I'm thinking about getting rid of the stock 245's and going w/ 275/65/17. Will 275's cause rubbing? Anyone running this size on a stock suspension?

Thanks

It depends.. What truck do you have? And what was the original tire size? Also, will you be changing wheels as well? What wheels are you going with? all these will be a factor as to whether it will rub or not.

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"I'm just a bill... on Capitol Hill.."

If I figured that right, that's between 31 and 32" high. On a Frontier with no lift, I'll bet that rubs. You keeping stock wheels?


1998 Frontier 4x4 seriously built
2002 Xterra 4x4 still stock
"Conjunction Junction, what's your Dysfunction?"

sorry I forgot to mention the size im replacing. I have the stock 245/65/17. on an 02 Pathfinder LE. Im keeping the 17" wheels or I'd like to at least. Man there aren't to many tire choices for 17inch wheels!

Not trying to be rude, but with a 17" wheel, why do you want a larger tire?

Ok.. your stock 245/65 tires work out to 29.54" diameter with a 9.6" width. The tires you want to put on are 31" diameter with a 10.8", almost 11" width.

Its tough to say whether they will fit or not. You need to look at the backside of your tires to see if you have more than 3/4" of clearance behind the tire between the tire and the strut up front. Then turn your front wheels to where the tire edges are closest to the body and measure the gaps. Going from 29.5 to 31", you will need at least 3/4" gap here as well. Any less and it will definitely rub.

If you are going to use the truck offroad, you will also need to look at clearances when the tire is pushed up into the fenderwell. If you have a shallow ditch or something to drive into, you can then check the clearances there as well to see if anything is going to rub..

Hope this helps!

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"I'm just a bill... on Capitol Hill.."

Thanks for the response! Forgive the newbie question, but why would the diameter of the tire change when Im just going w/ a wider tire?

Its not only wider, its taller too. The tire designation: 275/65-17 says the tire is 275mm wide at the sidewalls, and that the sidewall height is 65% of the tire's width in millimeters. 65% of 245mm is smaller (6.26") than 65% of 275mm (=7.03"). Tire sizing is funky like that. SO even tho you are going with a wider tire, since you are staying with the 65 series ratio, the tire also gets taller.

If you want to retain the same height, consider going with a 60 series tire if you can find one.. Heres the math:

245mm x 0.65 = 159.25mm = 6.26" sidewall height
6.26" x 2 + 17" = 29.5" total tire diameter

275mm x 0.60 = 165.0mm = 6.49" sidewall height
6.49" x 2 + 17" = 29.99" total tire diameter.

Not as big of a change as going to the 275/65, so that should work.

Some tire places will mount one tire on a wheel to let you see if it will fit properly on the truck in their garage. That might be an idea if you want to see if it will work before you pay for the tires.

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"I'm just a bill... on Capitol Hill.."

ah ha, RATIO is the key word. Thanks you da man!

you will be able to mount a 31 inch tire on your ride, but you may have rubbing on the fender lining on the front wheel wells. Try to find a shop that will mount one tire up front and then check to see if it rubs before mounting the rest. Reputable shops will do this free of charge, just try to go at a slow time/day. If the rubbing looks like it is going to be a problem, downsize the tire. Some people with R50s can run a 31 inch tire while stock with very little rubbing, usually 4x4s. I have 31x10.5 inch tires with a two inch spring lift on an XE 4x4 and I rub when making right turns at full steering wheel lock. Normal driving is fine, just turning right into parking spaces it makes a real loud obnoxious fart sounding noise. Before the lift, I ran 30x9.5 with no rubbing at all.

hope this helps

chris

quote:

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Originally posted by orange4ska:
Not trying to be rude, but with a 17" wheel, why do you want a larger tire?

http://www.angelfire.com/extreme3/azpathfinderoffroad/

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unfortunately, all 99.5 and up Pathys are blessed with large rotors, and cannot run 15 inch wheels like the rest of us. I do believe that a 16 inch wheel will clear the rotors though, and 16 inch A/T & M/T tires are much easier to come by in the 31 inch area than 17's.

I was wondering because typically unless going to monster tires, people that run a 17" wheel are looking for a low profile tire. I mean why have a 17 unless it is for looks. Just threw me off and was wondering how to answer the question. If it was for more clearence offroad I would reccomend ditching the 17s and going for 16s.

If it is for looks that is fine I was just wondering why go larger as it would not improve the looks. If I understood correctly, it turned out he was looking to go wider and not taller anyway so my question was answered.

I totally agree. I would also like to have more sidewall when offroad.

quote:

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Originally posted by odews:
you will be able to mount a 31 inch tire on your ride, but you may have rubbing on the fender lining on the front wheel wells. Try to find a shop that will mount one tire up front and then check to see if it rubs before mounting the rest. Reputable shops will do this free of charge, just try to go at a slow time/day. If the rubbing looks like it is going to be a problem, downsize the tire. Some people with R50s can run a 31 inch tire while stock with very little rubbing, usually 4x4s.

quote:

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I have 31x10.5 inch tires with a two inch spring lift on an XE 4x4 and I rub when making right turns at full steering wheel lock. Normal driving is fine, just turning right into parking spaces it makes a real loud obnoxious fart sounding noise. Before the lift, I ran 30x9.5 with no rubbing at all.

hope this helps

chris

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hehe sounds like a good excuse to get an arb or tjm i have no rubbing on my tjm 17...have you trimmed your fenders? if not you should & if you have, trim some more

96 pathy se w/mods

Another thing to consider when increasing the diameter and/or the width is clearance between the tire and the lower spring perch of the strut itself.

For example, I'm running 32x11.50R15 tires on 15x8" wheels. (See all pics here.) However, the wheels have 4" of backspacing, so they stick out beyond the fenders, which also keeps them away from the strut.



If you go with a tire whose dimensions closely approximate a 265/70R16 or 31x10.50R15 tire, then you should be OK.

Don't forget to check whether the tire brand/style is actually manufactured in your desired size, too.

My 97 Pathfinder