First off, can an 96 I30 still be dropped with no rubbing if you were to have 20's on or no? I'd rather have 20's on my car than 19's, but at the same time I rather have a nice lower, smoother drop over 1" Rim size difference. Now, with that being said, what do you guys feel would be better for a 96 I30. 19's dropped or 20's dropped? I don't really know too much about Springs and Struts. I've been tryin to read up on certain Threads here & there and have attained some knowledge, but suggestions would be nice. I would greatly appreciate it.

 

What are you going for? Total show with little regard to ride comfort? because 20's with a drop is going to be one harsh ride. I could hardly put up with 17's and a 1" drop. If your just goin for the most "bling" look possible and don't care how the car rides then go for 20's and drop it. If do still want to maintain some sort of ride quality then I would say 18's, maybe 19's and some h&R springs.

 

Dude, I hope you don't plan on driving your car into NYC ("pothole capital of the world").

 

that's funny. i was in barnes and nobles today and looking at those performance car magazines and some dude was asking me if i wanted to buy his rims. they were 19s, and i told him i'm from nyc so i can't take the potholes.

 

I think you have to do some minor cutting to get 20s to fit. I have 19s and i have rubbing when i go over harsh bumps with 3 passengers. I slow down when I go over bigger bumps (i live in SF) and i don't have any problems.

I got 19s because I think that 20s are a little too big on our cars. Search on car domain and also look at 95-99 maximas if you want to see pics and decide for yourself. I have 19s dropped and I like the look of my car.

As for springs and struts, I have B&G springs and KYB AGX struts. I plan to upgrade to Tockico Illuminas (~$420) soon. The AGX struts are harsh but not TOO harsh if you are used to a sports car ride. If you like a softer ride get Illuminas. Tein Basic Coilvers (~$800?) are going to come out soon I might consider those if they are really good. For springs there are a lot of opinions check out the 4th Gen maximas FAQs. I like my B&Gs but they aren't as common anymore. I had H&Rs and they were very soft but they didn't give a good drop like B&G.

 

Guys, now I'm confused. With 18 or 19 or even 20 inch tires/rims, the diameter is still the same right?! You're just lowering the profile of the tires more to match the original stock diameter. So how would that possibly create rubbing as compared to stock?

 

rubbing issues come into play with having the wrong offset or rim width combined with lowering springs. I don't know much about 20's, but it may be hard to find a 20" rim with the offset and width you need to avoid rubbing with lowering springs. Tires may also be a problem as well, again I have never looked at tire sizes for 20" rims but you may not be able to find the diameter you need. to stay with a 25" stock tire diameter and have 20" rims the tires will be like rubber bands.

So lets say the only tire size you can go with has a 26"-27" diameter, then you try putting on lowering springs, and the only rim you can find that you like and is not $1,000 each is 20x8.5 with a 30mm offset. That is where you are going to run into big problems. The tires will be too tall, the rims will stick out of the fender too much...etc, etc...

Like I stated, I don't know jack about 20's. I am just giving you examples of problems you may run into.

 

that rule works but is limited of course. our cars arent really made to fit 20s. any wheel company will tell you the same thing. the biggest i could go on my 2000 i30t and keep my factory suspension was 19s. when i first got them installed, the guy told me to turn my wheels to each side while he looked and he said that he thinks i could have gone with 20s....yeah i can with cutting and shaving and still putting work on my suspension that its not built to maintain. what im saying is i wanted to keep some sort of ride QUALITY and i wanted to be able to ride with a friend or some luggage and not hear that embarrasing rubbing noise! trust me ive seen and heard it with other peoples cars. anyway, only the trained eye like mine and probably others on this forum can really tell the difference between 19s and 20s (people misjudge my wheels all the time).
im not saying it cant be done but there are things to consider before. you can go ahead and modify your wheel wells, suspension, and get ready to ride on "rubberband" tires to make your 20s work. if you live in a big city like me, your wheels are just gonna be small to you anyway since everyone is riding on 21s and up! hope this helps. if i said something wrong someone correct me or i will eventually!

