235/50/18 on an Altima SER? Stock wheels, 2" drop in front

[SlateSER1788]

Hey guys,

I researched some tire sizes online for a few days and finally purchased a size that I was almost positive would fit: 235/50/18. My car is a 2005 Altima SER with Tein S.Tech lowering springs in the front (2" drop), stock height in the rear.

The dimensions of the stock SER rim are 18 x 8, and the stock tire size is 225/45/18 (what I have installed now). After searching around I found posts on other forums of people saying that their "stock 7.5" rim came with 225's from the factory" and "235's would definitely fit an 8" rim". In the rear I have a little more than 2 fingers worth of wheel gap and at least 3 up front, so I figured 50-series tires would fit, seeing that the stock is 45-series...

But after visiting the local Monroe Muffler and Brake shop they refused to install the tires. They thought that I would definitely rub and that I might even need spacers up front. They didn't install them and held the tire up my car on the lift and said they didn't think it would fit.

Does anyone know if these tires will fit? Am I incorrect in making the assumptions that I did? I used this wheel size calculator to see how far off the new tires would be from stock and the new tires are only 0.6" wider and 0.6" taller than the stock ones... http://www.powerdog.com/tiresize.cgi Is my fender well really that tight of a fit that I can't even fit tires 1 size up from stock?


EDIT: 12/23/10
According to PowerDog's calculator here's the comparison between the stock tires for the SER (top row) compared to the tires I installed (bottom row):


Here's some pictures of the final product. The tires fit and I've only rubbed when I've had 3 people in my car (including myself) and hit medium sized bumps, like if I pull into a gas station or plaza too quickly. The rubbing is in the rear, on the very outside of the tire right where the tread slopes down to meet the sidewall, so the tires still tuck even with the bigger dimensions.




Back of the rear tires to show width, about 0.4" wider than stock


About 1 finger worth of "wheel gap" in the rear


Rear again


Front of rear


Back of rear

[SlateSER1788]

I'm going to another shop tonight after work, to a contact that I was told "will mount anything" so we'll see how that goes... I'll let you guys know if/how everything fits, if I rub, etc. because I think this would be a popular tire size for us 3rd gen Altimas (L31) if people find out that it fits.

[downedzephyr]

.6" additional, and 2-3 fingers worth of gap? hopefully that's after the drop... otherwise i'd be worried about rubbing, considering 2 fingers = roughly an inch. have you rolled your fenders?
and interesting choice on only putting the springs up front and not the rear as well.

[SlateSER1788]

.6" additional, and 2-3 fingers worth of gap? hopefully that's after the drop... otherwise i'd be worried about rubbing, considering 2 fingers = roughly an inch. have you rolled your fenders?
and interesting choice on only putting the springs up front and not the rear as well.

Yes that's after the drop. And the reason I only lowered the front was because after I installed the Tein's I noticed that the wheel gap in the front (with the 2" drop) was very close to being equal to the rear (just a tad bit higher)... Installing the rear springs would have made the rear sit lower than the front, which is how the car was stock.

[SlateSER1788]

To anyone who's following this, I stopped by that shop I mentioned in my orig. post and the shop doesn't do "low-profile tires"... I guess 50-series tires are considered low profile? I called my next contact who is a guy working on my '81 VW Rabbit Pickup and he said he can do it no problem, but I have to wait until this Saturday.

[SlateSER1788]

Ok so here's the final results: THEY FIT.

We did the front tires first, started the car up, turned the wheel all the way to the left and then all the way to the right, and nothing hit. My friend Justin was looking/feeling around the wheel well as I was turning the wheel and he said closest point in any direction is 3/4 inch, which I believe was my fender liner. I'll post more info tomorrow but I just drove 30 minutes from my buddy's shop and didn't hear a single rub, scrape, etc. I'll post more info tomorrow.

Here's some pics of the front, it was too dark by the time the back was done:

[Purichan]

Nice drop and fit! I definitely want to check some tires like this out when I'm due for some new ones, they look a lot more comfortable than what I'm riding on now.

Got a side shot of the whole car? I'm considering just dropping the front on mine as well.

[SlateSER1788]

Nice drop and fit! I definitely want to check some tires like this out when I'm due for some new ones, they look a lot more comfortable than what I'm riding on now.

Got a side shot of the whole car? I'm considering just dropping the front on mine as well.

I edited my original post to include pics, see above.

Let me know if you guys have any more questions or want more pics.