How much leeway is there in the tire sizes on the non-drive wheels...? If 215 70 15 is listed, could a 225 70 15, 0r 205 70 15 be put on the rear wheels of a front wheel drive car...if it's just a transportation car, where handling isn't much of a priority...?
Thanx
Charlie

 

You have more leeway than if this were an All-Wheel or 4 Wheel Drive vehicle.

As long as you deal with the whole axle at a time, and don't mix and match them, you should be fine.

If the 215 is the recommended width, then the 205 is about 3/8 of an inch (10 millimeters) narrower than the manufacturer's recommendation, while the 225 is 3/8" wider.

The 70% aspect ratio also means that that the diameter of the wheel will vary by -3/4" or +3/4" (2 X 3/8") respectively, and the overall circumference of the wheel will decrease or increase by about +/- 2.35" (3/4" X ∏); which could affect your speedometer and odometer when those tires are mounted on the axle that controls those devices . . . . probably not noticeable ?

That's my 2¢

 

Look at the tire diameters on a website like tirerack.com to get exact but generally increasing the width of a tire, like going from 215 to 225 will require you to decrease the sidewall ratio to keep close to the same overall diameter, like from 70 down to 65. All depends on what you're trying to accomplish.

 

Thanx guys for all the info....appreciated.
Charlie

 

What make/year/model of vehicle are you talking about.

Most cars today want all 4 wheels the same size to facilitate ABS, traction control and stability control etc.

 

That is correct! Use the factory size.

 

Some tire places won't mount tires on your car that are not either factory size or factory optional size. They'll look at the tire sticker on the car.

 

One of my son's ran into that with a used car he bought. A previous owner had replaced the factory 14" rims with some nice aluminum 15" rims ..... and the 1st tire store he went to [I think it was a national chain] refused to sell him new tires unless he bought 14" rims to put them on. The car may have been old enough not to have a sticker but I think they can also get the info off a computer.

 

I have an older Chevy Cav (wifey drives the late model Camry, of course) that I bought from one of my client garage owners a few years back. It had 14" steel wheels on it and he also had another Cav he was junking that had 15" aluminum wheels with better tires on it that he let me have to swap out, which I did. No problems with tires because the 15" were apparently a factory option. Not always the case.

 

Rim size isn't important, the circumference of the tire is.