Anyone running PPA wheels with aftermarket car tires?

[troop]

Hey all,
I am currently running a 165/55 set of front Kanines on my PPA wheels. These have no clearance/fitment issues on my 2022 RT S2S. PPA wheels are 5.5" wide versus 5" width on OEM wheels. I can say that a PPA wheel and165/60 Vredestein had no clearance issues on my 2019 F3S. They did slightly rub on my RT S2S fender. Anyone here running car tires on PPA wheels on a 2020+ RT? If so, what tire? My other option may have to be putting car tires on my OEM wheels and putting the Achilles 165/55R15 car tires on my PPA's. Input appreciated

 

[Peter Aawen]

Do you know what the offset is on those PPA rims, Troop?? If your Spyder's front wheel track didn't change any (or maybe even much at all) despite the wider PPA rims, then they're probably a greater Positive Offset rim, and THAT is likely the cause of your rubbing issues rather than the rim &/or tire width per se.

For any who might not already know & understand about Positive & Negative Offset, check this out for an explanation, just scroll down until you find the 'What is Wheel Offset' bit:

What is Wheel Offset? Wheel Offset Meaning Explained

The most thorough guide to Wheel Offset on the web. Learn from a Wheel Industry Veteran the offset meaning and How to Measure Wheel Offset the Easy Way.

wheelsasap.com

Basically, if the offset on the PPA rims is greater/more Positive than that of the OEM rims (ie, it has a bigger Positive Offset, meaning that the rim protrudes more INTO the wheel well than the OEM rims do) then even if the PPA rims were only 4" wide, they'd still likely scrape on the fenders and your wheel track wouldn't necessarily change any, because all or at least some of the extra width would being going INTO the wheel well.

Even if they have the Same Offset as the OEM rims but are 1/2 an inch wider as you say, then 1/2 of that extra width, or 1/4 of an inch, would still project INTO the wheel well more and likely cause rubbing/scraping on the inside of the fender.

But if the PPA rims have more Negative Offset than the OEM rims, then the tires would be less likely to rub on the inside of the fenders/wheel well, but they might rub on the outside lip of the fenders, and your wheel track would increase, which is probably not such a bad thing if it's only a half an inch or so increase, but anything much greater than that will potentially be significantly increasing the leverage & wear on your suspension and steering components both in their operation and from any shock loading from the road surface, wearing things out prematurely, and also maybe causing wheel alignment, rapid/abnormal tire wear, and steering issues.

Just puttin' it out there!

 

[troop]

Do you know what the offset is on those PPA rims, Troop?? If your Spyder's front wheel track didn't change any (or maybe even much at all) despite the wider PPA rims, then they're probably a greater Positive Offset rim, and THAT is likely the cause of your rubbing issues rather than the rim &/or tire width per se.

For any who might not already know & understand about Positive & Negative Offset, check this out for an explanation, just scroll down until you find the 'What is Wheel Offset' bit:

What is Wheel Offset? Wheel Offset Meaning Explained

The most thorough guide to Wheel Offset on the web. Learn from a Wheel Industry Veteran the offset meaning and How to Measure Wheel Offset the Easy Way.

wheelsasap.com

Basically, if the offset on the PPA rims is greater/more Positive than that of the OEM rims (ie, it has a bigger Positive Offset, meaning that the rim protrudes more INTO the wheel well than the OEM rims do) then even if the PPA rims were only 4" wide, they'd still likely scrape on the fenders and your wheel track wouldn't necessarily change any, because all or at least some of the extra width would being going INTO the wheel well.

Even if they have the Same Offset as the OEM rims but are 1/2 an inch wider as you say, then 1/2 of that extra width, or 1/4 of an inch, would still project INTO the wheel well more and likely cause rubbing/scraping on the inside of the fender.

But if the PPA rims have more Negative Offset than the OEM rims, then the tires would be less likely to rub on the inside of the fenders/wheel well, but they might rub on the outside lip of the fenders, and your wheel track would increase, which is probably not such a bad thing if it's only a half an inch or so increase, but anything much greater than that will potentially be significantly increasing the leverage & wear on your suspension and steering components both in their operation and from any shock loading from the road surface, wearing things out prematurely, and also maybe causing wheel alignment, rapid/abnormal tire wear, and steering issues.

Just puttin' it out there!

I sent a note in to PPA last evening for that info Peter. Must be some difference in fender specs as Baja Ron has experienced with OEM wheels. It might boil down to trying out the Conti 155/60 tires. Max rim width for those tires are 5.5". We shall see....

 

[BajaRon]

We've got customers running PPA wheels and the 165/60R15's on later model Spyders. But as we've read here, clearance issues are still a possibility. If you're prepared to make them work with the necessary minor modifications, then you should be fine. But I think it very likely that won't be necessary as long as you get OEM spec wheels.