Front 255/35/18 Modifications

[hxman]

Does anyone have a picture of the modification necessary to fit Front 255/35/18 tires. I will be using camber plates, 3M front suspension pieces and a 5mm spacer. I do believe there is some sort of tab trimming necessary.

Thanks

[5teN]

I'm slowly learning about this (and will learn a whole lot quicker when my wheels/tires arrive) but you are on the right track.

5mm spacer will be dependent on your wheel offset. You'll need an effective offset of 45mm for an 8.5" width rim. Like you said, you will need to trim a tab at the front of your fender, camber plates (almost maxed out) and almost certainly roll your fenders.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

Which tires? That can also change things.

[fourtailpipes]

Originally Posted by hxman

Does anyone have a picture of the modification necessary to fit Front 255/35/18 tires. I will be using camber plates, 3M front suspension pieces and a 5mm spacer. I do believe there is some sort of tab trimming necessary.

Thanks

what wheel, and what tire? if you're using a 8.5" wheel you'll need about 44 or 45mm offset... if using a 9" wheel you'll need something more like a 38 or 39mm offset. either way you'll likely need to shave (almost completely) the bumper tab in the front wheel well, roll/pull your front fenders, and maximize any camber you're getting at the top of the strut with your camber plates. extra camber from the m3 control arms is a good thing, but won;t help you at all with tire clearance.

[hxman]

Vorshlag camber plates, a 5mm spacer for the front and Apex wheels (Front: 18x8.5" ET45 wheels Rear: 18x9.5" ET62 wheels) and decided to also order the Star Specs 255/35/18 for the front and 265/35/18 for the rear.

[5teN]

I don't think you'll need the 5mm spacer up front, but you might be able to use it in the rear if you want to roll your fenders and push your wheel out some more.

Do you have your wheels and tires?

I've ordered Forgestar F14 18x8.5 et45 for the front and 18x9.5 et60 for the rear. Going with 255/35-18 and 275/35-18 Star Specs as well!

I've also ordered the Vorshlag Plates, koni sport shocks and eibach pro kit springs!

[hxman]

I have the wheels and ordering the tires today or tomorrow... Still deciding between 245 or 255 for the front...... Depends on how much modification is required. I was hoping someone on the forum would have some pics or advice... lol

[5teN]

FWIW, I think Michelin recently released a 245/35-18 size in the Pilot Super Sport

I had it in my mind that I was going to make 255's work and I'm kind of stubborn so even after learning that, I still ordered 255's! At the same time I also decided to get 275 for the rear... errrr

[fourtailpipes]

for the star specs you'll almost definitely need the 5mm spacer. some 255s have worked without a spacer on the 45mm apex wheels (like PSS, PS2 and R-S3 as far as i know), but the star spec is quite wide. you'll definitely need to throw every adjustment you can at it to make it work. maximum camber, perfect offset, fender roll/PULL, and a bit of a tolerance for some rubbing.

[Lubo]

Originally Posted by fourtailpipes

for the star specs you'll almost definitely need the 5mm spacer. some 255s have worked without a spacer on the 45mm apex wheels (like PSS, PS2 and R-S3 as far as i know), but the star spec is quite wide. you'll definitely need to throw every adjustment you can at it to make it work. maximum camber, perfect offset, fender roll/PULL, and a bit of a tolerance for some rubbing.

I was running 255/40 17 on 8.5 wide wheel with ET40. which has the same width and rolling radius as 255/35 18. Only modification was maxed out Vorshlags on stock suspension with -2.5* camber. If you are lowered on coils or springs you might need to trim some tabs but I didn't have. Paintpro has mentioned several times that 255s should fit up front without an issue with strut clearance. I would add spacer only if needed. There isn't a need to roll or pull your fenders. With your M3 components you should be able to get at least -2.7* camber up front or more depending on the ride height so there should be even greater wheel to fender clearance.

[MilehighM3]

I run PS2s on Apex Arc8s up front. Currently with about -1 1/4 camber (-1.15) and Dinan suspension. They rubbed a little on the tabs mounting the bumper to the fender over dips in the road. You would definitely need more camber up front for a 255. The Star specs to my knowledge have sharper and taller corners than the Michelins. The corners of the tires is where they rub the most. The rears I'm running 265s on the 62mm offset wheels with -2 degrees camber and they rub slightly on the inner fender liners in hard corners. You can't hear it, but you can see it when the car is in the air or when you change wheels. I also have all of the M control arms all around.
Hope that helps.

