This FAQ is currently in development. Please feel free to post any suggestions or comments.
I need confimation of proper offset for proper fender alignment on a 22x9 wheel setup. Anyone?
Tommy can you verify the information about the 27"s is correct? Thanks.
Factory 225/60/18
Sidewall: 5.3 inches
Radius: 14.3 inches
Diameter: 28.6 inches
Circumf: 89.9 inches
revs/mi: 704.0
Aftermarket 265/35/22s
Sidewall: 3.7 inches
Radius: 14.7 inches
Diameter: 29.3 inches
Circumf: 92.1 inches
Revs/mi: 688.0
I feel it important to reiterate the fact that ride quality and road vibration on 22" is not better than stock rims. I am posting this because over the past 3 weeks I have gained quite a bit of experience with my 22" wheels and have some observations. I have no intention of arguing with anyone, I just want the truth in MY situation to be stated. I see a lot of people claiming the ride is better than stock and I don't want anyone to be mislead.
While some of you may believe that your ride quality has improved, I think its a case of denial. I've driven many cars with upgraded rims and tires, and never once, has going to a larger wheel improved ride quality. Lower profile tires ride harsher, its reality. The suspension on my Audi A4 was trashed after 70k miles on 18x8.5" wheels.
Handling improved? yes indeed. More rubber on the road...
Lets do a few tests:
1. Drive with your pinky finger only on the stock tires. Then do so with your 22"s and post your results. You will see a noticeable difference in movement in the steering wheel. These cars tend to have quite a bit of bumpsteer with the stock wheels and tires. This is dampened by the higher profile and cushion of the stock 18" tires. I have had SCARY bumpsteer experiences with the 22"s. Had I not been gripping my wheel tightly and corrected the steering, I would have easily hopped over into the other lane or onto a curb. The bumpsteer is drastically magnified with 22" wheels and 265/30/22 tires. Please be careful where you try this. If you hit a pothole or imperfection in the road, your steering wheel WILL jerk and your pinky isn't going to be enough to handle the bumpsteer.
2. Throw your car into a turn way too fast. TRY and toss that rear end out a bit. With the stock wheels and tires, this will be controlled by ESP and be quite a smooth turn. The ESP system gives a lot of confidence to most drivers. That confidence is tossed out the window. Now try that with your 22" Wheels. Hop Hop hop. Scary isn't it? If you aren't experiencing this, you havent pushed the limits of you vehicle on the 22" wheels. (not that I endorse this) Find a large parking lot like I did and you'll see what I mean. The suspension and ESP was not designed with the 22" wheels in mind. It no longer feels 'right'.
All that said and done, its important to recognize a few facts.
Wheels don't get any lighter than a forged 3 piece design. Generally, 3 piece are racing wheels and I had assumed this would provide a slight performance increase over heavy cast wheels. I was dead wrong. The wheel and tire package is about 10 pounds heavier per wheel than the stock tires. I can't imagine heavier wheels would handle or ride better than a forged setup.
22" tires are expensive. I doubt any of you will be lighting them up too often or entering any drifting competitions any time soon I still like to know what the limits of my vehicle are, and there is no better place than an airport or large parking lot to explore those limits. Consider an autocross event if you dont want to have a meeting with a police officer. The limits of my car are downgraded with 22" wheels and tires.
Don't upgrade your wheels to 22" unless you want to adjust your driving style. Regardless of what anyone says, they HAVE adjusted their driving style to 22" wheels and their ride quality has changed.
I love the way my car looks, Love the extra rubber on the ground, and love the looks people give.
I hate the bumpsteer, hate the road vibration through the steering wheel, hate having to constantly avoid bumps, grates, and potholes, and I hate parallel parking next to curbs.
Stick with 20" if you drive a lot. 22" is fine on a daily driver, but prepare to make some sacrifices. I still have no intention of swapping mine out for 20"s but my opinions have changed since driving for 3 weeks. I'm willing to make the sacrifice to give the car "the look" but some of you may not.
Take my post with or without a grain of salt. I still love my 22" Wheels as much as the day I mounted them, but there are indeed sacrifices. Make your own decision on whether or not the sacrifices mean that much to YOU.
I need confimation of proper offset for proper fender alignment on a 22x9 wheel setup. Anyone?
Tommy can you verify the information about the 27"s is correct? Thanks.
5x115mm is proper for the 2005 Chrysler 300. The 2004 Chrysler 300m was 5x114.3mm.
There has been concern in the past with 22x9" tires rubbing against the front upper control arm bolt at high speed. There are quite a few forum members running 22x9" with no issues so I will provide you the following links to allow you to decide. Link 1 Link 2 Link 3
18-21mm will fit properly depending on the fit you want within the fenderwell. 18mm lines up nearly perfect with the fender lip.
15-21mm will fit properly depending on the fit you want within the fenderwell.
Only a few members have. With proper offset it should fit, but you will run into rubbing issues with more than a few people in your car and on bad roads. Most people running 22x10" are also using spacers, which is not recommended by most reputable shops.
My dad always told me if you can't do something right, don't do it at all. Spacers are a bandaid to a fitment issue. Get a proper sized wheel with a proper offset and you won't run into any issues.
Most forum members are running 22x9.5" with an 18-22mm offset on a 265/35/22. This setup will cause no rubbing no matter how many dead bodies you care to stuff in your trunk.
Pirelli P Zero, Continental SportContact 2, Nitto Extreme 555. Avoid cheaper tires like Hankook or Kumo if you can. Continental also makes a 265/30/22 and a 265/25/22 for show cars ONLY.
