The "Will it fit?" thread

[Darwins Child]

Originally Posted by PharmDZ

So for next years autocross season I'm thinking of buying another set of rear sport rays and running them on the front with a true square setup, nitto nt01 305/30r19 tires. I've run 295 Hoosiers with no rubbing on the front Rays - think the Nitto setup would work?? Has anyone run the rears on the front with a meaty tire?

I too am considering the same thing for our '14 touring sport -- buying two rear wheels and putting them on the front. However, in my case it is because when our OEM tires have to be replaced, I'd like to replace them with Michelin Pilot A/S 3+, which I understand can be swapped side-to-side on a vehicle, as long as the word "outside" on the tire remains outside / visible. To me this means never having to remove the tire from the wheel (which would have to be done to swap from side to side a one-spinning-direction-only tire).

Even further, if all four wheels on the vehicle were identical, this would allow "put it anywhere" flexibility when it comes to tire rotation.

(BTW, IMO, these Pilot A/S tires would be more appropriate for both Edmonton's possible-snow-in-any-month climate, as well as for my wife's and my rather sedate driving.)

I suppose I could buy two additional fronts to have all four wheels as fronts, so I have to make a hopefully informed decision about this and that is why I'm writing.

The front and rear Rays wheels that came with the vehicle have different, for lack of a better expression, "dish depth". That is, the outside edge of each rim is a different distance from the inner surface of the rim that the lug nuts secure to the wheel hub. I'm guessing that this means that if rear wheels are put on the front, the outside edge of the rim might stick out beyond the outside edge of the wheel / fender well.

If that is true, then the opposite would probably be true for putting front wheels on the rear -- the wheel might be sunk inside that rear wheel well a bit. However, in this case, I suppose that some kind of spacer could be used to bring the edge of the wheel exactly where the wider wheel would have been.

I'd appreciate any advice on which way to go.

Thanks.