Forgive me for any ingnorant questions/statement. I have been tossing around the idea for awhile of getting new wheels and running 17x9s up front and 17x11's in the rear. I am confused about the tire thing though. What do you guys do when it come time to rotate the tires? Can the tires off of the x9's and the x11's be interchanged? or you just break down the tires and swap each tire on the fronts and the rears? Also I would like to get some meaty tires also since from what I hear its not just about the width of the tire but the sidewall aswell. What sizes should I look into getting or rather what sizes are you guys running. I *think* I might be going with a pair of Nitto 555R's depending on how long they last since the car is a daily driver and it tends to rain a good bit sometimes here. Thanks to all.

 

Rotate the tires? BWWHAAAHAHAHAAAA just kidding

Basically, if you are running 11s in the back there is no tire rotation. When the 11s wear out you get new ones! Here is a quick example of how to wear them out... don't try this. LOL!

http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/other/tireshred.htm

For the 11s in the rear the best/most common size tire is 315/35/17. For the fronts it is 275/40/17.

 

Brent - that was amazing

 

I figured buying new tires was what I would have to do. And the burnout, beautiful

 

Ive also been thinking about doing the 315s. If there directional(all of them are i think) and you want to rotate them youll have to take them off the rim and remount them. You can not swap front to back.

For tires sizes you should go with:

Front 275/40-17

Rear 315/35-17

 

Thanks for the reply. I got to thinking about the directional thing also and figured breaking them down would be my only option. And another thing I am unsure of, is the '35' in the 315/--/-17 thicker than the 40 in the 275/40-17? If not can I go with a thicker tire than the 35 on the rear without any problems?

 

Here is a quick tire breakdown code

315/35/17

"315" is the width of the tire in millimeters.

"35" is the sidewall height of the tire as compared to the width. The sidewall is 35% of the 315mm width.

"17" is the wheel/rim diameter.

 

Thank you Brent. That was very helpful. So 35 when compared to a 315 with would be diffferent than 35 as compared to lets say a 245 width tire right?

 

Correct! 35, as in 315/35 is 35% of 315, 110.25mm. On a 275/35 tire 35 is still a percentage of the width. The width now is 275. Therefore, 35% is 96.25mm.

A 315/35 will have a smaller sidewall than a 315/40 tire.

 

Thank you to all. I now feel much more edumacated.

 

metoo! simple words i can understand. I R feel smarter now. thank u.

 

Brent what size tires do you have on your Enkei Winns?

 

Up until I sold my 95 Trans Am, I had three 4th gen F-Bodies all with Firestone Firehawk SZ50 275/40/17 tires. Even though they all had the same tires, all three wheel sizes were different. Everything still looked just fine though!

I had...
8.5" wheels on the TA.
9.0" wheels on the SS.
9.5" wheels on the 94 (Enkei).

So, as you can see, the 275/40/17 tire works well with several different sized wheels.

 

I bought a set of Enkei Winns from a member of the board. They came with 275's for the front and 315 Nitto's in the rear. The 315's are really worn and need to be replaced badly (there is no tread on one of the tires)! Should I get another set of 315's (for looks) or more 275's, I don't really care about tire rotation since I only drive the car 5 months out of the year. Also are 315's on a 17x9.5 not a good idea? I asked him if he had any trouble putting them on his car and he said they fit fine. I would just like some imput and suggestions since I need to buy new tires before I put the rims on (I'm at school now and can't do anything until Christmas break).



thanks,
Mark

 

Here is a quick example of how to wear them out... don't try this. LOL!

http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/other/tireshred.htm

hahaha me and u could become good friends. i did the same stuid thing, just not that stupidly long, the first day i brought her home. (thats why im buying new rubber )in a back road of my house lit them up for a good minute maybe, enough for the civic and neon there to become invisable, and for it to smell like burnt rubber for a week or so inside my car. Yet i got a similar problem my rims also turned yellow (it actually from the heat transfer ) But i haven't been that lucky to get the yellow off. I used the blue coral polish and it removed most of it but the rims stay dull not as shiny as the front since that horrific day (for the tires that it) What polish did u use?