Someone replied that my wheel/tires set up will rub if I put a 2" or 1.7 drop on my E. Tires are 245/40/20, practically the same size of the stocks but obviously wider. The rims do have a 34 offset too.

I've seen the member from Hawaii have 22's with 30 profiles and he dropped his, so I wouldn't think I'd have a problem.

Anyone out there have this size & lowered it? Would like to know if I'm gonna have troubles with rubbing.

Thanks :)

I have the same wheel size as you, only with a 38mm offset. Your wheels stick out a hair farther than mine, but I doubt that it's enough to make a difference. The stock drop on my Tein dampers are 2.8" in front and 2.24" in back, and the only time the tires ever rub is if I hit a dip a little too fast. I'm actually planning on adjusting them a bit lower because the fender well gap is still a little too much for my liking.

Lower away and don't worry. You won't have any rubbing issues with normal driving. Just be careful over dips.

Skourge: Thanks for the reply! I appreciate it. The other person that said they would rub, I thought he was incorrect, but I wanted to make sure about it first.

peace :)

I was wondering If anyone had tried a extra wide tire on their E? I was reading another post were it said that a wider tire was better for riding on sand. So that got me thinking that since theres not much we can do about the ride height that maybe someone that did a good bit of beach driving could benefit from a wider tire. Maybe something like a 8in or 8.5 rim with a good AT tire at the max height and width tire. This would hopefully keep them from sinking as much in the sand and loosing what little ground clearance the E has. Anyone with experiance please reply.

But an extra wide tire will hurt your wet weather performance and also your performance in mud and snow. You need to air down for the sand.

But an extra wide tire will hurt your wet weather performance and also your performance in mud and snow. You need to air down for the sand.
---in addition to rubbing on the struts.

There are some extensive threads on tire and wheel size. Wider tires can be used. Do a bit of searching and you can probably find info on just about every workable combination.

BTW, I completely agree with your ideas about sand. Wider tires and lower air pressure would make the E a much better beach vehicle. Also, consider your load. Folks tend to head to the beach with a huge load of stuff. The less excess weight, the better it will run in the sand. There is one thread here about a guy that bought his E to go to the beach and promptly got stuck. His problem was that his E was crammed full of people and gear - probably way over loaded.

Good luck

The widest tire that you can put on the Element (without changing offset) is 235 - less than a 10% increase. A wider section width, by itself, does not increase the contact patch area; it just changes its shape a bit. You still need to air down to increase the area.

When airing down, most of the increase in area occurs by increasing the length of the contact patch. Airing down a 235 width tire might result in a slightly less decrease in ground clearance - but if that difference is on the order of 10% it isn't going to change your chances of getting stuck in sand.

As has been discussed many times before, tire size is limited by the curvature of the front strut tower top, and secondarily by a few spots on the front fender liner (when the tire is turned). It is the tread edge that rubs first on all these spots. Changing the tire diameter, or the tire width, or both, moves this edge closer to the rub spots.

If you want to increase clearance as much as possible, and give yourself most leeway for airing down, I'd suggest 225/75/16 size tire. This is about the largest diameter that fits. Depending on tire model, a tire in this size has about the same tread width as a 215/70/16 tire. (Note - the Wrangler HPs have a relatively narrow tread width for their size). But if you are going to push the tire size limits, you should also give thought to spare tire issues, and tire chain clearance.

paulj

Is it necessarily a good idea to change your overall tire diameter by nearly 5%? This tire calculator (http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp) recommends staying within 3% of stock tire height. It mentions risk of brake failure. It should also put more stress on suspension.

What width rim will a 245 45 19 series tire fit? My gut says 7.5 to 9"

they are michelin pilot primacy tires? thanks for the help.

What width rim will a 245 45 19 series tire fit? My gut says 7.5 to 9"
Sounds about right.

they are michelin pilot primacy tires? thanks for the help.

Holy COW! Those are expensive (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Pilot+Primacy&partnum=445YR9PRIMACY&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes) tires.

Look up the spec table for the brand and model you have in mind. These always list the allowable rim width range.

I have the same size tires on 7.5 wide wheels, they look good and no problems.

Look up the spec table for the brand and model you have in mind. These always list the allowable rim width range.

yup I was right(doesnt happen very often)...paulj thanks for the spec table check never thought of it....thank you

Sounds about right.



Holy COW! Those are expensive (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Pilot+Primacy&partnum=445YR9PRIMACY&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes) tires.

probably a stupid idea but i bought them used, company i bought them from were selling new for $489 a piece....absolutely rediculous for summer tires. i got all for for 200 bucks, with 75% tread left.

whats the widest tire I can fit on a 2009 lx without have to change anything beside the rims?

Threads merged. See posts above.

Thread-title search (http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/search.php) for keyword "width" in the Tires, Wheels and Suspensions forum returns this thread in 0.11 seconds. "Rub" returns this relevant thread (http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63679); "clearance," this one (http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70736).