You get what you pay for when it comes down to wheels and tires. The cheaper the wheel, the more likely it is to bend on potholes. Wheels CAN be straightened and repaired but only a few times before they become worthless and lose their strength. A fair price for a good set of 22" Wheels and tires will cost anywhere from $2500 on up. $3000 is a very common pricepoint for a reputable brand of wheel with nice tires. Pricing can go all the way up to $7000 for a set of forged multipiece wheels.
Not without relocating the upper control arm and redoing the suspension geometry. There have been a few showcars with 23", but they are showcars, and the control arm bolt/control arm assembly was most likely modified to fit them.
TommyZ is the member and owner of this car. The wheels are actually 22" With a custom made Nitto 305-45-22/27 Tire. There is a 5" Lip on the wheel to make it appear to be 27". Custom spindles were made specifically for this vehicle for the 2004 SEMA show. The tires had to be grinded for it to be somewhat driveable. This is a show only mod.
Yes, a few forum members are currently running this setup. Be aware that most of these members have rubbing issues at some point, whether it be hard turns at high speed, speed bumps, or too many people in the back seat. Rolling the fender lip can further reduce rubbing to a minimum.
The dealer is incapable of recalibrating your computer to any tire size above the factory 18". Keep your wheel and tire setup within 3% of the same overall diameter as the stock 18" Setup. Use this calculator Differences between stock and 265/35/22:
Factory 225/60/18
Sidewall: 5.3 inches
Radius: 14.3 inches
Diameter: 28.6 inches
Circumf: 89.9 inches
revs/mi: 704.0
Aftermarket 265/35/22s
Sidewall: 3.7 inches
Radius: 14.7 inches
Diameter: 29.3 inches
Circumf: 92.1 inches
Revs/mi: 688.0
This is a hot topic that has been debated time and time again. I feel there have been quite a few inaccurate representations of 22" ride quality on this forum, and I think its very important that a realistic representation is provided for you to decide. Some people feel their ride quality is better with 22". Why? Their interpretation of ride quality is different than someone elses. Some people are used to harsh truck ride characterstics, others are used to Cadillac Smoothness. That said, my own automotive history has been filled with lowered vehicles, upgraded tires, and custom wheels on nearly every car I have owned. The following post was taken from this thread about ride quality which I highly recommend reading thouroughly.
I feel it important to reiterate the fact that ride quality and road vibration on 22" is not better than stock rims. I am posting this because over the past 3 weeks I have gained quite a bit of experience with my 22" wheels and have some observations. I have no intention of arguing with anyone, I just want the truth in MY situation to be stated. I see a lot of people claiming the ride is better than stock and I don't want anyone to be mislead.
While some of you may believe that your ride quality has improved, I think its a case of denial. I've driven many cars with upgraded rims and tires, and never once, has going to a larger wheel improved ride quality. Lower profile tires ride harsher, its reality. The suspension on my Audi A4 was trashed after 70k miles on 18x8.5" wheels.
Handling improved? yes indeed. More rubber on the road...
Lets do a few tests:
1. Drive with your pinky finger only on the stock tires. Then do so with your 22"s and post your results. You will see a noticeable difference in movement in the steering wheel. These cars tend to have quite a bit of bumpsteer with the stock wheels and tires. This is dampened by the higher profile and cushion of the stock 18" tires. I have had SCARY bumpsteer experiences with the 22"s. Had I not been gripping my wheel tightly and corrected the steering, I would have easily hopped over into the other lane or onto a curb. The bumpsteer is drastically magnified with 22" wheels and 265/30/22 tires. Please be careful where you try this. If you hit a pothole or imperfection in the road, your steering wheel WILL jerk and your pinky isn't going to be enough to handle the bumpsteer.
2. Throw your car into a turn way too fast. TRY and toss that rear end out a bit. With the stock wheels and tires, this will be controlled by ESP and be quite a smooth turn. The ESP system gives a lot of confidence to most drivers. That confidence is tossed out the window. Now try that with your 22" Wheels. Hop Hop hop. Scary isn't it? If you aren't experiencing this, you havent pushed the limits of you vehicle on the 22" wheels. (not that I endorse this) Find a large parking lot like I did and you'll see what I mean. The suspension and ESP was not designed with the 22" wheels in mind. It no longer feels 'right'.
All that said and done, its important to recognize a few facts.
Wheels don't get any lighter than a forged 3 piece design. Generally, 3 piece are racing wheels and I had assumed this would provide a slight performance increase over heavy cast wheels. I was dead wrong. The wheel and tire package is about 10 pounds heavier per wheel than the stock tires. I can't imagine heavier wheels would handle or ride better than a forged setup.
22" tires are expensive. I doubt any of you will be lighting them up too often or entering any drifting competitions any time soon I still like to know what the limits of my vehicle are, and there is no better place than an airport or large parking lot to explore those limits. Consider an autocross event if you dont want to have a meeting with a police officer. The limits of my car are downgraded with 22" wheels and tires.
Don't upgrade your wheels to 22" unless you want to adjust your driving style. Regardless of what anyone says, they HAVE adjusted their driving style to 22" wheels and their ride quality has changed.
I love the way my car looks, Love the extra rubber on the ground, and love the looks people give.
I hate the bumpsteer, hate the road vibration through the steering wheel, hate having to constantly avoid bumps, grates, and potholes, and I hate parallel parking next to curbs.
Stick with 20" if you drive a lot. 22" is fine on a daily driver, but prepare to make some sacrifices. I still have no intention of swapping mine out for 20"s but my opinions have changed since driving for 3 weeks. I'm willing to make the sacrifice to give the car "the look" but some of you may not.
Take my post with or without a grain of salt. I still love my 22" Wheels as much as the day I mounted them, but there are indeed sacrifices. Make your own decision on whether or not the sacrifices mean that much to YOU.
