What is the widest tire i can put on my stock 03 GLE rim. I thought i saw somewhere it was 245/45/17. I tried the search but it wasn't working... Thanks.

 

Too bad about the search not working - this has been a hot topic a number of times. You could try looking back around Jan/Feb 2003, May - Aug 2002, and July/Aug 2001 (if this forum keeps threads back that far). Here's a few of the thread titles that you'll be looking for (complete with the spelling glitches) . . .

17 inch tire repalcement
y2kevse - any info about wide rims?
Paging y2kse - about wide rims
245x45zr17s fit FINE on stock 17s...PICS
Why didn't Nissan do 17x7.5?
235/50/17
Y2kse AKA Master of all things Rubber!
235 45 17 Tires
Looking for an Update ---- 235/50-17 Pilot Sport A/S
Why run 235's on 8" Rims?
Can I run a 235/45-17 tire on my stock SE 17's
REQUEST - who is running 225/45/17 on stock 17" ?
Review of Firestone Firehawk SZ50EP tires
Uneven wear, 235/45R17s on OEM rims . . .

About the widest tire that any of the tire mfr's will approve on a 7" wide wheel is only the 225/50 stockers. Possibly a 235/50, but not a 235/45. Go to www.tirerack.com and poke through the specs pages looking at the range of approved widths.

I'll summarize by noting that a number of .org members have installed slightly wider rubber on the OE wheels with *no reported* problems. As well as bringing up the notion that you won't be getting all the benefit that the wider tire promises by squeezing it onto a rim that's a minimum of 1/2" too narrow for normal (moderate) driving and 1.5" too narrow for serious cornering. Ultimately, it sort of comes down to whether you're a dyed-in-the-wool "performance over appearance" driver (like myself, 225/60's on 8.5" on my other daily driver) or an "appearance & style" fan.

Norm

 

Also, read the FAQ's above.

 

Search IS working - you just have to go to the test site. I pulled up a bunch of tire threads yesterday (and ended up buying the Kumho KH11s, since I wanted stock size but am not in for a grand for Michelins...)

 

Too bad those Kumhos are not all-season tires. There are practically no choices for all-season 225/50 17 size tire.
I am planning to go 235/45 size for my stock rims. Number of people here are running them and don't have problem.

 

Falken Ziex 512... 225/50r17 and all-season, V-speed rated... I am buying this week. They were $107 a piece at my local Discount Tire, and they seem to have a pretty good rep on here. Good luck.

 

I'm in Houston - we have only two seasons, DAMN HOT, and NOT QUITE SO DAMN HOT...

We've been known to get a drop or two of rain though.

 

 

'Max, thats not rain, thats your sweat from all the humidity!!!

 

About how many miles do these Falken's last under normal driving conditions? I need new tires for my 2000SE, and am thinking about getting these. Thanks.

-Trent

 

...Well, I don't have them yet, I just ordered them, but they have a 300AA treadrating and the stock Potenzas have 160AA... The 300 indicates that the tread is fabricated to last much longer than the stock tires... Why does Nissan even bother with Bridgestone RE92???

 

Don't get too carried away with treadwear ratings. Wildly different ones like 160 vs. 400, etc. MAY have some significance but these numbers are not uniform across all tire makes and are actually arrived at by the manufacturers themselves.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/general/utqg.htm

 

I Love my Michelin Pilots!!! best grand I spent
I put about 25,000 a year on mine and have rotated 2 times and can see some wear and loss of grip after the 1st year.
my pontazas got me 73,000!!!
I don't think my Michelins will give me that, will see
I now have 98,000
the Michelins have GREAT wet traction

 

Hey Guys, I just wanted to let you know that I just put on som 225 45 17's on my stock 2000 SE rims. They are the Perelli PZero Nero m+s . Treadware is 400 and so far I am very satisfied. I got them on the tires.com website for about 130 a tire, and only had to pay 80 to get them mounted and balanced at a discount tire place. The lower profile does not look bad at all. I can barely notice that they are a tad smaller than the oem . Hope this helps.

 

Be sure to check EACH tire manufacturer's data (they almost all have websites) for the recommended minimum and maximum wheel widths for whatever tires you are looking at. For example, I was going to get the Continental ContiExtreme Contacts at 235/45-17 size because "I heard someone said they would fit..." It turns out that the manufacturer doesn't recommend using them on anything less than 7.5". That being said, Yokohama makes the AVS ES100 series of tire that WILL fit a 7" wheel, according to their recommended range of widths. Granted, this is at the bottom of the range, and it should be noted that owning these tires requires more diligence in maintaining tire pressure and visually inspecting the tires when you get in the car (changes that I've had to make to my routines). I was also told to install an FSTB and an RSB to help with stability (FSTB goes on today, RSB later on). Check out this link http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?postid=1022066 (sorry if that didn't post as a clickable link)

Mo

 

Make sure you keep a good eye on the tire pressues with those since they have a load rating of 90 vs. the OEM 93 (max load 1324lbs. vs. 1433lbs.).