Front tire size ?
Front tire size ? Hello all. I'm a little confused on front tire size. Seems like 275 is most popular but I don't understand why. Only advantage I could think of is increased Cornering ability, but a lot of people are pulling off the front sway bar so Cornering must not be the goal. Is it just a style thing? I would something like a 245 would be cheaper, lighter, and have less rolling resistance, so what's the advantage of a wider front tire?
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 1,313
Likes: 10
From: Maryland
It really kind of depends, if you just want to go fast in a straight line, then I suppose it may be kind of pointless to run a 275+ tire up front unless you just want it for the looks. In the handling department however, I believe, theoretically the wider the tire you have the better traction you will get. Most of the seriously fast F-Bodies I see that are setup for road-racing always run huge tires up front, so I'm pretty sure there are some actual advantages to it.
Hello all. I'm a little confused on front tire size. Seems like 275 is most popular but I don't understand why. Only advantage I could think of is increased Cornering ability, but a lot of people are pulling off the front sway bar so Cornering must not be the goal. Is it just a style thing? I would something like a 245 would be cheaper, lighter, and have less rolling resistance, so what's the advantage of a wider front tire?
There are some people who are more straightline-oriented that opt for a thinner front wheel like the 17 x 7 street lights. I think the recommended size is 245 on those.
Basically, a large percentage of owners have a rim that requires a 275 width rim. It is dangerous to run a 245 width tire on a factory rim much like it is dangerous to run a 315 width tire on aforementioned rim.
Most people are running 275's because that's the correct width for their stock rims. The most popular aftermarket rims for the 98-02 F-Bodies seem to be Corvette replicas because of their affordability and they themselves also come in at around the same rim width - thus requiring a 275 tire.
There are some people who are more straightline-oriented that opt for a thinner front wheel like the 17 x 7 street lights. I think the recommended size is 245 on those.
Basically, a large percentage of owners have a rim that requires a 275 width rim. It is dangerous to run a 245 width tire on a factory rim much like it is dangerous to run a 315 width tire on aforementioned rim.
There are some people who are more straightline-oriented that opt for a thinner front wheel like the 17 x 7 street lights. I think the recommended size is 245 on those.
Basically, a large percentage of owners have a rim that requires a 275 width rim. It is dangerous to run a 245 width tire on a factory rim much like it is dangerous to run a 315 width tire on aforementioned rim.
02TransAm/Batmobile,
There's no danger in running a 245/45/17 tire on a 9" wide wheel, most if not all Manufactures recommended wheel width range is 7.5"-9", and with a 245/40/18 tire you can safely use a 9.5" wide wheel.
There's no danger in running a 245/45/17 tire on a 9" wide wheel, most if not all Manufactures recommended wheel width range is 7.5"-9", and with a 245/40/18 tire you can safely use a 9.5" wide wheel.
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Brett Foote Yeah, it probably would, but that still depends somewhat on how wide the tire runs since the width varies from different brands.
Launching!
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 217
Likes: 0
From: WI
245 would probably be okay on a 9.5" wheel. 245mm translates to just over 9.5 ". That said, a 9" wheel is typically the widest recommended wheel width for a 245 so it might be pushing it a bit... 99Bluz28 has a valid point about tire widths not being consistent from brand to brand. A 265 would be fine on a 9.5" width wheel.
