New wheels = tyre trouble, help wanted

[y2kfarrell]

Basically bought myself a set of 18” rota alloys and I don’t know what to do about tyres.



Been to my normal tyre guy and a set of 18” 225 30-35 tyres will cost about 250euro.
And he wreckons that on irish roads ill be changing them alot.


Im debating to put on a set of 18” 225 40s but he reckons they might rub.
Hit a pothole I could run the risk of busting my arch.



Im running standard suspension and wondering what i should do about tyres,
Has anyone had this grief and what did they do.??
Tyre guy reckons i should change wheels for 17” or else just keep my original 17”wheels.
But my new wheels are dam sexy 18” black chrome.
Any ideas be great



clearance at full lock with 17" alloys

new wheel

 

[S15 SILVIA]

You sure your car is running standard suspension?
I've got nismo s-tune on mine(20mm drop) and yours looks lower? Looks like you've got scrubbing going on already. I run 17s, with no clearance problems at all!
You shouldn't really have any huge clearance problems with 18s on standard suspension, so long as you don't go stupid widths or offsets!
What size are your current 17s? What tyre, wheel offset, width etc.
Also what size and offset ate your new 18s?
They do look lovely tho, so understand why you want em on!
Mike

 

[miller81]

I have 18x9.5 front with 215/40 tyres and 18x10 rear with 235/40 tyres fitted with plenty of stretch and lowered a lot on tein coilovers and dont have any issues with them..

 

[DeanS15]

mate, somethings wrong there.......as was said are you sure its not been lowered?

i run a 225/40/18 on the front of my car on an 18x8.5 (et30 offset) and its been lowered a fair old bit and could go further - the gap in your arch looks bigger than mine. i've only ever had it make contact a couple of times going over a railway crossing without slowing down and thats it (but that could also be thanks to harder damping/less travel).....

i'd have a look at the wheel width and offset and the alignment, theres no way running a mild combination as you say should normally cause problems unless somethings amiss with any of those three.

if you look at the arch gap, it makes sense why i think theres a problem

 

[y2kfarrell]

i taught it was original suspension so ill look into it cheers for the reports. I taught all coilover where adjustable so would be notice able if changed. so thats why i guessed they were standard.

dont know what the current wheels are, tyres are 225=45=17

And the new ones are
Size : 18x8.5/18x9.5
8.5J ET20 and 9.5J ET30

 

[y2kfarrell]

is there any way of telling if my suspension is standard, If i was to go and buy coilovers will it definitely solve the problem.
Allowing me to get my new wheels on with a proper size tyre ie 225 40.
All help is much appreciated, as i`d like to get my new wheels on. car has had a full respray but the old rims are taking from the look.
cheers folks

 

[Darren_S15]

Standard suspension is just black, although I had blue and green springs on mine.

To be honest the mistake most people make is they change wheels and not suspension or adjustable arms which will give you crap wheel alignment which in turn compramises grip.

 

[craig8585]

That's definitely a lot lower than standard. Mines about 60mm lower than stock and looks similar to yours. Post a side on picture of the car too.

 

[y2kfarrell]

So is it a given that ive to upgrade the suspension??
Ive just handed out 2k for a new paint job, (serious finish on it i must say, top marks to the panel beater)
1k for new wheels and soon to be 5hundred for tyres,
I like the ride height and the handling of it now, but the new wheels are going on it full stop.
So is it something i have to do i.e coilovers are a must. As you say darren "change wheels and not suspension or adjustable arms which will give you crap wheel alignment"
If it needs doing i will do it. but if there was a cheaper faster fix that would be great "new spings etc". But i prefer an honest answer if ya think i`d be a fool not to upgrade let me know.
No point shelling out for paint work and wheels. if big wheels will bust my arches and just burn through tyres.
Is there much work in putting in coilovers? and setting them up.

Few side shots of the car.

 

[craig8585]

To have it that low you normally have to run coilovers. If you take a wheel off and post a pic of the strut we'll tell you straight away. If you already have coilovers you just need to raise them slightly so it doesn't rub.

 

[y2kfarrell]

be mint if i did but i`d say if its not standard its just lowering springs in her.
but i hope im wrong, ill get some up more pic`s up tomorrow evening. Of the springs.

 

[S15 SILVIA]

That has 100% been lowered.
Wheither it's by the means of coilovers or lowering springs, you would only know by looking at the struts themselves! If they have thread on the struts and adjustable platforms, you've got coilovers.
Also take some shots of the suspension arms, so we can see if you already have some uprated arms fitted already!
Usually with a drop like that you would need arms to avoid uneven tyre wear and sh!t handling.
At a guess, if you were to put your 18s on that as is, you would most likely need the rear arches rolling to avoid any serious contact.
But without trying them, you won't know.
I'm guessing you will be having different tyre widths front and rear?
Mabey a 225/40 front, 255/35 rear?

 

[craig8585]

To have it that low you'll almost certainly have coilovers. Lowering springs only tend to lower the car by 30mm and yours looks considerably lower than that. If you find you have original shocks you could fit a set of Tein lowering springs, which would raise the ride height from what you have now. If you have a standard setup at the moment, they are probably going to be cut springs.

 

[y2kfarrell]

Lads i must say cheers for the replys its great to get.
Flamespitter had the pics taken before i seen request for the suspension arms, As it stands i have 225 45 17 all round with no hassle.
what i want is around 225 40 18 ( no smaller than 40)
As ya can see from the shock the bit wiped clean says nissan japan on in. dont think the springs are cut but i could be wrong.

 

[S15 SILVIA]

Could be completely wrong, but to me looks like the standard coils have been cut.
There doesn't appear to be enough coils for any normal manufactured springs!
Without seeing mine, I couldn't say
For sure, but that's how it would seem to me.
Could someone else confirm if there are more coils on standard springs?
Mike

 

[craig8585]

Haha, I take back that comment about coilovers!

I've never seen a spring with only 2 coils on it before. Your options would be to either get yourself a set of coilovers, or to get a set of lowering springs which should raise the height. Something strange is going on to be running that low on standard shocks. The springs are defiantly modified or aftermarket of some form.

 

[DeanS15]

cut springs!!!! bodge tastic lol. i'd get shot of those asap mate, firstly they are dodgy as fook, secondly handling is turd on cut springs.....it may feel ok but when you fit a proper set of coilovers set up nicely it will feel like a different car. i had cut springs on my first car and you could throw it around really well, but it still handled horribly.....cant imagine why anyone would do this other than for looks, a set of lowering springs isnt that expensive and would of been less work to fit unless the person jacked the car up and hacksawed them on the car lol. should be an mot failure if the tester knew thier stuff - 'coil spring incomplete' instant fail.....

 

[GBDiaz]

You can most definitely run 18's, even lower than that! Nothing rolling/pulling (depending how aggressive your size/offset is) can't fix! I'm running 17x9.5 +12 all around, and I'm on coilovers. Couple of friends are running 18's and are way lower than me! A little camber wouldn't hurt either. Ask anyone in the alignment place to go as negative as they can go while still keeping it within specs.

 

[y2kfarrell]

cheers folks.
think ill go with a set of coilovers so.
Any good recommendations?? Are driftworks brand any good?

 

[sliding-r]

I've got apex gen 2 coilovers, I'm very impressed for the money and they take abuse no sweat. Good for irish roads ; )