Something to Think about

[Ratstylz]

Having just come back from a 4 day tyre technical course at Michelin head office here in the uk, i thought i would post a little advice on this popular moddification that is sweeping the nation. The bottom line is, that over streching a tyre on a rim is possibly the worst thing you could ever do. After looking at basic tyre construction it becomes aparant that the side wall is made to cope with forces from the side and the shoulder, the way the casing plies are formed and the bead protector are all linked to the side wall. Changing how these sit on the rim is a receipe for diaster.
For example on a 205 /40/17 the max rim size is 8inch, any bigger, and you change how the tyre is going to react.
The fact that some garages refuse to fit them is a indication that there is problem. As they have a duty of care to there customers they simply will not take the chance.
The fact remains that these streched tyres look very very cool. would i drive round on a set ?, the 99.9% nothing bad will happen is a bit of a stab in the dark. But that 1% could be a blow out on the motorway at 70mph, a de-bead on a round about. The choice is yours !!!!
Would i drive on a set, NO WAY

[Bboy_Sparx]

You can die walking across the road...

You can kill someone by eating when you're driving...

But you can't poke wheel by doing either of the above haha

[noone]

Thanks for the info, always good to get some fact to the mix.

Whilst the combination you mentioned is not tru Dubb stretch, its still stretched a little, enough to get some comments.

[Ratstylz]

The tyre and wheel combo, is the maximum that Michelin recomends. And as you say this is not much of a stretch.
So a 175/60/13 on a 10inch rim,is asking to much of sidewall construction.
During this course my eyes were opened to alot !!. With lots of examples of tyres that were ok on the ouside, but fubard on the inside.
Quite scarey in some cases.
Look after your tyres and they will look after you was the moto of the day !!!!
But we did get some nice Michelin hard hats for free.

[WABIT]

my tyre, 165/40r17 on a 8"

dom

[Jarred]

seriously, who puts a 175/60 on a 10" wheel? they were meant to be for a 5" wheel! not even dom is that crazy! well, maybe.

[Jace]

I would love to see 175/60 stretched over 10" haha.

It doesn't seem safe, I've never ridden on massively stretched tires and I've never read or heard of the bead slipping inwards or anything else.
Keen to, though.

[schoona]

Haha Dom. Ok yes good points, the tyres arent strictly made for stretching. I have good rubber for going fast and around corners. Im pretty sure Dom doesn't wind out the passat lol

Maybe manufacturers should come up with tyres suitable for stretching, because the bottom line is, between the JDM/USDM/Euro people that stretch, there certainly is a market.

[dylan8]

You can die walking across the road...

You can kill someone by eating when you're driving...

But you can't poke wheel by doing either of the above haha

Thanks for the information.

but i agree with the above.

chances of something happening on slightly stretched tyres is so small compared to what could happen to you daily.

Not that im saying its 100% safe, just that there is bigger risks out there. There is sharks in the ocean, doesnt stop me and others surfing in it. Same thing.

[Preen59]

How about listening to someone with some actual technical knowledge and experience instead of thinking you all know better for once (because you DON'T!)?


Everything's OK while everything's OK. Just remember that.