Jacks Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 The kid is shopping new wheels. He is wanting 17 x 8.25 wheels and 245 45 17 tires. Would these fit his car with no problems? If no what would you recommend? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 the diameter is about 25.68". that is a bout 1.48 inches larger than stock, or ~3/4 inch larger in radius, on top. stick your finger up in between the tire and the spring perch on the strut, front and rear. do you have an inch of space to spare? the stock GT tire size will fit since the lego L and the GT have the exact same suspension. the GT runs a 205/55/16, about a 24.9 inch diameter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluedotsnow Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 go get the suspension and lift accessories from an outback or forester! I did this mod and LOVE IT!!!!! for your generation I think you have to swap strut top hats but you can still use 95-05 suspension parts. I prefer to find a junk yard car that has had its struts replaced with kyb's just remember EVERYWHERE that the drive train touches the body you have to add spacers the same hight as your lift blocks ie if you drop a 1 inch spacer between the body and front cross member you have to do the same for the rear and driveshaft! most of these parts are direct bolt on from the outback/forester not positive about your generation though I know plenty have done it. on my 96 legoback limit I can fit 225/55/17's with 05 outback rims. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 running stock suspension there is no way that size tire is going to fit. Best he could do with stock suspension would be 205/45R17 which is an almost exact diameter match to the stock tire/wheel combo - might possibly be able to squeeze a 215/45 on, but there could be rubbing issues there... play with possible tire sizes here. it is possible to get more clearance with a minimum of fuss by swapping in Outback struts/springs - no need to add any spacer blocks unless you are looking for even more ground clearance. The lower spring perch on the outback struts sits higher than the stockers, allowing for a larger tire to be fitted. and just an added thought, if you see snow during the winter months, wide tires are not the best idea.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacks Posted November 29, 2014 Author Share Posted November 29, 2014 he had 205-55-16's with a lot of space he tells me. He sold the 16's with a deal to buy some 17's off a guy. he buys the 17 to find out they are for a MB/ Audi. Now his car is on blocks in my garage! He ordered new wheels today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluedotsnow Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 (edited) running stock suspension there is no way that size tire is going to fit. Best he could do with stock suspension would be 205/45R17 which is an almost exact diameter match to the stock tire/wheel combo - might possibly be able to squeeze a 215/45 on, but there could be rubbing issues there... play with possible tire sizes here. it is possible to get more clearance with a minimum of fuss by swapping in Outback struts/springs - no need to add any spacer blocks unless you are looking for even more ground clearance. The lower spring perch on the outback struts sits higher than the stockers, allowing for a larger tire to be fitted. and just an added thought, if you see snow during the winter months, wide tires are not the best idea.... WAY BETTER RIM/TIRE CALCULATOR!!!! http://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp I had to google the url to get it to come up but this has an "et" field for offset and is ridiculously more detailed EVERYONE should check it out and bookmark it!!!!!! first off have you ever done the job without lift blocks/other spacers? I tried and literally using jacks and pipes could not get the struts bolted up! plus I notice that geometry on cars that only have the struts is not right. not only are you straining parts at angles they are not designed for but you end up putting the wheels and tires closer to the center of the car. doing this will cause rubbing and not allow for AS big of a tire! the transverse links (control arm bushings) allow for more articulation as well as the rear control arms long story short IF YOU DON'T WANT IT TO BREAK DO IT RIGHT!!!! there are very expensive parts like adjustable rear control arms for super duper high lifts, if those are required for 6"+ lifts then the stock outback forester goodies are necessary IMO of the top of my head here is my list of full outback lift parts steering linkage longer for spacer blocks front control arm bushings front sway bar and mounts bolts and lift blocks front trans mount cross member drive shaft (carrier bearing mount different) rear diff spacers rubber rear control arm mounts rear lift blocks and bolts rear cross member <longer welded sway bar mounts legoback badge cuz you now have more "steez" now you really should do something about those tinny breaks! you can't use 14" rims upgrading to ob or forester caliper, rotter and bracket are all that are required but if they will come off you should swap the guards in back too the smaller ones need to be bent back a little as not to scrape the larger rotter and rocks can get stuck in there. your going to need an open box end wrench for the break lines so you wont damage the fitting. all in all a very worth while mod! you can even do it in two steps I lifted my rear end first and it raked the car up nicely! I got several rat rod comments... with small tires it helps with heavy loads I did it because I was recycling metal at the time and needed 800 lbs of load capacity. needless to say it helped a ton. Edited November 30, 2014 by bluedotsnow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacks Posted December 3, 2014 Author Share Posted December 3, 2014 Yes this is getting old for me. Now we have 2 sets that will not fit. A new set of wheels ordered. Kids...What do you do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacks Posted December 3, 2014 Author Share Posted December 3, 2014 and he's taking up my garage space for over a week now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluedotsnow Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 do the lift or buy an outback that will work did you check out that tire calc link? you can use it to determine if a wheel and tire will fit take the measurements and compare with the space you have with a wheel off compares to the strut tower I would not go any bigger than 225/55/17 on an outback! 