Widest tires????? - CEG Archives

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What are the widest tires you can fit on the contour.....Cause i have a set of rims that can fit 245-255 tires...but i don;t want the front to rub.....whats the widest tire we can put on the front?

Roz

Originally posted by Roz 1999 SVT-C:
What are the widest tires you can fit on the contour.....Cause i have a set of rims that can fit 245-255 tires...but i don;t want the front to rub.....whats the widest tire we can put on the front?

Roz

With correct offset and a little fender rolling I'd say 245's. I know Buckshot runs 245's. I run 235's right now and have very slight rubbing with people in the back, undulations in the road during cornering, or really big bumps that you see just before you hit.

Im going to have no problems with the back because i have no back seats....and i may not have any in the future becasue of the cutome interior.....so the rear im not worried about...the fronts im worried about rubbing when i turn the wheel.

Roz

What you doing in the back as far as the custom interior? For right now I'm thinking of just carpeting it. Maybe I could make a plywood wall and run carpet straight up and also cover the rear deck?

any thoughts?

Originally posted by Roz 1999 SVT-C:
Im going to have no problems with the back because i have no back seats....and i may not have any in the future becasue of the cutome interior.....so the rear im not worried about...the fronts im worried about rubbing when i turn the wheel.

Roz

Actually the back is where you will have your largest problem. There just isn't much clearance between the fender and some of the suspension components. I have never rubbed in the front with my 235's, always in the rear. One big problem in the rear is where the rear bumper meets the fender. There is a large piece that goes into the wheel well. That is where a lot of the rubbing comes from, but you also may rub on your trailing arm and/or on the fender lip itself.

So would you say, 235's would be about as big as i should go?

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:
What you doing in the back as far as the custom interior? For right now I'm thinking of just carpeting it. Maybe I could make a plywood wall and run carpet straight up and also cover the rear deck? any thoughts?

Actuialy i am planning on making a custom box for some sbus, that would cover the hole in the back where the seats would be....i was going to run some carpet from front to rear that would match the box carpeting and wso the box would look flush.....But still would be easly removeable...Also i hve to work around the fully funtional roll cage....I ahve a lot to do...its just taking time.

Roz

Originally posted by Roz 1999 SVT-C:
So would you say, 235's would be about as big as i should go?

Well lets put it this way. 225's are probably as big as you should go unless you're willing to do some minor adjustments in the rear. If you are willing to do some minor adjustments 235's will work fine. If you are willing to go as far as find wheels with the perfect offset and do some minor adjustments, 245's will fit.

Up to you how much work you really want to do. Truthfully 235's would probably be fine without doing any work as long as the rear end was always light. But if you plan on having any speakers back there you better be ready to roll the fenders. BTW, my car is on stock suspension, so I don't know how all this would factor in on a lowered car.

Originally posted by Qbert:

Originally posted by Roz 1999 SVT-C:
So would you say, 235's would be about as big as i should go?

Well lets put it this way. 225's are probably as big as you should go unless you're willing to do some minor adjustments in the rear. If you are willing to do some minor adjustments 235's will work fine. If you are willing to go as far as find wheels with the perfect offset and do some minor adjustments, 245's will fit.

Up to you how much work you really want to do. Truthfully 235's would probably be fine without doing any work as long as the rear end was always light. But if you plan on having any speakers back there you better be ready to roll the fenders. BTW, my car is on stock suspension, so I don't know how all this would factor in on a lowered car.

my car is lowerd on Eibachs on St220 struts....and I was going to run a 40 series side wall (45 biggest). my car is pretty stiff for what i got.

Roz

Maybe this info should be added to the FAQ's, because I know it is a popular question.

Agreed. That would be cool...save me time instead of asking and looking like a dumb ass....lol

Roz

Originally posted by LoCoChick:
Maybe this info should be added to the FAQ's, because I know it is a popular question.

Yes and no. This will vary for everyone due to the fact of so many different variables. Here are some of the variables:

1. Offset of wheels
2. Width of wheels (42mm offset on a 7" wheel really isn't the same as a 42mm offset on a 7.5 or 8" wheel, though the definition of offset is the same)
3. Size of wheels
4. Tires
a. Not all 225's, or other sizes, of tires are the same width as another 225.
b. Profile difference
5. All cars sit differently, a 100K mile stock Contour is probably lower then a 20K mile stock Contour. Plus then you have all sorts of suspensions that could be thrown into the mix.
6. Years of cars, the 98 SVT's don't have the same fender liners as the 98.5+'s
7. Driving differences, what I notice when I drive my car may not be the same as someone else who drives their car. I may drive my car harder then a lot of people or vise versa, therfore not bringing out the bad points to setups.

As you can see there is no set in stone answer to this question. With a little time, effort, and money you can do just about anything.

I agree Qbert because I know that the 225s will not fit on my '95. IIRC, I was told I have a wider turning radius, or rather I don't have the mechanism that stops my front wheel from turning in all the way--hence rubbing.

What you said could pretty much be added to the FAQ.

I've got a 98.5 SE Sport and with 17x7 wheels and 215/45/ZR17 tires,
I rub on the LEFT Inner Rear Fender on a HARD dip.

I am looking into how to solve this and I may end up going to a body shop
just to have the inside of the fenders trimmed a hair.

My second option is to replace the rear Coil Springs with
95 SE Springs, since they are 25% STRONGER...
All 4 struts were recently replaced when my Front Coils BROKE...