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Tire & Wheel Information |
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What type of driving? Our first step in narrowing down the selection is finding a general category of tire that suits your needs. Daily driver vehicles should have a tire that provides longer treadwear and possibly a smoother ride. The half driver, half toy cars would be better fitted with a lower profile better handling tire. This category allows the possible upsizing of the wheel which we'll go into more detail later. The third category is all out performance. While this, in my opinion is the most fun, may not be the best or legal choice for a street driven vehicle. For those of you in very wet or snowy areas you will definitely want to take weather conditions into consideration.
Is wider better? Your tires contact patch is actually the only part of your vehicle to make contact with the road. A wider contact patch is usually matched with a shorter length contact patch. This gives you better handling characteristics on dry roads but does not work as effectively on extremely wet or snow covered roads. This wider area will actually allow the vehicle to ride on top of the snow. A narrower tread pattern while not a responsive on dry roads will actually be better suited to extremely wet or snowy conditions. The contact patch is narrower but longer which in a sense cuts through the snow better. Again the trade-off issue. When running a wider tire make sure there is enough wheel underneath the tire to support it. Too wide a tire on a narrow wheel may prevent the tire bead from sealing properly against the wheel. Conversely too narrow a tire on a wide wheel may give similar negative results. Classic Mustangs... Lots of people ask about tire and wheel upgrade sizes for early model Mustangs. Without making major modifications to the fender it is safe to run a 17x7 with 4.5" backspacing in the front. Tire selection is very important when running a larger diameter wheel. You should be able to turn your wheels full left and full right while the suspension is under load, without the tire making contact with the fender or fenderwell. Allow 1/2" clearance minimum for 40 and 45 series, 1" clearance for 50 series and up. Using a straight edge check backspacing from mounting surface of drum or rotor to areas where tire may hit along the inner fender well. Clearance on early Mustangs may vary as much as a 1/2" from side to side.
When running a larger tire and wheel combination it may necessary to roll the inner fender lip to prevent cutting the tires. Always test fit your tires before making a purchase. What works on one vehicle is not guaranteed to work on another. Beware, one manufacturer's 235/60 may actually be wider than another manufacturer's.
Resources... Tirerack.com - Tirerack.com has a wealth of information about tire and wheel selection as well as a very extensive selection of tires. Be sure to check out their Tire Tech section for some very useful information and diagrams. Below are some links to specific areas of their site that may be of interest to you.
John's Mustangs & Classics (John Da Luz) - http://www.johnsmustangs.com |
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© 2008 Total Control Products - A Chris Alston's Chassisworks, Inc. Brand |
(916) 388-0288 |
Automotive
Tech Support departments receive numerous phone calls regarding proper
tire and wheel selection for various automobiles. The following information
should better prepare you to make an educated decision. After all the
only contact you vehicle has with the road is the tires, so make sure
your tire and wheel package give you the kind of drive you want.
