Need your advice and help on tire/rims
 

So, I have OEM 17inch wheels with goodyear ULTRAGRIP PERFORMANCE 2 winter tires. Been almost everywhere with these tires and the only time I got stock was in a 2 foot snow when the underpan hit the ice. I am really satisfied with these tires.

For summer though I need new tires, most definitely. I will prolly go for Eagle F1s or or Michelin exaltos (Not sure yet)

So here is the question- Should I go for summer tires or the all-seasons? How bad are summer tires in moderate mud (I usually do camping and fishing and active outdoors in summer time)
Also, I was thinking about getting 18 inch wheels maybe RS reps? I know there is a thread in allroadfaq.com about these, however me not being from the US, I could not understand what spacers and offset etc mean, so could anyone please elaborate (For dummies) on the implications of pulling 18 inch wheels?

Thanks for your help.

noone?

The spacers have to do with the wheels you get. If the wheel is ET 35, then you need a 10MM spacer as the stock wheel offset is ET 25.

If you can afford an F1 then by all means do it.

If not, then get the tire that meets your needs. If you can drive on winters and change to summer, get a summer tire. If you need High performance, then get one.

If you get 2 foot snows, no all season will do the job, except perhaps the Nokian WR.

I have Good Year G sport Summers and they are great HP tires. I have Blizzaks for the winter.

If you go to 18x8 wheel, you'll need a 20ET.

My winter tires are on 17s with 35ET. I used a 15mm spacer to push them out a smidge further.

but what is spacer, and what does offset indicate?

offset is the distance from the center line of the wheel to the inside mounting surface.

So if you have a 7.5" wheel and an 8" wheel with the same offset the back space (distance from the back of the wheel to the mounting face) will NOT be the same as you shifted the center line by a 1/4".

if the offset is too large the wheel will contact the suspension components, too small and it will hit the fender. A spacer us used to adjust if the wheel offset doesn't match the car. It is just a machined part that fits on the hub, and the wheel bolts go through wheel, spacer and into the hub. You'll need longer bolts if you need spacers as well.

go here: http://www.1010tires.com/WheelOffsetCalculator.asp and play around with various wheel offsets and sizes and you'll see what happens.

oh, and I run Goodyear F1s in the summer. They are very good in the wet and mud to a point. I live a mile off pavement on a dirt road and they are good for that much anyway. Never had problems with wet traction. They aren't bog tires by any means but in my opinion are a better wet tire than say Bridgestones (S02 were the last I've tired) and are as good on a dry road. jmho

fj..

thanks a lot for the follow up

I am running ET 20 18x9 with 4mm spacer all around.
The rims are wrapped with 275x40's and there is no rubbing.
I am running the 402 mod down 20mm on all four corners.