18's are just to big you can get low profile tires but they are @#%$ money and like to run away from curbs leaving your poor rim to take impact dent and become useless. if your going to off road you want lots of rubber side wall 225/55/17's are a great compromise between street and off road IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 (edited) first off have you ever done the job without lift blocks/other spacers? I tried and literally using jacks and pipes could not get the struts bolted up! plus I notice that geometry on cars that only have the struts is not right. not only are you straining parts at angles they are not designed for but you end up putting the wheels and tires closer to the center of the car. doing this will cause rubbing and not allow for AS big of a tire! the transverse links (control arm bushings) allow for more articulation as well as the rear control arms Umm, yeah - actually, I have done it - and it is my daily driver. 1995 Legacy L with 1998 Forester struts & springs (the forester and outback struts are the same length overall, lower spring perch is mounted different) Have had ZERO problems with it and been driving it for a bit over a year now. Tires are wearing fine, rides good, have even done a teeny bit of off-roading with it. the "secret" to being able to get things connected is to drop the sway bar from the frame. Edited December 5, 2014 by heartless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluedotsnow Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 have even done a teeny bit of off-roading with it. the "secret" to being able to get things connected is to drop the sway bar from the frame. ok I never said it wasn't possible! but lets think about something a legacy l and an outback are basically the same concerning the frame well exactly alike! so why they did subaru not just stuff the struts and springs in and call it a day, silly engineers compensating for things we don't know about GEEZ!!! so if you reference OWNERS manuals for any year of outback and compare it to a (same year) manual for an L,brighton.base you see that the "outback" is technically an offroad vehicle or at least it is supposed to have those capabilities ACCORDING TO THE OWNERS MANUAL! an L,base,brighton DOES NOT have that designation and IS NOT AN OFFROAD vehicle. all according to owners manuals! you say that you have done a TINY bit of off roading and everything is fine... its a subaru... so lets think more hard core offroading, its going to make your wheels travel all over the place! this puts stress on things like the control arm bushings, rear control arm mounts... and can smash a tire up into a wheel well. all things that outback/forester components compensate for. remember you CAN do it the easy way but if you truly want to do off road work with your subaru your going to HAVE to put all the outback parts on it or EVENTUALLY if DRIVEN HARD ENOUGH things will start to break/bend... BTW most subaru owners have no clue about their transverse links or control arm bushings blowing out and causing sloppy handling and vibration... if you own a subaru and still have steering wheel vibration after getting an aliment with good tires chances are this is the cause. I have replaced over 10 of these on my car because they are weak fluid filled sacks that don't like getting beaten on while off road. right after a bushing blows you can see the goo dripping out of it but if left unchecked it dries up then other than the handling symptom there is no evidence that the part is broken unless unbolted for inspection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacks Posted December 6, 2014 Author Share Posted December 6, 2014 Finally... 215-45-17's on the car. And I have my garage back. Thanks All Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 @ Bluedotsnow - Dude - take a chill... there are plenty of others here that have done the EXACT same thing I have - Long before I did it. I didnt come up with this idea - just following what others have done many times over, with no ill effects. (and it is a 20 year old car, I am not gonna get all bent out of shape over this) I dont do a lot of off-roading - it IS my daily driver after all, and I need it to get me to/from work. That is it's primary purpose in life. The biggest reason I did the ghetto lift is because of our winters here - plenty of snow, with blowing & drifting - the extra height makes it a little easier to get through. I live in the boonies, our road is one of the last in the area to get plowed - ya do what ya gotta do to get around out here, and I cant afford to put gas in a pickup truck every couple of days - even with prices coming down. If you dont want to do it this way, that is fine, you do what you feel you need to do... @ Jacks - glad to hear you got your garage back! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluedotsnow Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 heartless no offense! I'm just sort of passionate about this mod. in your case yes its totally cool the amount of offroading your going to do in your car is likely fine and wont damage any parts. however if you want to blaze trails, pack the back full of fire wood, get sideways on uneven terrain, ralley use your subaru like a truck then all the "extra" oem outback bits are necessary. I have seen some very low very meen looking rally wagons but they have upgraded everything like coil overs and other suspension parts that compensate for the ridiculous torsional forces rally driving puts on cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 Finally... 215-45-17's on the car. And I have my garage back. Thanks All Glad to here YOUR problem was resolved, now we know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluedotsnow Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Finally... 215-45-17's on the car. And I have my garage back. Thanks All did you do any lifting or does that size fit a stock base, L, brighton? what is the offset and width are your rims? I'm just curious for my own future reference. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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