Bigger wheel questions

[Josh Stump]

So my dad just bought a Dodge Journey which came with steel wheels and hub caps. He wants to get different wheels and I found him a set of 2010 Jeep Wrangler 18" wheels but the tire that comes on them is 255 wide while the stock tire on the Journey is 225.

2 questions about this. First is how wide do you think he can safely go on that car? Second is how skinny of a tire can I safely put on a wheel designed for a 255 section tire?

Even the 19" wheel package that you can get on the Journey is a 225 section tire so I was thinking 235 would be safe, 245 might be pushing it and 255 would be out of the question but I am not really a wheel guy so I do not really know. I also would think you could put a 245 section tire on the Jeep wheel since its not THAT big of a difference but if you could do 235 it would be even better. However, that skinny might start to look weird on the wheel, again, I am not sure.

Any input would be appreciated. I am trying to get these as a birthday gift so I can't just go test fit them on the car unless I want to give it away, that is the last option. THANKS

EDIT: I see a lot of people putting bigger tires on the Journey, would the tires that come on a Jeep (255/70 R18) fit on the Journey without rubbing? Also, is it possible to adjust the speedo to read correct with the larger tires?

[Lobitz68]

This site helps a lot with these types of questions... http://tire-size-conversion.com/tire-size-calculator/

It would be helpful to know what he has currently, but I'll just use my tires as a reference as I assume the all have the same rolling diameter regardless of wheel/tire combo from the factory. My stockers are 225/65-17...

Using that calculator it looks like the tires on the wheels are too big. You're looking at a ~4" difference in diameter and the speedo will be off by almost 8 mph at 60 mph (remember that the second number relates directly to the first, so a 225/65-17 and a 255/65-17 will have very different sidewall measurements even though they are both 65).

Since you are buying these as a gift and can't test them on the vehicle, it is probably in your best interest to talk to a wheel and tire guy locally to really understand what fits and what doesn't. There are a lot of other factors in wheels that matter beside the width and diameter.

I hope this helped to some extent.

[Josh Stump]

Thanks for the reply. I kinda figured the tires would be too big, my biggest question is can I use the wheel at least if I get smaller tires? I understand tire sizes and how they are calculated but would 255 section tires be too wide and could I put a 245 section tire on a wheel that came with 255 section tires? I am definitely not going for the "stretched" tire look haha.

Edited May 8, 2014 by Josh Stump

[FROGBOX]

What year is his Journey? If its an older Journey (early 2012 and older), it has the small brakes and the wheels should fit? If it is newer and has bigger brakes, you will have to find some Journey wheels, or go aftermarket. I bought a set of 18" wrangler wheels in the Fall that I wanted to use to mount some snow tires and they didn't fit over the brakes (link to thread). I have the bigger brakes. The offset was too high and the spokes of the rims were hitting the caliper. Journey wheels have a +40 offset. Jeep wheels are +44.5, so they sit further inside by 4.5mm and have a greater chance of rubbing. A smaller offset means they poke out more.

As far as tire size goes, you can go wide, but not tall. The Jeep tires are too tall and they will hit the suspension. You need a low profile tire like a 55 or 60 series. The rim width on the Jeep is 7.5" meaning it can handle tire widths between 225 & 265. So for an 18" wheel, these are the 3 sizes that will be closest to the stock size:

225/60-18:

235/60-18:

245/55-18:

Edited May 9, 2014 by FROGBOX