8.5'' countours fit up front with stock suspension?

[HBpredhunter]

im gonan trade someone my 7.5's for his 8.5s so we can get rid of our stagered set up, just want to make sure 8.5's will fit up front on my car with my stock hieght suspension (only planning on bilstein struts in the future, no lowering)

[ozbmw]

Put your back wheels on the front and test it !!!!! Then you will know for sure...

[HBpredhunter]

that would involve actual work! i dont want to do that!

:D monday at work i will, just wanted to see if anyone knew right off the bat

[paul e]

im gonan trade someone my 7.5's for his 8.5s so we can get rid of our stagered set up, just want to make sure 8.5's will fit up front on my car with my stock hieght suspension (only planning on bilstein struts in the future, no lowering)

I also wanted to run the same tire all around. But heres the problem.. The stock rims have an offset of 41mm. Youll find if you bought two more 8.5" stock rims for up front and mounted 245 tires on them like the back, the wider tire combined with the 8.5 rim and stock offset will cause the inside tire face to 'brush' the strut.

So, you can either implement small front spacers to push the wheels away from the strut. Or do what I did and purchase wheels with a lower offset (lower offsets push rims to the Outside).. My Fikses are 17 x 8.5 and have a 37.7mm offset. What that allows me to do is to run 245x40-17 tires on all 4 corners without touching the struts up front, and with a minor fendor pull in the rears, despite the lowered suspension, without rubbing the rear fenders. Theyre tucked neatly inside with never a rear rub.. Now I dont usually have passengers in the back, and Im not sure if I were to put a big 250 pounder back there if Id continue to go rub free... But so far, its worked out great.

[HBpredhunter]

even with stock springs?

[paul e]

even with stock springs?

Yup.. most guys have found that putting rear contours up front with 245 tires causes the tires to brush the strut.

[Sammyzuko]

Yeah, Paul is right. I have H&R OE Sport springs/Koni(very close to stock ride height) with 8.5 Contours all around. Tires 235/40 Front 245/40 Rear. Very slight rubbage on the front struts. Not a big deal, just run spacers. 5mm spacers would do the trick(I'm running 10mm). I really like the look and feel with the 8.5s all around.

[paul e]

Yeah, Paul is right. I have H&R OE Sport springs/Koni(very close to stock ride height) with 8.5 Contours all around. Tires 235/40 Front 245/40 Rear. Very slight rubbage on the front struts. Not a big deal, just run spacers. 5mm spacers would do the trick(I'm running 10mm). I really like the look and feel with the 8.5s all around.

Since youre running spacers anyway, any reason youre running 235 instead of 245 tires up front? Since my fikses carry a 37.7mm offset, its almost like having a built in 5mm spacer when compared to stock 8.5" contours. Since that size rim can hold both 235 and 245 tires, Ive been using the same size all around.

[M3Alpine99]

judge for yourself :)

245.40.17 Kumho MX on 8.5in Contour
10mm Spacer courtesy of Rogue Engineering
H&R Race
Shortened/Revalved Bilsteins

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l227/mdywglr4x4/Oct%2024th%20Shoot/Oct24th8.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l227/mdywglr4x4/Oct%2024th%20Shoot/Oct24th3.jpg

Won't fit without spacer if you run 245. Will fit with 235 tire and no spacer. That was my previous setup.

[Sammyzuko]

Since youre running spacers anyway, any reason youre running 235 instead of 245 tires up front?
I was running the 235s on the front of my staggered setup. When I received an offer to swap my 7.5 Contours for 8.5s I had the tires switched to the new wheels. My next set of tires will be 245s all around.

[HBpredhunter]

im gonna order a set of 5mm H&R spacers and that should get me set yea?

[M3Alpine99]

im gonna order a set of 5mm H&R spacers and that should get me set yea?

go with 10

itll look like my setup and not rub for sure.

Rogue has the nicest i believe

comes with new lugs too

[sab568]

I had 8.5 LTW's with 235 s03's up front.... no rubbing

[HBpredhunter]

i realllly dont wanna go with too much spacer because doing that chews up the wheel bearings on the car due to sideloading... ill drive with stockers on there and ill see how much rubbing goes on. thanks for the input guys

[M3Alpine99]

i realllly dont wanna go with too much spacer because doing that chews up the wheel bearings on the car due to sideloading... ill drive with stockers on there and ill see how much rubbing goes on. thanks for the input guys

The 10mm is not going to be an overly large deal as opposed to the 5mm.

[Sammyzuko]

i realllly dont wanna go with too much spacer because doing that chews up the wheel bearings on the car due to sideloading... ill drive with stockers on there and ill see how much rubbing goes on. thanks for the input guys

When I installed my 235/40 8.5's I could spin the wheel freely without noticable rubbing. I then held a mirror behind the wheel and could see there was NO space between the strut and tire. Point is, you might not notice rubbing, but you want a little space between the strut & tire.

[HBpredhunter]

245's stock springs no spacers and NO rubbing....

installng 5mm spacers anyways...

[fsmtnbiker]

I too had 245/40's on 8.5s and no rubbing with stock components. For reference, the tires were Falken FK451s.

I had them on both DS2s and Contours, neither had any rubbing issues... But they were very close to the strut.

[HBpredhunter]

yea it looks like about a 1mm gap. if that!

[paul e]

Ooooh Baby.. cutting it That close really makes it a Tire model dependant kind of thing as to whether theyll rub or not. Same size tires by different mfgs have different actual tread cross-sections. When youre only leaving a mm or less space, theres no way of knowing whether brand x tire of that size will fit in there without rubbing without trying it. Look at the specs on the tire rack specs page, and youll see the amount of variance that exists between brands in that measurement.