Not really a bike tire question..

[Jhonyquest97]

its about car tires but i figured this is where all the guys who know thier stuff would be. I'm looking at this new trend of "stretching" a slightly smaller tire onto a larger rim to give more of a pulled look. Does anyone know of info that shows its a bad thing.. or at least some sound physics arguing that it would be a bad idea... heres a link if you haveno idea about what i'm talking about.


http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3720255

[Kfreak]

We did that back in the late 70's to early 80's with our 8" reversed dished Cragar Classic wheels. Rubbed the chit out of the tires against the wheel wells. We always ran light to light. Mopars were never good at handling corners. I never took turns at high speeds.

[thetable]

I think it is just a foul-vee thing. Is the tire weight capacity inline with what is required by the manufacturer? Is the rim width within the recommendations of the manufacturer? Do you really want to have that nice soft sidewall (which was not designed to touch the ground) pointed at the ground, so that any rock or other road debris can have a shot at it?

In my racing day's one of the cars I co-drove during some of the endurance events was forced into running a tire that was too narrow, too short, and too low a load range on a rim that was too wide. In a season before we were able to run another tire size, we went through 7 wheels, 5 struts, 3 axles, and a control arm (on the eighth day of racing, my true love ga...) and I can't even remember how many tire failures. In the two seasons after switching to an appropriate tire, 0 wheels, 0 struts, 1 axle, 0 LCAs even with a couple agricultural moments.

So you will probably never push your car that hard especially not rolling it gently down to the parking lot car show, but still be aware that the risk is still there.

[None2Slow]

You also run the risk of losing a bead running them like that. That was the fad back in the late 80s and early 90's for the mini trucks and low riders. You will chew up a lot of tires running them like that. If you want a tire that looks streched, take a look at tirerack.com I belive that they have tires that have a larger bead area with a more recessed tread that gives it the illusion that its strectch. Can't remember where it was for sure though.

[redciv1]

^^^I second that. If you are going strictly for looks and don't care about handling or tire wear then no problem. The common size back in the 80's and 90's was a 15x8 wheel and a 19/50/15 tire. With larger diameter tires these days not sure what people are running. I do know that the VIP scene in Japan is finally catching on here in the states and a lot of the VIP cars are running tires stretched with larger diameter wheels.

[Jhonyquest97]

Yea im not looking to race.. at all. i need to keep a good driving record for my academy lol. i would be running 215/40/18 on a 8 inch wide rim and 225/40 on a 9 inch. I talked to a guy in a tire shop ad he said they dont have any problem with them. Theyre not made for performance, just looks and a little extra clearance for a drop in the car.

[smitty600]

its about car tires but i figured this is where all the guys who know thier stuff would be. I'm looking at this new trend of "stretching" a slightly smaller tire onto a larger rim to give more of a pulled look. Does anyone know of info that shows its a bad thing.. or at least some sound physics arguing that it would be a bad idea... heres a link if you haveno idea about what i'm talking about.


http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3720255

Well, from a safety standpoint, if you are on the highway and have to make and emergency swerve your tire may unseat from the bead. the only thing holding the tire in place with it stretched out as far as some of the pics (other thread) is air.

if you are just cruising and doing city speeds you maybe alright, but ur rims are also more exposed... Just find a tire that has a small sidewall that is wider..

also at highway speeds the tire will run much hotter since it will be over loaded for its weight capacity. Low riders with the small rims and tires have specially made tires to carry the weight.

[jetmerritt]

I don't post often, but I read a lot. I looked at the link you posted about stretched tires - WHY! I can see only performance loss and begging to buy new rims with every little stone and stick on the road. Having been the poor tire guy that had to mount regular 18's and get the beads seated, I think your repair options would be severely limited. I don't think every joe tire guy would touch those, most would probably send you down the road to a fancy shop with special equipment IF one is around.

AND if you caused an accident involving my vehicle and it was due to loss of control / tire issue / traction issue, I would verify the incorrect tire size to rim size by manufacturer specs on your tires and sue your a**.

I don't like it, but some people like strange things like K&N filters and dynojet kits...

Have fun, do what you want, but it's a cruel world out there.

[rexazz2]

if you get close to curb thats going to cost you a rim for sure
Got to be hard on side walls
some tire shops will gladly take your money ,and sell you another every time you wreck one
If you go super low profile they are a BIATCH to mount to start with
and the ride usually suffers

I take the stock 14 inch snows off and put on 16 inch summers and the wife complains every year about the ride
The size difference is all side wall on mine , outside diameter kept the same to maintain clearance and drivability

Most guys love the looks when they do this kind of stuff but hate to admit the it rides and handles like a piece of crap

[GregS]

Anytime you install a tire on a rim size that it is not designed for, you over stress / overload the sidewall and make the tire carcass work in ways it was not designed to do. Look at the lesson Ford and Firestone had to learn less than a decade ago. Read the stories of those people who died in crashes from tires blowing out.

[scottynoface]

Another cheap ricer shortcut. Get tires that fit.

[Jhonyquest97]

Anytime you install a tire on a rim size that it is not designed for, you over stress / overload the sidewall and make the tire carcass work in ways it was not designed to do. Look at the lesson Ford and Firestone had to learn less than a decade ago. Read the stories of those people who died in crashes from tires blowing out.

I Read all the "recomendations" from toyo and they say nothing about width but refer to diameter of the rim. As far as firestone goes it was due to a use of employees that weren't the regulars in a certain plant from i think 94 to 97 ( might be off on the date). Goodyear produced the SAME size tire for the same vehicle with the same rim for them and there were no complaints.

The link i also posted is the absolute extreme and was for illustration purposes. Almost all of those cars are strictly show cars so they're not driving them.

lol and its not a ricer thing, it's done in europe to get around some sort of regulation. what else is new they have laws about everything.

[scottynoface]

it's done in europe to get around some sort of regulation.

Because if you do it in Europe you're a "tuner" instead of a ricer ...

[Jhonyquest97]

tretching tires came from the legal need in Europe to have the edge of the tire tread no farther out than the outer edge of the fender- it was a way to run the widest/lowest offset wheels possible and stay within the technical limits of the law for inspection reasons.