 

It is perfectly fine to drop your I30 on a set of 20's and lower it and still have a decent ride. With so many companies out here making 20 inch wheels and tires now, there are numerous choices you can go with. Don't listen to the words of the 20 inch rim haters. I had a set of 21 x 9 inch Dronell MO-5 R wheels on my 95 max with a 1.5" drop(Tockico struts and H&R springs) and the car rode perfect. To see pictures of my car on the 21's, go to (www.20inches.org) and see proof. I didn't keep them because I couldn't afford them at the time and I put my 20's back on. There are also smaller 20 inch tire sizes available now too, like the 225/30-20 BFGoodrich tire and the 225/35-20 Nitto tire, and also several companies are now offering 20 x 7.5" rims. Take a look on (www.superbuytires.com) for a set.

 

So 20s will fit without modifications?

 

im guessing the 20 inch haters comment was not for me because im definitely not one. i wanted 20s, and after weighing my options, it wasnt a good choice FOR ME.
i dont think that 20s work without modifications and if they do, you will probably want to make modifications. maybe the 20s.org guy knows?

 

What do you mean when you say the car rode perfect? Not ride quality I am sure, there is no way in hell a 30 series tire on 21's rides nice.

 

The tires were Dunlop SP-9000 245/35-21 and yes they rode perfect. If you have never rode on a set, how can you say how they rode? My old bosses 745i had 22's with Pirelli 265/30-22's on it. They rode perfect. Ride on something before you make a comment, that's all I'm saying.

 

with all due respect, and im not trying to take any side in this discussion/argument....but you have to understand that there is a difference between 21s on a maxima and 22s on a BMW 745i, right? again, im not trying to take a stand, just pointing that out. the 745i can fit 20s off the lot, if im not mistaken.

 

I was just using those two cars for examples by showing the rim and tire sizes, only because the guy who responded before me said it was no way in hell that a 30 series tire rode good. I pointed out that it was a 35 series on my maxima with the 21 inch rims, and on the BMW with the 22's, it was a 30 series tire. I used to work at C.A.R.R.S.S. installing wheels and tires, so I have a little knowledge about it.

 

I can get a good idea of how the car rode because I drove on both 17's and 15's with Eibachs and GR-2's and the 17's were much rougher. I switched back to 15's and the ride was sooo much better. Sure, on smooth rodes any car will ride good, but who drives on perfectly smooth rodes all the time? Ever feel "tire slap". That is what riding on 21's will produce over any rough rode. I can't even imagine how bad ride quality would suffer on 21's with lowering springs. Let alone lowering springs with Tokico HP's.

There is no way 35 series tires will absord enough of an impact on a maxima to allow a decent ride over any sort of choppy road.

I don't have to ride on your exact tires and rims to know how it would feel. I just have to have had ridden in the same car with different size rims and tires to know the effect of decreasing tire profile.


I am curious to know what your definition of a "perfect ride is"? It can't have anything to do with comfort over rough roads that is for sure.

**edit** I just looked up the Dunlop SP-9000 245/35/21 tire and it is almost 3" taller than stock diameter. Sorry, your expierence cannot be used because that is the totally wrong size tire for a maxima.......unless you care about how fast your going, becuase you speedo will be way off with that size tire and the gearing will be changed such that your car will be slower as well.

 

O.k., no car rides perfect because nothing is perfect. Since you don't have to ride on exact tires to tell how they ride, then I can tell you how it feels to run a McClaren F1 200mph down the interstate without ever driving one right. Nobody really or truly cares about the diameter of a stock tire on a car because if you can bolt it on and it will work, that's all that most customers care about. Like before I am giving you my side of this. I've put on enough rims on cars and trucks, new to old. I know you .Org guys could give a crap about what I say because of my love for big wheels, but I don't care and if someone asks a question then I suppose it's needs to be answered. These type of questions seem to be the only ones I get a response too anyway because of so many big rim bashers. But nonetheless, that is all I have to say.