[fourtailpipes]

Originally Posted by Lubo

With your M3 components you should be able to get at least -2.7* camber up front or more depending on the ride height so there should be even greater wheel to fender clearance.

m3 suspension parts do not yield additional space between the tire and fender. these parts add camber by increasing track, pushing the bottoms of the struts outwards slightly, having virtually no impact on tire clearance. camber plates alone increase this space because they pull the tops of the struts inward to increase camber.

[bluephobic(1)]

I can confirm they did indeed release the 245/35 PSs. I just ordered a set and 275 for the rear on apex rims can't wait to get back to Spain and try it out :-p

[Lubo]

Originally Posted by fourtailpipes

m3 suspension parts do not yield additional space between the tire and fender. these parts add camber by increasing track, pushing the bottoms of the struts outwards slightly, having virtually no impact on tire clearance. camber plates alone increase this space because they pull the tops of the struts inward to increase camber.

That is valid point I didn't think about. There still should not be an issue between fender and tire with et45 on 8.5 wheel though.

[Dino355]

Holy thread resurrection!

Did you guys get the 255/35/18s to fit upfront without issue or did you need to trim anything?

[katsooba]

Its almost cheaper to do a front 1m conversion with the fenders and bumper (and a few other parts only if neccessary)

18x9.5 et 22 apex arc 8 with 255/35/18

I can attach pics when i get back at my pc

[amg6975]

Originally Posted by fourtailpipes

m3 suspension parts do not yield additional space between the tire and fender. these parts add camber by increasing track, pushing the bottoms of the struts outwards slightly, having virtually no impact on tire clearance. camber plates alone increase this space because they pull the tops of the struts inward to increase camber.

This is actually something I've been thinking about... I would think that M3 front arms would actually decrease the amount of fender clearance at a given camber. If the camber is the same, then the M3 arms being slightly farther out would make the upper camber setting that same amount closer to the fender.

I'm thinking that if you have camber plates it's better to stick with the stock arms and add the stiffer bushings/monoballs to them.

[lowside67]

This is absolutely true. My 255 RE71Rs fit perfectly with max camber plates - as soon as I added the arms, they now rub under several circumstances.

You need coilovers with short springs above the tire, camber plates (set at max negative camber), and a perfect offset wheel (8.5 +45 is too high - it will hit the strut). With those things, the 255s will fit perfectly. Adding the 1M arms will make it harder to clear.

-Mark

[amg6975]

Originally Posted by lowside67

This is absolutely true. My 255 RE71Rs fit perfectly with max camber plates - as soon as I added the arms, they now rub under several circumstances.

You need coilovers with short springs above the tire, camber plates (set at max negative camber), and a perfect offset wheel (8.5 +45 is too high - it will hit the strut). With those things, the 255s will fit perfectly. Adding the 1M arms will make it harder to clear.

-Mark

Great info, exactly as I suspected.

[juld0zer]

Im getting tyre rollover marks on the sidewalls with 245/35-18 on the fronts. Wouldn't 255 wide be even more likely to have this problem?

[funseries]

Originally Posted by lowside67

This is absolutely true. My 255 RE71Rs fit perfectly with max camber plates - as soon as I added the arms, they now rub under several circumstances.

You need coilovers with short springs above the tire, camber plates (set at max negative camber), and a perfect offset wheel (8.5 +45 is too high - it will hit the strut). With those things, the 255s will fit perfectly. Adding the 1M arms will make it harder to clear.

-Mark

I don't understand how it can be worse. Is it because of the shape of the tire sidewall? Maybe with a rounded/stretched sidewall there would be a small benefit? I got 245 Contis on 18x9.

For my situation the new tires I'm running have a slightly beefier sidewall than my previous setup, which only rubbed rarely and was manageable. Now with the added beef it's not so good. Already pulled and tab shaved too. But I rather not have to switch from my Dinan camber plates. I'm hoping the M3 arms will do the trick in my case..

[amg6975]

Originally Posted by funseries

I don't understand how it can be worse. Is it because of the shape of the tire sidewall? Maybe with a rounded/stretched sidewall there would be a small benefit? I got 245 Contis on 18x9.

For my situation the new tires I'm running have a slightly beefier sidewall than my previous setup, which only rubbed rarely and was manageable. Now with the added beef it's not so good. Already pulled and tab shaved too. But I rather not have to switch from my Dinan camber plates. I'm hoping the M3 arms will do the trick in my case..

The M3 control arms increase camber by pushing the bottom of the knuckle out, this coupled with the fact that it's a MacPherson strut set up means that everything will move outward slightly, since the fixed mounting point is the top of the strut.

Picture this: hold a pen at the tip, and push the bottom to increase "camber" and you'll see the whole pen moves outward a varying amount based on the fulcrum... this is what the M3 arms do.