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Advice? I'm buying tires and wheels for the first time.

T

timxpx

Senior member
The days of mom and dad paying for my automotive maintenance are finally over. I finally am on my own with this stuff. So now my car needs new tires. I think I'm taking it a step further though, getting rid of the steel wheels that came stock and buying aluminum rims. The tires will probably from www.tirerack.com and the wheels off of Ebay.

So now, I'm confused. Google can have almost too much to offer sometimes... who can help me?

What size tires do I need for the new rims I want to buy?

Details:

Old Wheels: 14'' stock steel rims on a 1998 Ford Contour, 2.0L, base model (4 x 108mm bolt pattern)
Old Tires: 184 / 70 / 14

New Wheels: 15'' x 6'' aluminum wheels. (4 x 108mm) (well not so new, they came off a Focus.)
New Tires: ? / ? / 15?

So I still don't know how to read tire sizes properly. From what I've read, if the tires don't fit right (too big), they can rub the inside of the wheel well. I certainly don't want that right.

So yes, how do I pick out tires now?

Also, If these tires are wider than my stock ones, does the guy who installs it need to do anything special when he mounts the new rims and tires?

Thanks for any help with this.

 
What you probably want to do is what's call plus-sizing. You have a bigger wheel but you get a lower profile tire so the overall diameter stays the same and you don't mess up your speedometer or rub against the fenderwell. There are a bunch of online calculators that let you figure out what size tire you'll need. Just google a bit.

Edit: Here's one
 
Thanks-

I found a calculator. I also checked what the tire size for a Focus was (the car that the rims are coming from). So I have the sizes compared... now how do I interpret the results:

Screenshot from tire calculator

The tire sizes are in red at the top of the chart.
 
It's telling you the diameter difference is 0.09%. Basically the overall diameters are almost exactly the same, so you should be fine in that respect. The only concern would be if the extra width (7.67 inches vs. 7.28 inches) will cause a problem. You'll just have to put it on there and check.
 
yeah that looks good. now go buy them, take :camera:s, post them here, and tell us if they rub or not (they shouldn't)

😀!!!
 
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