Front tyres too narrow??

[copilot]

I have just recently changed the tyres on the front from Bridgestone 225/35 ZR 18 to Toyo as it already had Toyo's on the rear (255/35 ZR 18).

However the front now look odd, as the tyre tread is slightly narrower than the wheel (18" spiders). I don't understand this as the Bridgestones of the same size looked fine. Having said that, it handles fine, but the wheels are now extremely vunerable as they have no protection from the tyre. Has anyone else noticed this or have I fitted the wrong size tyre?

[jbvipercerb]

I've got Toyo tyres all round, they're exactly the same size as yours and yes I have curbed one of the front wheels, the tyres look narrow on the rim, but htey are the right size, other than the damage worry there has been no problems with them

[thegreengoblet]

jbvipercerb said:

I've got Toyo tyres all round, they're exactly the same size as yours and yes I have curbed one of the front wheels, the tyres look narrow on the rim, but htey are the right size, other than the damage worry there has been no problems with them

Wot he said.

[Mr.Cerbera]

thegreengoblet said:

jbvipercerb said:

I've got Toyo tyres all round, they're exactly the same size as yours and yes I have curbed one of the front wheels, the tyres look narrow on the rim, but htey are the right size, other than the damage worry there has been no problems with them

Wot he said.

Wot they said except I have one (rear) wheel that isn't curbed - D'Oh !

[Tyre Smoke]

Shouldn't you have gone 225/40/18 on the fronts? Not that that makes the tread any wider.

[touching cloth]

The Spider was always a compromise on the Cerb as was not made for it, it was designed for Tuscan et al which I think wear 235/35 on the front; so yes the width of the wheel (8.5"?) is really too wide for the 225 that the Cerb needs and you end up with the tyre being actually effectively stretched out to fit the rim - I don't think you can just fit the 235 tyre either as presume you get rubbing on the front arch as well as changing the rolling radius. There are difference between widths from manufacturers so guess the Bridgestone just come up generous in comparison to Toyo's.

[Cyclone1]

touching cloth said:

The Spider was always a compromise on the Cerb as was not made for it, it was designed for Tuscan et al which I think wear 235/35 on the front; so yes the width of the wheel (8.5"?) is really too wide for the 225 that the Cerb needs and you end up with the tyre being actually effectively stretched out to fit the rim - I don't think you can just fit the 235 tyre either as presume you get rubbing on the front arch as well as changing the rolling radius. There are difference between widths from manufacturers so guess the Bridgestone just come up generous in comparison to Toyo's.

Quite a few people have fitted the 235's with no major issues.

The other option is to fit a brand that still gives good grip etc but doesn't appear to be as stretched as the Toyo. I fitted Falken FK453's on my old Cerb in 225/35/18 and they appeared to fit the rim much better than the Toyos (which are renouned for being a "narrower" 225) and gave better rim protection.

Jules.

[jonbarrett]

Same here, tyre is wider at the rim than the tread. Looks a little odd to start but I'm used to it now. Plenty of laps at Brands and no problems. I'm runnin g 22psi front and 24 rear. Agree you need to be careful when parking.

[copilot]

Thanks guys. That's really helpful, and it looks likeI'm not on my own.

Any more comments would be appreciated, especially as the tyre manufacturers are always playing about with profiles. What may be good last year may not be the best this year.

Copilot