stick_1NZ

I don't know if this has been discussed before and I searched - mind you.

I would like to find out what are the advantages/disadvantages of stretched tires. I'm curious of what are the benefits of it. Enlighten me mighty one.

dgHotLava

moved...

ugly_duck

whats a stretched tire, how would that work?

MyBoX

Stretching tires would help people to fit wider wheels while they dropping the car, the ride will get a little bit stiffer, and also there is more chance to damage the wheel lip, JDMP

MyBoX

the way it works you have to get smaller tire over wider rim and hope it pops, JDMP

J_R_Ceja

Ned, what's the reason for you being curious about tire stretching? You're not thinking of replacing your tires, are you? Hope not. I seems the only reason someone would want to stretch the tire is to put a smaller tire on a bigger rim, but like MyBox said, you can damage your wheel or even pop your tire. Whatever you are up to, I wish you luck. Your rides is bad a$$ ride just the way it is.

sarcasmkillsme

MyBox didnt say anything about 'poping' your tire. If you wanna learn more about it go on some drifting forums or VW forums. They know alot about it and can tell you from experience that you arent gonna 'pop' a tire.

MyBoX

By the word pop I meant to get the tires to seal but, there is chance to pop your tires out, but I don't know how bad the stretch should be or how hard the car needs to be driven so that happen, personaly I have 215/35/18 on 11" (the max wheel width for that tire is 8.5") and that 3" of stretching (by the way its not easy to get them seal) and I have been driving on them for about three weeks over 1500 and nothing yet, but I'm going to change them to bigger tires or may be not

acfive

Stretching narrow tires over a wide rim may also stress the shoulder of the tire, leading to premature wear and or possibly a blow out. Also, the load rating of the tire may also be affected since the shoulder of the tire is not sitting "square" on the rim, i.e. the bead of the tire (that mounts on the rim) is "stretched", while the actual tread of the tire remains the same. This makes the tire look slightly slanted from the bead to the tread.

There is likely little to no handling gains as the shoulders of the tire are not able to flex the way they were designed to, which could cause loss of traction - which is likely why the drifters like this set up; the drifters can easily induce oversteer with this set up.

tinybigrig

stretching tires is almost an art, not an easy hting to do. trust me, ive mounted more sets of tires than most people have ridden on in their life. its lots of fun....oh wait maybe not, but involves lots of tire grease and lots of air, with a mean stretch expect about a 50% loss in tire life.

brent

J_R_Ceja

My bad, totally misunderstood the reply from MyBox. I'll just pop right out of here.

VTECnik

i've got 18x9.5 wheel with a 255/35/18 and 18x8 with 225/40/18 its not a big stretch big its enough for me and i think the stretch look is hot

Subcompact Culture

Really? I didn't know that. That's something to consider.

eXciteBox

whats a good mild stretch for a daily driver with 17x7 wheels?

HKSpeed

205 is the smallest width made for 17's in the US (Europe has narrower sizes), which fits perfectly on a 7 inch wide wheel.

sometimes stretching goes overboard.



Certain tires stretch better than others....
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=390502
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=871786&page=1

eXciteBox

thanks a lot!!!!!

1SIKbox

stretching looks great if it is done right and with the right looking wheel doesnt look right on any wheel you pick

stick_1NZ

Now the question is ^^^^^. Thanks.

sizzlinscion

im wonting to put tires on my 18x7.5. What would be a good tire size to go with so the side wall to flesh with rim? Stretching a tire looks good but where i live it wouldnt be good for the rim.

thanks.

HKSpeed

you cannot stretch a tire on a 7 or 7.5 inch wide wheel thats is 17 or 18 inches in diameter.

205 mm is the narrowest tire size commonly available for 17's and 18's in the USA. Actually, 215 is the recommended minimum width for an 18" wheel, 205 for a 17" wheel.

205mm = 8 inches. if your wheel is 7 or 7.5 inches wide, the wheel is narrower than the tire. you cannot "stretch" a wider tire onto a narrow wheel. your wheel must be wider than the tire.

so for a 7 or 7.5 inch wheel, a 205 or 215 will fit perfectly flush. if you really want to stretch, then buy wider wheels or import narrower tires from Europe (but are not DOT approved).