club.liberty.asn.au

looking at a set of gravels for my car .. not too sure on the tyres though and what I should be going for.

1) wheels are 18inch +44 - best go for the 8 or 81/2 inch width?

2) as for the tyres, what specs would suit me best? car is only used as a daily. 235/35/18?

3) any brands in particular I should opt for when purchasing the tyres? would like the spend as least as possible here, but at the same time do not want to skimp on quality.

thanks!

1: I don't think the width of those rims affects the looks (as regards concave, lip etc) or their ability to fit BBK... So go 8" which will be lighter.
2: 40 or 45 profile for the added comfort. 225 should be fine for the 8" and will be a little stretched on 8.5".

235 40 r18 is the OE size for fords and holdens thus the tyres will be affordable.

If you are commuting and driving sensibly then go for an entry to mid level tyre, one of our members likes the Nexen iirc.

Here's some searches for you:
https://www.google.com.au/#q=site:forum ... +235+40+18
https://www.google.com.au/#q=site:forum ... tyres+18x8

I went 215/45/18 on my 8" and they had a bit of stretch, which I liked, but some 225's will make them look a little more flush.
In regards to the gravels, I got mine off these guys. Can't remember what I paid or if this is a good price, but the transaction all went well from Perth to Melb.
http://bit.ly/1p1SKNI

The wheel should be as close as possible to the original size of the OEM wheel. If you had Subaru 17's with 215/45/17 rubber, then you should be putting on 225/40/18 rubber on at a minimum.

However since you are going for 8", then 225 will stretch slightly, so 235 is a better way to go for the "straight flush" look however it's much more expensive rubber (at 45 profile) since it's not very common, so you can consider going down the 245 route, but then your rubber may start to muffin out a little.

You can definitely fit 45 profile rubber, but your speedo will start to read differently. Eg: If your speedo reads 100kph and a GPS reports 96kph, then going up in profile will cause your actual speed to go up against indicated, in this example, 100kph on the speedo may well actually be 100kph on a GPS with larger wheels. Note that this also affects your tripmeter and odometer - each new kilometre will be longer than a real kilometre.

If you have the option to go with 8" wide Gravels, then go for it. As for 8.5", while it looks good, it's really pushing the limits on fitting in the guards. Here's my car with 8.5" Gravels and 225/45/18 rubber (stock suspension height):


Click image for full size.

And here's the same wheel but with 225/45/18 (right) vs 245/45/18 rubber (left) - both same make and model of tyre:


Click image for full size.

And 245 rubber on the 18", 8.5" wide Gravel rim on the front with stock camber - makes for a perfectly flush fit to the rim, but it sticks out way too much and would need flaring, or I'd destroy the quarter panel with the first big bump I drove over (note that the sticking out is more an issue with the rim's offset, not so much the width of the rim):


Click image for full size.

For my next set of tyres, I'll be going back to 40 profile tyres to eliminate some minor rub at the back (despite rolled guards), but am considering going to 245 wide (mostly on price). The lower profile will permit more vertical travel without hitting the quarter panel, but I still need to evaluate the sticking out issue.

alright thanks , have a decent idea how to approach this now