2~s0L~t

hey guys

hi -- as u may know, i have a 1998 c280 (w202) sedan.

I'm looking at a set of 18x9" all around (4 -- at nine inches wide)

I plan on lowering after installing the wheels, but i don't know a lot of ppl using 9" wide rims for the front. but the back would fit surely.

help, please post answers as well as the tire size i should go with because im gonna lower and then if im gonna have to roll fenders, and if that just entails the baseball bat roll or more??? how do they do this exactly???

I ALREADY SEARCHED THIS SUBJECT AND NO RESULTS FOR FRONT 9" WIDE FITMENT.

THANKS

henry47

if you put 18x9 in front I'd recommend a 235 tire. It's going to look VERY weird to put x9 in front because it's going to stick out of the fender unless u have the correct offset. I'd recommend not gtting such a wide rim for various reasons. First, it might rub your fender, second it's going to be difficult for you to turn. I wish I had gone 19x8" or 19x7.5" for my rims but its too late now. heh

tpliquid

if you put 18x9 in front I'd recommend a 235 tire.


------------------------------


18x9 HAHAHAHHAHAHA, 235's AHAHHAHAH

C43 with 18x8 235/40/18 RUB DUB DUB!!! with rolled fenders.

with 18x9..u will have ur wheels stick out. if not they will rub on the arm. and if u do put 235 on it it will be stretched which will require to ROLLLLLLLLLLLL our ur fenders to a wide body kit like henry47's car. his front fenders are rolled out alot and starting to look liek a wide body. anyways

18x9 is wideeee u can try it. but it wont fit. unless u spend $$$$ making it fit.

2~s0L~t

thanks a mil guys... i decided to chill out on the 9" wide wheels... it will look rather odd -- sticking out and i dont feel like hassling with the other stuf...

thanks again boys

sol-t

tpliquid

try 8.5
i am runnign 8.5 with 35 et.

225/40/18

i rub on hard bumps etc. my fenders are rolled 1/2 way. caus the fender roller does not clear brakes. so anwyays if u roll ur fender alot and put 18x8.5 with 225 tires it will work okay. that is if u dont do super low drop. then u will ahve problem with u turns.

DougandhisC280

TP, I saw what you said about the C43 with the 8 inch wide wheels up front. I just ordered some so am I to expect this too? The offset is 38mm.

tpliquid

did u get it with 235/40/18?

DougandhisC280

225/40/18 is what tirerack recommended. I haven't ordered the tires yet.

tpliquid

no problem will fit

mic280

TP!
Why did you install the 35 offset in your car? For some reason C-class offset is bet. 31 & 32. Maybe that the coz of your rubbing...

tpliquid

dats all scorchie had. 35 offset, they were meant to be on his SL500 but he never put them on so i took them over

tpliquid

i believe that offset for front is 38? for monoblocks for rear is like 31 or 32?

scorchie

With a 8.5" rim, 35 offset is about the highest you can go (no matter what tire). 37-38mm offset on the front will start pushing the wheel against the steering knuckle and the tire will be in danger of coming into contact with the upper ball joint.

With a 9" rim, you need to move the wheel out another 1/4 inch or you run into the same problem. So 29mm offset would work, and 31-32 is really pushing it. The problem with the 9" rim and a 30mm offset is that the wheel and tire will stick out of the wheel well about 1/2". Although this looks agressive, it is a cause of MAJOR RUBBING.

On my CLK, I found 245 wire on a 30mm offset 8.5" wide rim works fine on the front. Although the clearance on the inside of the CLK is the same as W202, the outside has more room due to a larger fender flare. So the idea is to push the wheel out so that the inner clearance is maintained. This same setup would likely rub on a W202 if the car is lowered significantly.

