Hey i recently purchased H&R lowering springs that provide a 1.75/1.5 inch drop...I am looking to put rims on the car but am worried about size... I'm thinking with this drop 17" rims are going to be pushing it, but i've always said i would never buy rims unless they were atleast 17's (Thinking that less than this would be a waste of money) What are some suggestions, would 17s fit?

 

17's would fit fine...I used to have 18's on my car and it was dropped 2.5 inches and i had no problems!

 

awesome man, thanks! Anyone else with any input?

 

it's not just the size of the rim, it's the size of the tire cause that whats going to rub.

 

What size tires do you suggest for a 17inch rim with this drop?

 

What car do you have?

You want to match the width of the tire to the width of the rim and you also want to match, as close as you can, the overall tire diameter of the new tire to the stock tire size.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by aln2590 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i've always said i would never buy rims unless they were atleast 17's (Thinking that less than this would be a waste of money) What are some suggestions, would 17s fit? </TD></TR></TABLE>


hahahahahaha You have alot to learn.


Pick out your own wheels.


Or, try the Appearance/Cosmetic forum.

 

okay,i have a 1996 Accord LX (2 Door), with H&R springs (1.75/1.5in)...

 

your probably going to want a 215/45/17 or 205/45/17 depending on the width and offset of the rim you get, if you get a 17" rim.

Something else you may want to think about is the roads in your area or where you normally drive. Around where I live the roads are usually pretty rough with pot holes and such so... I had a friend with a 94 EX that had 17" Buddy Club rims and he bent one pretty good after hitting a pot hole, and I believe he had 215/45/17 tires, you don't have much of a sidewall IMO. But if the road near you are good then you may be ok to get away with it.

 

Okay, so 215 or 205 is the hieght of the actual tire right? So 205's would have less side wall that 215's correct? Just wondering, the one with the larger side wall would still fit okay on my car even with the lowering springs right?

 

the first number refers to the width of the tire in millimeters.
the second number is the aspect ratio of the sidewall.
the third number is the diameter of the rim the tire goes onto.

to figure the sidewall size you need to take the middle number, in this case the 45 which is a percentage, and multiply the width by it. Ex. 215mm X .45 = 96.75mm Then you take that number and divide it by 25.4 to get the number into standard form. Ex. 96.75mm / 25.4 = 3.81" That is the height of the side wall for a 215/45 tire.

Now to figure out the diameter of the tire, you take the sidewall size and multiple it by 2 (Ex. 3.81 * 2 = 7.62") then take that number and add it to the rim size. Ex. 7.62" + 17" = 24.62" So the diameter of a 215/45/17 tire is 24.62" You want to make sure this is as close as you can be to your stock tire size which is a 185/65/15 that has a tire diameter of 24.47".

Here are some links from TireRack that might help you understand more...

Calculating Tire Dimensions
The Plus Concept
The Contact Patch
Measuring Tire Thread Depth
Selecting the Right Tires
Tire Rotation

Offset
Bolt Pattern
Proper Lug Nuts
Lug Nut Torquing