Staggered Wheels on AWD
 

I was curious if you could run staggered wheels on an awd? Particulary an awd 1g? My cousin has a 335xi and he was also curious if he could run staggered wheels on his car? Does it cause damage to the drivetrain? Thanks

Re: Staggered Wheels on AWD
 

Do you mean width or circumference? You can run different widths (though I don't know why on a street car) but the tires must be the same circumference all around. If you have different sizes of tires it will cause excessive wear on the differentials.

Also, being close isn't good enough. That's why you need to replace all four tires on an AWD car even if one is bad, or have the tread on the new one shaved down to the same height as the other three.

Re: Staggered Wheels on AWD
 

As long as the rolling diameter of the wheels is the same on all 4 you will be fine. That could be hard to do though with different widths and heights of the tires from front to back.

Re: Staggered Wheels on AWD
 

+1

Re: Staggered Wheels on AWD
 

If he's planning on using the wheels from the 335xi, it won't work because BMW has a 5x120 pattern.

Re: Staggered Wheels on AWD
 

All I've ever seen is theory on this. I'm convinced if the rolling diameter is within 1-2% from front to back, there will be no issues. Considering most DSM's out there these days are running four different tires and I'm not seeing blown VC threads every week, I'm inclined to think it's not much of an issue. I'm going staggered on my 1G this spring when I find a deal on the narrower front wheels I need. I'll report my findings of actual real world data. :sasmokin:

Re: Staggered Wheels on AWD
 

^Its official you have lost your mind.

Re: Staggered Wheels on AWD
 

Yeah, but wait to you see the tuck, pure sexy baby. You can't hang.

Re: Staggered Wheels on AWD
 

No im not using bmw rim's. I was just curious if the rims are both 18's but the rear are wider than the fronts. also my cousin is buying 19's for his 335xi and he asked me if he could run 245 width in the front and 275 width in the rears without ruining things. (both rims being 19 inchs). Thanks

Re: Staggered Wheels on AWD
 

Even though the wheels are the same diameter, the tires may not be. You would have to calculate the rolling diameter of the tires and make sure it's the same between the sizes. A 245/45/18 tire isn't the same diameter as a 275/45/18.

Re: Staggered Wheels on AWD
 

if you have the right tire size number like 205 40 r what ever it wont matter as long as it isnt like a 205 45 r what ever because im pretty sure that one tires gonna have a little bit less tread then all the other 3

Re: Staggered Wheels on AWD
 

As long as the rolling diameter of all 4 tires are the same, you will be fine. End of thread.

Re: Staggered Wheels on AWD
 

At Discount Tires, we can not install staggered rims onto awd vehicles because of any issues that involve the possibility of drivetrain damage. Personally...I would put it on just for the 'badass' look LOL, but I haven't seen any real world damages with awd having staggered fitment. But, having if you have 205 fronts with 245 rears, it will eventually possibly damage the drivetrain because of different traction the tires have.
I can see having 18s all around with +25 fronts/-5 rear offset with the same tire size...but the tires have to be the same all around.

(note: in class right now if post doesn't make sense :p...)

Re: Staggered Wheels on AWD
 

Ok some of you clearly don't understand what the numbers on a tire sidewall mean.

Re: Staggered Wheels on AWD
 

Staggered as in the width, not the circumference.

Re: Staggered Wheels on AWD
 

lol...so a 60 series is low profile right? lol.

that's what i meant.

hmm...googled 'staggered talon' and found this
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...alon/Good3.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...alon/Good1.jpg

Re: Staggered Wheels on AWD
 

+1

Also just some food for thought. Even though the tire may be the same exact size. They could have a different rolling diameter if it's not the same brand tire. I had Toyo proxies 225/45r18's and General uhp 225/45r18's and the Generals were alot taller of a tire. (Larger rolling diameter)

Re: Staggered Wheels on AWD
 

Here's a little helpful website. http://www.bigcustomwheels.com/info_specs.jsp

Now punch in the size you are keeping, then play around with the other one til the rolling circumference is almost identical. For example, my rear tires are 255/40/17 on 9" rims, I'm keeping those and putting narrower wheels and tires up front to keep in the fenders, in my case, 225/45/17's on 8" rims. If you plug both of those in the calcutor on that website, you'll see they are almost identical. You can also play with offsets on there, but if we're still explaining what sidewall numbers mean here, we'lll save custom offsets, shortened control arms and mini-tubs for another day.:)

Re: Staggered Wheels on AWD
 

The question is, why do you want staggered wheels? I'd personally want skinnier tires on the rear to counter-act the understeer that plagues DSMs.

As far as maintaining circumference goes, my caddy does have 245/45/18 in the front, and 275/40/18 in the rear, within .1% total circumference, I'd say that's safe for AWD. You just have to find a size that matches.

Re: Staggered Wheels on AWD
 

I would still check with a cloth tape measure or laying out a rolling diameter on the ground before I put different wheel/tire combos on the front/rear of my AWD vehical. You could also run the car on DB's dyno, they can show front/rear wheel speed/power splits.

~John