-s-

mic280

Thanks for clearing this up Scorchie. So TP did you get the answer on why you are rubbing in the front? :p

tpliquid

yea my rims are too wide
so my tires are stretched out.
and the fornt part of the fender is not rolled

mic280

:o

DougandhisC280

Thanks TP and Scorchie

pl3az3r

Hi all, I just bought a set of wheels w/ tires ,
18x8.5 offset 35
225x40x18
what do you guys think? are they will fit good and is it ok to lower it??
thanks

DougandhisC280

With all the information given, I think the conclusion comes to this. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. 8.5 is the widest you can go in the front. Period. If your car is lowered, 8 is the widest you can go in the front unless you roll the fenders. If you decide to roll the fenders and still want 8.5 up front, you have to get 38mm offset so it doesn't wear the paint off the fenders. Someone else can finish how this story ends about the rear.

mic280

8.5 with 35mm offset is the "MAX" you can go for the front and you're really pushing it. You can "NOT" use 38mm with 8.5 width in the front in regardless of tires. Please go over Scorchie post and you will be more than happy to learn something today.

Jano

Call me ignorant if you will, but I don't know the offset of my C-class (W202) with it's lowered suspension and bigger wheels and tires.

But here is what I do know... an 8.5 inch wheel on a 225/35-18's tire just barely fits. I tried this with my car on the front wheels and I didn't like it for a couple of reasons. The first reason being that the tire seems to fit on too tightly on the wide 8.5 inch tire. Second, the tire noise generated from driving on such a tight fitted tire on a wide wheel is unbearable. So I went with 255/35-ZR18's.

I wanted to go with a 235 or 245 up front, but I was told that these would not fit because they had too high a tire height profile. Meaning that these tires come in 235/40's, 245/40's or 245/45's. Nothing else would fit besides a 255/35's because this tire had a low profile tire height.

I should let you know that I put on a H&R suspension cup kit for nearly $600, which lowered the car 2 inches in the front and 1.7 inches in the rear. This combined with my big rubber tires gave me a lot more grip to handle my car at higher speeds and g's in the turns.

I only rub the inner fender from the front wheels on the hardest of bumps and dips... but at least the good thing is that I can rotate my tires since there all the same size.

tpliquid

can u please post pics of ur front wheels.

i do not understand how 255/35/18 will fit on the front of a C class. the widest i ever seen was a 235 and it rubbed.

did u roll u fenders?

my c280 with 8.5 inch and 225/40/18 had rubbing issues untile i rolled thefenders.
i just dont understand how a 255 can fit in the front without any work. plus you are running cup kit.
mind boggling. i just wont beive untile i see it

scorchie

What brand of tire are you running?

I find this to be interesting, because NEARLY ALL manufacturers spec their tires to be the same diameter (or really close) at 225/40R18 and 255/35R18.

Can you double check those sizes?

For example (225 first, then 255):

Bridgestone S-03: 25.0", 25.0"
Michelin Pilot Sport: 25.3", 25.2"
Yokohama ES100: 25.1", 25.1"
Pirelli P7000: 25.2", 25.3"

As you can see, all within 0.1" (sometimes the rear larger, sometimes the front larger). So I'm really curious what rear tires you got that were so much lower profile?

We're not saying you're wrong, we just want to know how this works.

I thought my CLK could fit big tires (245 in front without rubbing) but this would be something new.

-s-

Jano

I am driving on Dunlop Sport 9000's and I am running 255/35-ZR18's all around on Brabus Monoblock type IV wheels. This wheel is a 18x8.5 specification.

I don't know the weight of these wheels or how their offset. But I can tell you that these tires fit in the front and back...

Although I will note that,

{{{ had these tires (not wheels) been an 0.5 inches higher, they would hit a screw on the upper arm or something inside directly above the front tires, but on the inner side of the tire.}}}

I wish I could be more technically accountable to my description. I hope this helps.

To my understanding this tire is not known to be the best in the market, but it get's the job done.

scorchie

Thanks for the info!

Dunlop SP9000 are about the same size around, 225/40 vs. 255/35 ... strange that the salesperson told you otherwise.

Yes, the main problem with moving tires inside is that the bolt on the ball joint will rub against the tire if not fitted properly. An ET35 offset wheel with 245 did not work on my CLK (it touched the balljoint bolt) but at ET31, it cleared it. That's only 4mm that made the biggest difference.

The SP9000 is one of my favorite "all around" tires. For more dry performance, I prefer the SP8000, but I don't think you can go wrong with what you have.

Do you have any pictures? I'd like to see how much further the front tires stick out.

-s-