 

So you basically have no real response....

I know an F1 would be fast as hell, just like I know a 21" rims with 35 series tires will ride like crap. There is really no way around it, every road imperfection will be felt 10x greater than would be felt on the stock rims and tires. I don't know how that can be thought of as a "perfect ride".

Nobody cares about stock diameter??? That is what I would expect to hear from people who have no regard for ride quailty.....just like they have no regard to gearing or their speedo being off my 15%. As long as they are big and blinging!!!! hahahahahah.

Never once did I bash big wheels. Put 30" wheels on your ride for all I care, I won't hate on your car. What I do have a problem with is misinformation being posted in my forum. You can't come in here and spew bull**** that a 21" rim rides perfecet.

It is one thing to think that the ride qualilty lost by running 20"+ rims is worth the looks........it's another to tell other members the ride is "perfect".

 

Don't worry too much about what everyone here says. If you have 20s and like them then nothing else really matters. The fact is that our cars were never meant for rims so large. If you put rims that big you are going to have some issues. Obviously if you have wheels that big, ride quality is not the most important thing to you. The only reason people are arguing with you is because you said the ride was perfect.

I have 19s and I didn't notice a big difference at all when I switched from stock 15s. I can feel smaller bumps more but the ride isn't much harsher if at all. It FEELS different but I wouldn't say that it is harsher. When I switched from stock struts to KYB AGX struts there was a MUCH bigger difference as far as ride quality goes. IMO ride quality has a lot more to do with your struts than the size of your rims (from my experience). That is why I'm switching to Tockico Illuminas or coilovers eventually. But even with AGXs and 19s the ride quality isn't horrible. I have been in MANY cars worse than mine.

 

As of right now, after reading and scanning everyone's posts I've been decided on getting a set of 19's with B & G Springs and Toxico Illuminas. Pretty much like Gates' setup is, with the exception of the Struts being better or softer I should say. Thanks alot for all of the opinions and input into this. LMAO. Didn't mean to cause any drama. HaHa, but well...it happens. Thanks again.

 

Look all I'm saying is what makes your information not false? You said yourself You don't know crap about 20's. That sounds like saying I've never rode on any big rims. And I took back my statement about the perfect ride, but I was trying to say it rode fine to me. My ride quality was fine. I had 17's on my car when I bought it. It still rode the same after the 20's and then the 21's. But I'm not asking you to believe me as if I would really care. Just practice what you preach. If you don't know crap about 20's, why did you bother answering this guys question? Can you just answer that for me? Does anybody else see what point I have been trying to get at?

 

I hav not given any bad information in this thread. The question was aske how fitment issues will come into play when going with 20's. I stated that finding the size 20"+ rim and tire that is needed inorder not to rub, keeping the stock diameter, staying in some sort of budget, and a style that is to ones liking **may** be difficult.

The ride quality part is just a fact. There is no opinion about it. Significantly changing diameter will make the ride more harsh over rough surfaces and create more likely hood to bend a rim. Those who say that the ride is the same on 20's as it is on 15's, or even 17's are the type of people that I would ignore. Just like those who say a maxima on sprint springs and stock struts rides great........Go ahead and read the thousands of suspension and rim threads. Anyone who is worth a damn on this site will agree with me.

It's kinda like people who install an intake and think that their car is sooo much faster. It's not! Just like those who say 20" rims with 35 series tires rides great. It doesn't! Those people just have a distorted senses.

You want to call me a big rim basher, whatever I have never once said anything about big rims except ride quailty.

 

Yeah, I think that is a really good setup. Good drop and from what I've heard about the Illuminas a pretty good ride. If you can't find the B&Gs (they are a lot rarer now than when I bought 'em), look into Tein S Techs. These are supposed to be very similar to the B&Gs and you can find them very easily. I'll post pics of my setup soon if you guys want to take a look at the drop.