Are larger wheels more prone to damage from pot holes/bumps than smaller ones? I would think so, but lately car manufacturers have been putting on large wheels from the factory, so I'm not so sure anymore. Is the design of the wheel a factor? Im looking into buying new wheels, trying to decide whether to get 17s or 18s.

 

Yes, larger wheels are more prone to pot hole damage. Manufacturers have been larger wheels on cars for 2 reasons (in my opinion), Firstly it helps sell the car by making it look better and secondly diameters have been increasing on cars. For example honda civics are no longer tiny econo boxes that come with 13" tires. They are big cars now.

Getting 17" or 18" is usually just done for looks, the rims and tires will cost a lot more than 15", selection will be less, and comfort may suffer.

Why don't you start off by telling us what kind of car you have and we will be better able to tell you if 17" or 18" wheels will work for your car.

 

Matt is correct.

However, keep in mind that perhaps the bigger factor in pothole damage is sidewall height, rather than only the wheel diameter.

For example, compare a 1992 Civic with a 2007 Civic. Most '92 Civics came with 175/70-13 tires stock, so if you want to put 16" wheels on it, you'll need size 205/40-16. Most '07's came with 195/65-15 stock, so for 16" wheels, you need 205/55-16. As you can see, the sidewall for the 205/40-16 is a lot shorter than for the 205/55-16 (.40*205=82 mm, vs .55*205=112.75 mm).

Bottom line: the bigger the wheel diameter for a given car, i.e. keeping the outer diameter of the tire constant, the shorter the sidewall and the greater the susceptibility to damage from potholes. However, a car that uses larger diameter tires may be less susceptible to potholes than one with smaller diameter tires but the same diameter wheels.

Hope that makes sense.

 

yeah, good help guys. that all makes sense to me. I have a 92 honda prelude with 4WS. the lug pattern is 4x114. Right now i am running the oe 15x6.5 wheels with 205/55 tires. Ive mainly been looking on ebay for a really good deal on 17 wheels because I thought thatd be a good all around size, but started broadening my search to 18s due to a pretty limited selection. Then I started wondering about pothole damage and stuff after I hit a pretty bad one recently. It jarred out one of my turn signals but the wheel seems to be fine. Would there be much difference in strength between 17s and 18s? And is the design and/or quality of the wheel a factor?

 

i, personally, would not go more then 17" on that car.

w/ 16" rims u will need to use 205/50-16

and 17" rims 215/40-17... 18" rims u will need 215/35-18

the 40 series is already quite thin and will be more prone to damage if you hit a pothole.

damage is very unpredictable and i had experiences where i had inner bends in my wheels that i never noticed until i removed the tires.

 

yeah ok. I just dont want to spend all that money on rims and then hit a freaking pot hole the next day and ruin them. Maybe I'm just paranoid. Any other sources besides ebay that i should look at for great deals? I would love to spend less than $500 but that could be a little flexible I guess. And yeah, I know thats not much

 

If you want to save money don't get 17s or 18s. Just enjoy your 15s

 

haha, at this point Ive ruled that option out

 

you also have to consider the quality of the wheel.
the enkies from my srt4 had some small bends in them from minor pot holes while the volks on my s2k are perfect. Both cars have seen pot holes; i drive through dc all the time.