97 Stock Rims (how wide/large can I go?)

[FTOSM]

I have a 97 Grand Marquis LS with the stock rims and tires, I want to keep the rims yet add as wide of a tire as possible to them.

These are the rims I have (style/type)
www.falconpointehomes.homestead.com/rims.jpg

And I like the rims, just would like to have a wider paw print on the street so to speak, (not looking for low profile sidewalls) just a wider footprint size) wanted to know how wide can I go on these stock rims, without the front end rubbing or other problems, figured maybe some of you here might be able to help or offer suggestions of sizes you are running on similar year Marquis's.


Bill

[fredjacksonsan]

I had a 93 and an 86, with 225/75 R15 on the rim, they didn't rub at all on either vehicle. I even think I would have had room for 245's. One thing you want to watch is the profile, when you go wider, adjust the height; if you go too tall then your gas mileage will suffer. On the 86, mileage went from almost 25 down to about 17mpg on the highway.

You know about tire size, right? 205/75 R 15 is 205mm tread width, sidewall height is 75% of tread and 15" rim. So you'll have to do the math to make the 245 approximately the same height.

(no intention to be insulting if you already knew)

[FTOSM]

No insults , actually no im not very versed on tire sizes, i know what I like tho (a wider footprint) height wise I dont like those super low profile tires (on stock rims) and I do like these rims, just want to add a thicker footprint (tread width to me =the part on the ground right?)

these look thin and wimpy on this car (they are 195/70/R15s) to give you an idea my other car is an impala ss with big fat wide tires (255's i think), nothing that drastic needed here just somewhere in the middle, and i dont want them to look all pimped out and super low profile (side height) like you see on all these teenagers cars...

Just a thicker beefy tread.. (hope that makes sense), I will ask the tire guys at northwest tire or discount tire if they have a book or something that can tell me what size I can go to max for this car, I dont wanna wear the front end out or cause rubbing damage but would like a thicker tread on the ground (and the tires are shot anyways).

Bill
I was

[fredjacksonsan]

Just multiply to get the height of the sidewall. On your 195/70's, multiply 195mm x .70 to get 136.5 mm.(the height of each sidewall)

So if you were going to get 245's, you'd want 136.5 / 245, giving you .557..... so to get the same height tires, you'd buy 245/55.

235's would 136.5/235, or .58, so you could go either 235/60 or 235/55.

In either case, the sidewall would look the same as what you've got on there now, your speedo would be right but you'd have the bigger footprint that you want.

Somewhere on AF, there's a link to a page where you can do the calculations; I couldn't find it in a reasonable amount of time so put the calculations above.

Hope this helps out

[FTOSM]

anyone know if I can run 245/55's or 235/55's on this car (without suspension problems or rubbing)?

Cuz I would love to toss the 195's and go wider just wanna know how wide I can go (keeping similar profile).

Thanks btw for the help on how tire sizes work etc, now just gotta figure out how big/wide i can go on this 97 GM LS.

Bill

[fredjacksonsan]

I'm pretty sure that the 235/55's will fit without a problem.

They're only 40mm wider overall, so 20mm inside the rim; that's less than an inch.

[fredjacksonsan]

I found the link to the tire size calculator:

http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp