Clearance/steering problems with larger wheels?

[rcousins]

I have read that almost all wheel sizes on Subaru's are interchangeable, and I am thinking of getting larger wheels for my '99 Legacy wagon. My question is about fender clearance with larger tires. Has anyone who has gone to larger wheels experienced any problems with clearance...or maybe more importantly, with steering?

 

Thanks for any help.

[Glenner55]

Your 98 Legacy wagon should have a 15" wheel and 195/65 tires. The same car for all intent and purpose is the 99 GT which used a 16" wheel and a 205/55-16 tire hence that size will fit your car. Any wider and you get into clearance issues between the inside of the rear tires and the struts. I tried going to a 215/50-16 tire on the stock GT rims and it rubbed the rear strut. Could have been fixed with a different offset for the wheel but that would have led to the outside edge hitting on the fender when you compress the suspension.

 

The wheels off a GT or any of the 16" Outback wheels will work then it's just a matter of checking overall tire diameter to see how close you are to your stock tire's diameter as that will affect your speedo readings.

 

There are a boatload of people selling 16 and 17 inch wheels on ebay at very low prices. You need a 5 by 100mm bolt circle and an offset around 45mm.

 

Glenn

 

  rcousins said:

I have read that almost all wheel sizes on Subaru's are interchangeable, and I am thinking of getting larger wheels for my '99 Legacy wagon. My question is about fender clearance with larger tires. Has anyone who has gone to larger wheels experienced any problems with clearance...or maybe more importantly, with steering?

 

Thanks for any help.

[rcousins]

Thanks for the info.

  Glenner55 said:

Your 98 Legacy wagon should have a 15" wheel and 195/65 tires. The same car for all intent and purpose is the 99 GT which used a 16" wheel and a 205/55-16 tire hence that size will fit your car. Any wider and you get into clearance issues between the inside of the rear tires and the struts. I tried going to a 215/50-16 tire on the stock GT rims and it rubbed the rear strut. Could have been fixed with a different offset for the wheel but that would have led to the outside edge hitting on the fender when you compress the suspension.

 

The wheels off a GT or any of the 16" Outback wheels will work then it's just a matter of checking overall tire diameter to see how close you are to your stock tire's diameter as that will affect your speedo readings.

 

There are a boatload of people selling 16 and 17 inch wheels on ebay at very low prices. You need a 5 by 100mm bolt circle and an offset around 45mm.

 

Glenn