Staggered wheel diameters ?

The latest plan was to install nitto NT-555-G2's front + rear. With a 285-40-18 on the front (10" chrome bullitt rim)..and a 305-35-19 ( also on a 10" wide chrome bullitt rim).

Nitto does not make a 305-40-18 in the 555-G2 version....and I don't want to use a nitto 305-40-18 drag radial, like a NT-555R or NT-05R.

It will all fit just fine. The 10 x 18" rims fit the front just fine with just a 3mm ( .116") HR hub centric spacer. Right now I'm using 275-40-18's on the front..on 10 x 18 rims. I have 21/64" space between strut and sidewall, so it will easily handle a 285-40-18. My current rears are 285-40-18. Both in worn NT-555.

The proposed 19 x10 rears have a slightly bigger offset.. 48mm ( vs the 45mm offset of my 18 x 10" rims. They will fit just fine. Aside from the 1" bigger rear rim, the deep dish is slightly bigger on the 19 x 10 ( 3" dish... vs 2.5" on a 18 x 10).

Inflated diam of the 19" rear is 27.44" ...and 26.97" for the 18" fronts.
(right now I have 26.97" rear and a 26.65" front). So the rears will still be slightly bigger diam than the fronts. Stance and rake stays the same.

Question is.... will the 19" rear diam ...and 18" front diam look ok ? I think the last batch of vettes did something similar with either a 20 rear + 19 front..... or a 19 rear + 18 front.

19" is only 1" bigger diam than an 18".... but the radius is only 1/2" more. On paper, it will all fit..and work.... but I have never seen staggered diameters used on a stang before.

skinnies and slicks are staggered set ups all the time, usually 15/17 or 17/15s on stangs for the strip.

19/20 and 18/19s have been used for years on Vettes


as long as the tire sizes (diameter) are close to stock and within 3% of each other I see no issue

What about the last few years of GT500 PP version cars that had 265/40R19 front and 285/35R20 rear as OEM? Those are staggered wheel sizes and tire diameters ...


cheers
Ed

stkjock said:

skinnies and slicks are staggered set ups all the time, usually 15/17 or 17/15s on stangs for the strip.

19/20 and 18/19s have been used for years on Vettes


as long as the tire sizes (diameter) are close to stock and within 3% of each other I see no issue

Click to expand...

Good points. oem 235-50-18"s are 27.25" tall. So my proposed front + rear combo straddle either side of oem. 26.97 / 27.44 = .98287 or 1.71% difference. ( 27.44 / 26.97 = 1.07426 or 1.74% difference) Close enough for me.

I will try it. Those 305-35-19's really should be on a 11" wide rim, but I'm stuck there. Nitto sez the measuring width is 11", and an overall range of 10-12". I need all the tire width I can get out back.

On a similar note the GT-350 came in a 295 front + 305 rear. The 350R came with a 305 front + 315 rear. IMO, the GT-500's should have come with a wider rear tire, with that much TQ...at least for street use. Roush wasn't doing anybody a favour with it's 275 rears on its 2010 stage 3 and 540H cars.. both with typ 525 rwhp. Spinfest.

I had 275/40/19 on the front and 305/35/20 on the back 2 years ago, on 19x10 and 20x10 wheels, all with the same 48mm offset (AMR wheels).
Looked OK, but at times I did wish that I just did 20's all around.
(If you did 19's all around you could easily run a 285/35/19 front with the 305/35/19 rear)

Somebody else here is running 19s up front and 20s on the rear. I think it's a good look.