215 tire on a 4.5 inch rim

...................You need at least a 6" wide rim for that tire. 205's &

195's need at least 5 1/2" wide rims. You might be able to run 185's on a 4 1/2" rim. Of course, since you're going offroad only, maybe you could try it and see what happens. If they let go more than a days walk from civilization, maybe the cell phone would come in handy. Better take at least a gallon of drinking water and a survival knife for the nasty critters.

True.

My tire shop refused to mount 185's on 4 1/2" rim, until I SWORE I would never tell who mounted them if I had an accident because of the incompatibility. They said it's against the law and if I wasn't such a good customer, they wouldn't even do it. :) I promised I would never hold them responsible of any trouble they might cause me. I only needed them for a little while (a few months) until I could afford two larger wheels. These were for the front. In the rear I had 205's on 6" rims.

Jan

they will "fit"...not recommended by the tire manufacturers, but they work...i ran that very size on the front of my baja...on the factory vw rim.....it was a decent baja, that was beefed up for offroad(which it did really well and often) yet was also my daily driver....i once talked a tire shop into putting

235/70/15's on the back of a bug on the stock rims.....they looked "funny"LOL

------------------- Chris Perdue

*All opinions are those of the author of this post* "Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug" reply take your PANTS off

Cool! Good to know someone else tried this.

I forgot to mention that I have my own tire mounting machine, so I wont have to find a shop to do this for me.

I think I'll just try it out and see what happens.

One question though, did they rub on the body much when making turns? Also, did it raise the front end up very much and give you more clearance?

Ryan, i can't answer that question...mine was not a "street" baja...i had modified the front beam extensively and raised it as far as the stock type 1 balljoints would let me...so mine was raised from the time they were mounted...*I* had no clearance issues...If you already have the tires laying around, and plan to mount them yourself, then you can only give it a shot...you got nothing to lose but a bit of time....good luck...

------------------- Chris Perdue

*All opinions are those of the author of this post* "Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug" reply take your PANTS off

When I bought my ol 70, it had 195's on 4.5" rims and the tires would move back and forth on the rim. (The side walls would give and the treaded area would move side to side) When i went to get new tires and the guys asked what I had, I told him and he told me I must be wrong, so I showed him. His eyes got huge and he proceeded to tell me how unsafe that was...I bought

165sr15's :)

Just my $.02

Jay

I had 215's on a set of 41/2" rims on the front of my baja but they were buggy style rims with a different offset than stock. I think the biggest problem you may encounter would be turning radius. you may have to shorten lock-to-lock witht he adjusters and and pound down the lip near the body/pan seam (you'll wanna do that anyway on a baja) .

The other problem you might run into is fender/headlight bucket clearence depending on what style baja fenders you use and how lox the car sits. Mark Detro Englewood, FL

This is what 215/75r15 looks like on a 4.5 inch wide wheel, best description is "balloon like"

6 inch wide wheels is what I have used on my Baja. Perfect for both 215/75r15 and 235/75r15

Yikes!

You can put almost any size tire on almost any width rim, but for every tire there is a limited range of widths which the manufacturers recommend. Putting a 215 tire on a 4-1/2" rim is well outside the recommended range.

Yes, you can do it, but you won't get the performance that you expect out of the tire, and it will probably handle poorly, possibly turning unsafe under some conditions, like hard cornering.

The only way I'd ever do this would be if the car was never going to be driven anywhere.

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----------------------------------------------- Jim Adney snipped-for-privacy@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711 USA

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