tires for 2002 nissan maxima se

[DoctorD]

Hi everyone,

My parents recently gave me a used 2002 Nissan Maxima SE. The car presumably came with the original tires on it, but my parents immediately changed the tires, thinking they were doing me a favor. The factory-installed Nissan tires are P225/50/VR17. They cost $200 apiece. Instead, my parents put $70 tires from Pep Boys on the car that are size 225/55/R17, which Pep Boys claimed are an acceptable substitute tire for this car.

I recently took the car to a Nissan dealer to fix the alignment. The dealer insisted that my alignment is off because I have the wrong size tires on the car and refused to align the wheels until I change the tires to the 225/50/17 tires, which they sell for over $200 each! I brought the car to another mechanic who also told me that the current tires are wrong and that there is only one correct size tires for my car.

I am unclear as to whether Nissan Maximas are made in a way that does not allow changes to tire size, or if this is just what I am being told by people who want to sell me expensive tires. I want to know if I can put a different size tire on my car (that costs less than $200!) without hurting the car in the long run.

Thanks.

[Luke@tirerack]

you can use different size tires but, the overall diameter must be the same and a 225/55-17 is physically taller than the 225/50-17 size ... this diameter difference will alter scrub radius and ackerman angles wich are 2 of the alignment angles whci his why the dealer told you they wouldn't do the alignment until you had the correct tire size or atleast the correct diameter .... Pep Boys guys know very little about tires in general and they gave you bad advice

[kro$s]

Originally posted by Luke@tirerack
you can use different size tires but, the overall diameter must be the same and a 225/55-17 is physically taller than the 225/50-17 size ... this diameter difference will alter scrub radius and ackerman angles wich are 2 of the alignment angles whci his why the dealer told you they wouldn't do the alignment until you had the correct tire size or atleast the correct diameter .... Pep Boys guys know very little about tires in general and they gave you bad advice

Basically!!
check: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

[Strider Negro]

well u could just take the receipt of the purchased tires and take them back to pep boys,
they are bound to have a guarantee and since they fucked up the alignment they should offer free alignment because if not u can sue...but his is me being an optimist