsi

stretching tires has been proven to not be as "unsafe" as you people try and make it sound. look it up, "stretch tire horror stories" all it is is people saying i have stretched tires and have for years with no issues. ive yet to actually see anyone say something bad happened because of stretched tires. the only way the tire is gonna unseat itself is if your running low tire pressure but any tire can do that. it takes more force to seat the beads on stretched tires so it will take more force to unseat them the same. who really cares if the speedometers off, if he is going for the low offset stanced looked im sure he would take the few negatives that come along with it to have that look hes looking for.

project91crxsi

heres what im running. these tires are basically made for stretching

http://www.onlinetires.com/products/...1+68v+bsw.html

jbpnoman

Seated beads on stretched tires take less horizontal force to pop/unseat than properly sized tires do. Did I not already mention the blowout I watched happen that sent the car flipping through the air? You also conveniently skipped over all of my safety points. There are plenty of ways to "look cool" without sacrificing safety. I wouldn't flush out by car, because I know I'm not the only driver on the road, and I have no right to put someone else in danger because my car straight up isn't safe. I also like hard cornering and braking, though, so maybe I'm just crazy.

SpikedInterest

Why can't you just buy proper sized tires?

Ronnoc74

I've got a set of 15x8 XXR 522's with 0 offset and I run khumo ecsta AST 205/50-15 on them and I have had no problems. Yes, I had to raise my car up from where it was with my old 7 inch rims but I like the aggressive look my car has with the 8 inch wheels. I did roll my fenders in the front so I wouldn't cut up my tires. Occasionally my tires will rub my fender wells when I go over a good bump but that just reminds me to raise the car back up more and to get coilovers instead of using the shitty adjustable coil sleeves I have that slowly lower themselves over time. I don't understand why some people get an 8 inch wide wheel and put a street bike tire on it just to get that 'hellaflush' look, the car doesn't perform at all like it should and you're bound to run off the road eventually from lack of tread in contact with the road. just my 2 cents

SirProject

iTrader: (1)

8" wide rim, 0 offset, 205/50/15 tire, 3" low no issues. you could roll/pull the fenders out a bit or change the wheel for a better offset.

project91crxsi

because needs more low

Ryank327

Your logic on this is *** backwards. The beads take more pressure to seat because they are tryng to return to their natural position, it will take less pressure for the bead to break. As a tire tech at sears I saw all kinds of crazy **** destroy tires, it would take even less to destroy a stretched tire. Sure you may have rrode fine on sretched tires for a year or two, maybe less, but it will catch up with you eventually and when it does I hope you are ready to say hellow to that gaurdrail/ditch/other car next to you because you are oing straight onto the rim and pulling hard. When normal tires break you can ride on the rubber for a little, thats not so on stretched tires. When a stretched tire blows I hope there are no other cars near you.

project91crxsi

have you ever tried to dismount a stretched tire? it takes a hell of a lot of force and usually 2 people to get them off using a tire machine trust me ive done it plenty of times at the shop

jbpnoman

I spent 2 years dismounting tires for a living. Some were stretched. If it takes you any force to dismount it, you aren't doing it right. Pull valve stem seal, rip valve stem, tire will just fall off, no matter how big, small, stretched, or flared it is. The only tires we had a hard time with were high ply heavy truck tires, and stupidly flared tires. Stretched tires are a joke to remove.