wide tires

[DI48LO]

Hi.

I need som heelp from you. I have replaced my tires to wider ones (stock 195/14 to 225/16) and all my suspension bushes were destroyed in a few months. Many guys told me that they experienced the same thing. So if you change your tires you have to modify the whole suspension (i mean the bushes)?

Thanks.

[graywolf624]

stock 195/14 to 225/16

Ok maybe this is a european thing, a typo or something else.. but what is the 14 /16..

Is it diameter? In which case you did much more then change the tire width.
I know its not aspect ratio cause 14 percent of 195 prolly wouldnt even be road worthy.

[ALEJOGT2]

graywolf, it's wheel diameter - although I guess he also went to lower tire profile too at the same time and kept to a similar overall diameter on the tire ;)

[graywolf624]

graywolf, it's wheel diameter - although I guess he also went to lower tire profile too at the same time and kept to a similar overall diameter on the tire
Thats what I thought it was.. but that changes the nature of the question entirely.. and brings up the issue of maintaining overall diameter which we dont know. I assumed hed understand at least that diameter would significantly impact suspension. on the surface it seems obvious. I guess I overestimate people sometimes.

[coombsie66]

You'd only destroy suspension bushes and other components if you got an offset that was far different from standard on your wider wheels.
There's no reason why a larger contact patch itself provided by wider tyres would increase your bushing's degredation rate.
You will feel more 'tramlining' with wide tyres though, where your car follows the contours in the road surface a lot more. That could give the impression that your bushings are shot when they are not.
Expand on your situation more.

[23790554]

i dunno much, but maybe u went too large step ahead, try 15 inch

[caneswell]

Wider tyres alone won't make a huge difference. Unless as coombsie said the offset is way out.

However i'm guessing the bushes were the old original ones before you put the wheels on, and you put on a set of nice sticky rubber with the new wheels. This will make a difference, the extra grip generated has to get transfered to the body so the old bushes take a greater force.

I'd stick with replacement rubber bushes if i were you. Poly ones are noisy and need lubricating regularly.

[sergei_dekker85]

hmm one question guys...if i have a 16 in rim and currently using 215 65 R16 can i change to 235 60 R16 W/O changing Rims??

[graywolf624]

hmm one question guys...if i have a 16 in rim and currently using 215 65 R16 can i change to 235 60 R16 W/O changing Rims?
That depends on the width of the rim. The wider you go over sized tires the weaker the larger the tendency for the tread to fold over arround corners.

I guess I should finaly answer the first question too..

OFFsets are indeed one way, but so too would be if he forgot to maintain the same overall diameter (plus sizing). If you do that it will change the angles of the suspension leading to potentionally higher wear on tires and bushings. You also might get slightly increased wear due to excess unsprung weight(though prolly not enough to toast the bushings unless they were already heading that way.)

[sergei_dekker85]

well as what Richard hammond said...a tall vehicle with Skinny tyres is a potential candiate for HOPELESS handling....which is why Wider tyres are better.... :?

[ZfrkS62]

That ought to be fine. a 20MM change in width isn't going to hurt anything.

[sergei_dekker85]

That ought to be fine. a 20MM change in width isn't going to hurt anything.

well that 20mm change in track width is gonna help abit in handling thats for sure...gonna add spacers in between the rims and hubs too...

[graywolf624]

That ought to be fine. a 20MM change in width isn't going to hurt anything.

Actually that depends on if the original setting is stock.

[FoxFour]

DI48LO, can you tell us more about your car? How old is it and what is the general condition of it? And if you could give us a little more info on the tire size/ aspect ratio and offset of the rim. Thanks.

[coombsie66]

That ought to be fine. a 20MM change in width isn't going to hurt anything.

Actually that depends on if the original setting is stock.

Exactly, my standard wheels had 205 width and they were already oversized for the width of the rim, it gives everything a less direct feel and protects the rim more. Putting 195's on them would have improved the turn in and steering feel no doubt.
So wider is NOT always better.
Infact half the time its a load of bullshit. If you purchased some good quality tyres in the correct size for your wheels, rather than spunking the same amount on some shite quality low profile wider tyres then your handling would improve more.

Also someone mentioned fitting spacers? Um that is the WORST thing for your handling unless you are fitting them in order to maintain the applicable offset to your car if you have purchased some other rims that are the incorrect offset.
If you are fitting spacers just to make your track wider and the wheels stick out more then your car is gunna handle like a roller skate. And unless your changing your wheel studs then you probably wont have any substantial thread purchase on your wheel nuts. You'll then either strip the threads whilst torquing them up to the correct amount, or whilst pushing hard round a corner.

[greg.little]

Can anyone explain to me why increasing the rolling radius of the wheel is going to affect the suspension geometry? I understand the offset thing, anything other than 49?mm on a vauxhall screws the handling.

[graywolf624]

Can anyone explain to me why increasing the rolling radius of the wheel is going to affect the suspension geometry?
Besides the weight thing that I mentioned, if you change the height of the tires you are effectively changing the angles of the control arms/ forces on the control arms with the larger radius tire-wheel setup. Depending on how things change you will potentially cause more wear and tear.

It would also effect tie rod angles. Hence also things like ackerman angle and bump/roll steer are effected.