Tires & Wheels for 2001 Nissan Pathfinder LE

Low4me · Jan 3rd, 2003, 03:25 PM

Quick question for you guru's:

I've got a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder LE, and I'm interested in adding some new wheels. I've got stock tires & wheels now. If I wanted to put 18" wheels on, I know I'm going to have to get bigger tires...so does anybody know how big of wheels will fit on this rig without having to get a lift?

I don't understand the whole 245/6.5X18 (typical numbering system for tires/wheels) thing very well...anybody care to explain?

My goal is to get bigger wheels (18") and bigger tires...without having to get a lift just yet.

help!
thanks,
mbc

jadcock · Jan 5th, 2003, 08:56 PM

The tire size standard is pretty easy once you know what it means:

245/65R16

245 = tread width in millimeters. 245mm is about 9.64" (1" = 25.4mm).

65 = aspect ratio (sidewall height/tread width). In this case, 65%. This means that the sidewall height (distance between inner edge of the sidewall to the outer edge of the sidewall) is 65% of the tread width, or about 6.27".

R = radial. Most tires sold today are radials, so this is really unimportant. In fact, sometimes people will write a tire size like 245/65/16 because the radial denotation is assumed.

16 = size of wheel that the tire is designed to be mounted on, in inches. In this case, 16".

To figure the height of a tire, take your sidewall height, in inches, add the size of the wheel, and then add the sidewall height again for the total height of the tire. A 245/65/16 tire is about 28.5" tall.

If you want to move up to an 18" wheel, you'll have to adjust your aspect ratio if you want the overall height of the tire to be the same. For instance, a 245/55/18 is about 28.6" tall, which is close to the 16" wheel. The difference is the aspect ratio (55% versus 65%).