Different tires sizes front vs. rear...why?

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I have 265/35/18's on the front, and 295/35/18's rear. Basically because a 295 won't clear on the front, and with our cars more rubber is definately helpfull in the traction dept. If you are using a drag radial, you can get away with skinnier tires in the rear, but for those of us who use the cars as daily drivers, that really isn't pratical, atleast in missouri. will that work? check out the link for images of the difference, stock vs wide 18's
 
275-40-17 Front and 315-35-17 Rear. Why run different sizes? Look at most any race car and you will see the rears larger than the fronts to give added traction. Then, as an added bonus, your car looks kick a$$ to boot. I think the only way a muscle/pony car looks right is to have some "meats" out back.
 
I've just gone to rear tires larger than front

I've just done this in the past week, traded my 245/45 17's (stock rims) for 255/40s in the front and 275/40s in the rear. While that's smaller than what you guys are running, It was suggested on this forum to go no larger than that on stock (17x8) rims. Well, although the stance (have Eibach ProKit for Cobra) looks better in terms of the rear looking a bit lower than the front (the opposite is true now), there is more wheel well gap showing up front than previously, and I'm not happy with that. Otherwise, looks good and performs better with this set up.
 
alot of it is looks as well as traction. if you look at the mustang from different angles, because of the fenders, different tire sizes actually look balanced and correct. the stock 17X8's look too skinny in the back, and barely adequate(spelling?) in the front.
 
245/45/17 in the front and 285/40/17 in the rear. Main reason I left the 245's up front was so I could save $ and use my existing tires on new 17x8 rims. Went with 17x10.5's in the rear and the 285 Eagle F1's filled 'em up perfect. I could not be happier and they look tough! Once the front tires are gone bad, I will buy a pair of 255/45 Eagle F1's for the front.
 
OregonMustang said:
I have heard people can snap thier axles with even stock tires.
If you put the "Meat" on the back...that's hella inertia...better beef the axle up.

Just a question more then a statement. :)

Don't think I didn't consider that. Uncle Meat through his damn logic in and pointed that the short shafts would be the next weakest link after the change. Breaking one of those is worse than breaking the axle so I pondered...

1 "do I go to the track" NO
2 "do I ever really launch that hard" NO
3 "didn't I promise my wife I wouldn't screw this car up with the after market like I did my GT" YES
4 "don't I want to add a covered porch to my barn this year" YES

So there you have it. In a perfect world where every mechanic did the job right the first time and every aftermarket part worked perfectly the first time and I was a multi millionaire...... IT WOULD BE ON. :banana:
 
sawman70 said:
Don't think I didn't consider that. Uncle Meat through his damn logic in and pointed that the short shafts would be the next weakest link after the change. Breaking one of those is worse than breaking the axle so I pondered...

1 "do I go to the track" NO
2 "do I ever really launch that hard" NO
3 "didn't I promise my wife I wouldn't screw this car up with the after market like I did my GT" YES
4 "don't I want to add a covered porch to my barn this year" YES

So there you have it. In a perfect world where every mechanic did the job right the first time and every aftermarket part worked perfectly the first time and I was a multi millionaire...... IT WOULD BE ON. :banana:

Just a technicality, but it's the Stub Shafts that become the weak link once the half shafts are replaced and you are very correct when you state that breaking a Stub Shaft is much more dangerous than breaking a Half Shaft! If you purchase a set of the "Level 5" half shaft assemblies they come with beefier stub shafts too (the level 2’s do not)! So for $1500 you can bullet proof your rear axles/stub shafts if you really want...

U.M.
 
Uncle Meat said:
Just a technicality, but it's the Stub Shafts that become the weak link once the half shafts are replaced and you are very correct when you state that breaking a Stub Shaft is much more dangerous than breaking a Half Shaft! If you purchase a set of the "Level 5" half shaft assemblies they come with beefier stub shafts too (the level 2’s do not)! So for $1500 you can bullet proof your rear axles/stub shafts if you really want...

U.M.

Short shaft must have been a Freudian slip. $1500 is realistic. Does it retain driveability????????
 
sawman70 said:
Short shaft must have been a Freudian slip. $1500 is realistic. Does it retain driveability????????
No, no difference in driveability.
sawman70 said:
Oh, and does it put the stress on something else that will fail. See, here it goes again...battle boxes, control arms. Re statement... can you just do the axles and shafts??
I'm not absolutely sure, but I would think the next weakest link after the half/stub shaft would be the differential itself or at least the cover. If I was going to go as far as Level 5's I'd also invest in MJ's rear girdle too.

U.M.