205/55R16

[PapaJim13]

Just got a new set of tires on. 205/55R16 Firehawk Indy 500s on stock 16" wheels from the junkyard. Also have Bilstein B8s,1" lowering springs, 1" wheel spacers. Only rubs a little bit now on my front mud flaps when I turn hard or hit large bumps.

 

[ronmcdon]

how much offset are you running?

thats ballsy running that tall a tire AND a 1" drop, geez! They are 24.9" tall, something few here have accomplished. Maybe the issue isn't so much ppl running tall tire but tall AND wide. That gives me more courage to run something a bit more aggressive.

 

[GregF]

Have you tried 205/50/16 on that setup? I'm currently running that size tire and am about to put B6 and swifts on, not sure yet if I'll need to drop a size.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Are those early (1st gen) Focus wheels?

 

[PapaJim13]

Have you tried 205/50/16 on that setup? I'm currently running that size tire and am about to put B6 and swifts on, not sure yet if I'll need to drop a size.

Yes, That set of wheels came with 2x 205/50/16 and 2x 195/50/16 from the junkyard. I've never had any rubbing issues until I went to 205/55/16 but I'm pretty sure my tires only rub on the inside of my mud flaps. (and only a little bit)

 

[PapaJim13]

how much offset are you running?

thats ballsy running that tall a tire AND a 1" drop, geez! They are 24.9" tall, something few here have accomplished. Maybe the issue isn't so much ppl running tall tire but tall AND wide. That gives me more courage to run something a bit more aggressive.

The stock wheels can be found on 2011-2013 fiestas and have a 45mm offset. The wheels are 16x6. My spacers are 25mm for a grand total of 70mm offset. I was not sure at all if the wheel/tire/spacer/spring combo was going to work out but it looks like I've found the absolute largest tire I can fit with my current setup.

 

[PapaJim13]

Are those early (1st gen) Focus wheels?

Junkyard special. Stock alloy wheels from a 2011-2013 Fiesta. Cleaned up and painted with the best Autozone paint money can buy.

 

[hawyee]

The stock wheels can be found on 2011-2013 fiestas and have a 45mm offset. The wheels are 16x6. My spacers are 25mm for a grand total of 70mm offset. I was not sure at all if the wheel/tire/spacer/spring combo was going to work out but it looks like I've found the absolute largest tire I can fit with my current setup.

That's not how wheel offset with spacers works, you subtract the spacer from the wheel so 45-25 = 20mm which is pretty aggressive.

 

[ronmcdon]

20mm offset w/ those tires is pretty aggressive. Im kinda impressed no fender flares and cutting was required. good to know it doesn't rub the top and, no surprise, no rubbing the suspension. This is actually a lot of helpful data for me considering 17x9 wheels and deciding what tires to go with.

 

[M-Sport fan]

True, but you also must consider that those wheels are only 6" wide as well.

That's 1.5" less on each side of the wheel/tire than the setup you want to use.

 

[ronmcdon]

Outside clearance is something I'm the least worried about if all it requires are fender flares.
Lol, I actually want to get flares installed bc of the looks!

 

[PapaJim13]

20mm offset w/ those tires is pretty aggressive. Im kinda impressed no fender flares and cutting was required. good to know it doesn't rub the top and, no surprise, no rubbing the suspension. This is actually a lot of helpful data for me considering 17x9 wheels and deciding what tires to go with.

I did some banging with a hammer on the inside rear of my fenders where my mudflaps are screwed in as the screw heads were eating into my tire. I spoke too quick to say no rub but it only rubs on hard turns and hard bumps. Maybe rolling my fenders would help with the hard bump rub but I'll just keep my hammer in my car for a bit.

 

[PapaJim13]

True, but you also must consider that those wheels are only 6" wide as well.

That's 1.5" less on each side of the wheel/tire than the setup you want to use.

6.5" wide

 

[Snrub]

Just curious, why did that tire size appeal to you?

 

[PapaJim13]

Just curious, why did that tire size appeal to you?

I lowered my car and it didn't look lowered enough. I wanted to fill up my wheel wells more and I like the look of thick tires. Plus the rides a little better with the taller tires and stiff shocks. This way seemed like the best of both worlds so I said F it why not try.

 

[scooter123]

My 2019 has a totally OEM suspension with the exception of 16 inch wheels and this year I replaced all 4 tires. Told Firestone I wanted 205/50-16 tires for the car on Monday. Went in that Friday and saw that they had substituted 205/55-16 tires for the 50 series I asked for without every saying a thing. Pointed that out to the salesman at the time and he stated he couldn't get the 50 series tires, thus the substitution. BTW turned out that was not true, he had the 55's in stock and was too damned lazy to order the 50's I had asked for. Agreed to take it as it sat but was not happy with that substitution.

Saturday I went to my Gun club and shot 4 boxes of 410 for Skeet practice. Headed home and used a different route going home that had a railroad crossing and a few dips in the roadway. BTW the railroad crossing isn't too bad, you have to be doing about 70 to get any air and that stretch of road has a 30 mph speed limit at which it's a fairly mild hump. Had major issues with tire rub, it sounded like the entire bottom of the car was dragging on the road surface which kind of freaked me out. BTW it was rubbing on the outer lip of the inner wheel well liners. I had no idea that plastic/felt material could make that much noise.

The next Monday I was waiting at Firestone when they opened up. Long story short and the store manager ended his vacation 2 days early and I was comped with a more premium level tire set in the 205/50-16 size I needed.

Bottomline is this, your choice of tires won't be a good one for the long term and you aren't going to enjoy the cost of replacing all 4 inner fender liners at all.

 

[PapaJim13]

IDGAF about my inner fender liners, just one more thing to fix to make my car look the way I want. Yeah it is loud when it rubs but I don't much care. Parts for these cars are cheap and the labor is free. Fiestas are piling up in junkyards.