You can get away with all sorts of things. I've shoved bias ply tires that were
about 20" wide on a set of 4" rims once to get home.
When you mount a tire more or less "correctly", the side walls will be
at about 90 degrees to the rim and the tread. Forming a nice box
shape, with the tread flat on the pavement. If you go with a narrower
rim, the side walls get angled in. This bulges the tread a bit, and reduces
sidewall lateral stability (the way the tire wiggles on the rim when you shake
the car side to side). The wider the tire in relationship to the rim, the
worse the bulging of the tread and the more the reduction in lateral
stability. You get a car that doesn't handle as well or feel as good to
drive. I would not lose sleep over missing the mark of "ideal" by a
mere half inch. I would consider not missing the mark by several
inches though. I know this is the hot ticket these days in autocrossing,
but I don't like the feel of a huge tire on a small rim.
>>> <SMatson802@aol.com> 07/25 11:02 AM >>>
I am looking to go to 175-70/13 tires. The spec sheet at the tire mfg says
minimum width is 5 inches and the Spitfire spec book says that stock on my
'71 is 4.5. I have seen a number of people with 175's on what appear to be
stock wheels. What can I get away with and what difference will it make?
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