stretching on 17x10

[Tallman05]

Ok first wanna say I'm a newb in the stance world. Ok here it goes. My current wheel set up is 17x10 +25 with 20mm spacers, I have 215/45s on them right now but need to be replaced. I bought some cheaper 205/45s to get more stretch.. well for some reason the tires shop could not get them blasted on. So I assume that tire brands might play a factor in this. I have read on some forums that federal 595, and the falken 512,612,912 can be easily stretched. OR do I need to do a 205/50? Any help will be appreciated! Thanks

[Tallman05]

20mm adapters not spacers sorry

[Strawhat]

Hey bud, I'm here to help because I stumbled onto your thread on NASIOC. Pay them no attention, they're jackasses over there.

So, lets get down to it!
215/45's on a 10" wheel is a good stretch. A 205/45 is an aggressive stretch, but totally doable because of the tall 45 series you're working with.
What brand are the tires you bought? Some tires do not stretch well, and some do- those you mentioned, Falkens, Federals (which run wide), Nankangs are cheap and stretch well, Achilles, Toyo's, and some others.
How did you attempt to mount them? Did you just try to put air in them? Did you use a cheetah? Did you look up (I DO NOT recommend this) using ether or something to stretch them on.
What do the wheels look like? If the barrels of the wheels are not totally flat (multi-piece or step-lipped wheels) then you will have a harder time mounting the tires than on wheels with a flat barrel.

Try going to a shop that you KNOW can stretch tires. Ask people in your area that are into this sort of thing, 240 guys or VW guys usually know a place. Worse comes to worse, go back to your 215's, sell your 205's and buy a different brand.

Hope that helped.

[Tallman05]

Thanks for the reply Strawhat! I can't remember the brand that I bought. I already returned them for a refund so now I'm just looking for help. Yes the tire shop used a cheetah, but just couldn't get the bead to blast on. My buddies go to this shop to get their tires stretched so I'm sure they can do it. Basically with the set up that is on my car I have to run quite a a bit of camber so that's why I'm looking to get smaller tires so I can bring some camber out and go lower with my car. I would like to do a 205/45 but just need to know of a tire that will have no problem being blasted on with the cheetah.

[Strawhat]

Try to find out the brand of the tires you returned, if you can.
Also, do you have pictures of the wheels?

I'm guessing they were just very stiff sidewalls. What is the brand of 215/45's you had? If those were Federals or Nexens, or something that runs wide, and I suggested a Falken 205, you would see a huge difference (maybe too much) in stretch. Depending on what they are, a Falken is always a good choice. 512 or 912. Federals are nice tires too, and drive pretty good from what my buddies say who drive their cars hard. I noticed on NASIOC somebody said tyrestretch.com which is a great place to look at different setups, from brands to sizes. Give that a look, might help.
Also, might even try a 215/45 Falken, or maybe a 215/40 Federal, which will give you more stretch, but also make the car a lot lower (I'm assuming a Subaru).

[Tallman05]

Ya the guy that was attempting to mount my tires said the sidewalls were just to stiff. My 215/45s are federal 595. I read that Falkens run narrower than most wheels so I was thinking a 215/40 in Falken would probably work. My wheels are Saleen SC replicas they have flat 3" lip. Like I said I'm a newb at this so I don't want to do anything g over the top with the stretch.. I've seen Nankangs are cheap and a lot of people use them but my buddy said he had a set and he bead just kept popping off. So I dunno if I should steer clear of them or not.

[Tallman05]

Yes its Subaru btw

[Strawhat]

If you have 215/45 Federals, how about 215/45 Falkens? They run much narrow, and federals run wide, so it should make a big difference.
If you're a newb, stay away from 40 series, you'll have crazy wheel gap unless you want to be really really low. I figured they were the Saleen wheels, running 20mm adapters to put them on a WRX?

[Tallman05]

You are correct sir! Ok so I think I'll go with the Falkens then. I do want to go lower than I am now but if you think the Falkens will have enough stretch for me to go 215/45 and be able to take more of my camber out I'll go that way. I'm looking at the Falken 452 or the 612 I've heard the 452 run wide like the federals do. I'll try and post some pic of my car up for you

[Tallman05]

[Tallman05]

[Tallman05]

Current camber due to wheels, adapters and the 215/45 federals

[MikeyRa]

If it really came down to it, a puff of ether, or the similar, would have been just fine.

[Zic]

Its very doable, i did this with starter gas and a lighter. *edit, its a 205/40 on a 17x10.

[knowledge]

DAMN!^ got a side shot