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General => General discussion => Topic started by: Dub_Dude_16v on 13 April 2006, 11:26

Title: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: Dub_Dude_16v on 13 April 2006, 11:26
Right guys! Im sure this question has been asked before but i havent been a member for long and really havent a clue on this one  :undecided:

Asked my local garage if they would put stretched tyres on my rims but they said no because its dangerous. Something about if ya go round a roundabout too quick they could come off the rim?
Also is it legal or illegal? And is it an MOT failure?

Thanks dude!  :smiley:
Title: Re: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: ronnie'C' on 13 April 2006, 12:33

I have never heard of stretch tyres. Where did you hear about them and what do they do?

Title: Re: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: Ozz on 13 April 2006, 12:38
Theyre not illegal and will go through an MOT, as far as I'm aware, but have heard they are more likely to come off under extreme cornering etc. They do look damn cool on fat wheels tho  :cool:
Title: Re: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: Dub_Dude_16v on 13 April 2006, 12:40
Sorry meant "stretched" tyres. Its where you put a smaller width of tyre on a rim than what's supposed to be on it and stretch it on. For example a 7x15 wheel will take 195/45/15 tyre but you could stretch a 175/45/15 on it. If that makes sense  :huh:

(http://www.dubmeister.co.uk/Gallery/Edition38_2005/IMG01622.jpg)

Not a brilliant pic but ya can kind of see it.

Title: Re: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: ronnie'C' on 13 April 2006, 12:58

try this :

http://www.ukmot.com/4-1.asp
Title: Re: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: mr.s on 13 April 2006, 13:08
If my memory serves me on the subject of phat wheels, in most of Europe you can ft whatever wheel tyre combo as you wish, so long as the tyre tread sits within the body. However in the UK if you have any moving parts outside the wheel arches, for instance the wheel its self then it constitutes dangerous parts, for which you can be reported...points etc.
 :sad:
Title: Re: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: Ozz on 13 April 2006, 14:44
I was pretty sure that the wheel could stick out a bit as long as the tread was not prodtruding from the arch, even in the UK. Also I thought you had to increase the profile of the wheel to compensate for the stretch, so in your example you'd have to use a 175/60/15 or something??
Title: Re: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: Dub_Dude_16v on 13 April 2006, 14:47
Mk 2 ozz ya probably right mate, i'mm not too up on the stats of it all.  :undecided:

Cheers for the info ronnie c  :smiley:
Title: Re: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: Thom89 on 14 April 2006, 01:48
Hi guys.. Please don't get the safety issues mixed up, tyre/wheel size in relation to the wheel arches is in place to keep pedestrians safe, and such like.. exposed wheels can be a hazard etc etc..
Stretching undersize tires on to wider rims is exceptionally dangerous, heres why..
first off, your tires will give your wheel virtually no protection against kerbing.
secondly, you will get excess heat build up causing poor tyre lifespan.
third, due to the angle of the side wall, it will put immense pressure on the edge of the wheel, where the bead of the tyre fits, times this pressure by many when cornering normally, let alone going fast!.. causing fatigue that can make the rim actually break of the wheel, I,ve actually seen this happen on quite a few occasions.. the worst being a Suzuki Vitara 4x4, that veered of the road, straight into a bus shelter... luckily no one injured.
fourth, people like to do this over extra wide rims, with too much offset, your wheel bearings will get hammered! your car will drive like a dog, touch a white line and you'll be all over the road, don't forget the insurance implications either.. expect a short prison sentence, if you killed anyone!
and lastly, in my opinion they suck, because they are not a subtle or clever mod!
Sorry to be a killjoy, but I would rather share my knowledge on important safety issues, than keep it to myself, we've already seen one Golf go up in smoke this week... those guys were very lucky, could have been a very different story had the central locking circuit been breeched by the fire!
Tom
Title: Re: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: shaft69 on 16 April 2006, 23:26
Depends on how stretch i'd say i work for BMW as a tech and m3 rear tyres are very stretched from factory. Rear rims are 10jx19 with 255/40/19's.
Title: Re: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: AdamB on 17 April 2006, 14:23
for a stretched pic - see sig pic below

14x9 rear with 215/40/14 tyres.
Passed an MOT and had tyre re-fitted after a puncture.
Never had a problem with them from the law or garages.
Title: Re: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: mr.s on 17 April 2006, 15:33
shaft69 thats not stretched at all, do the maths..... 255mm's of tyre width works out at 10.039 inches, to me that means that the tyres sit perfectly over the 10 inch rim, or there may be .039 inches worth of stetch, about a tenth of a mm. :wink:
Title: Re: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: ronnie'C' on 17 April 2006, 16:41

^^^^^ check out the maths geek, lol  :grin: :grin:
Title: Re: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: mr.s on 17 April 2006, 16:58
 :nerd:
Title: Re: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: 1985sport on 18 April 2006, 00:36
goddamn euro style..  :grin: :tongue:

as far as i'm aware theres no hard and fast law on stretched tires but like most things its at the discretion of who ever is inspecting it be it the MOT tester or the authoritahhhhs.

and yes having some stretched tyres will mean that there is a higher chance of breaking the bead when your hooning it around a corner - imagine how much the tire squidges down with just the weight of the car. now imagine how much it "squidges" when your doing 70 round a bend.  not saying DOOM DOOM IT WILL HAPPEN but theres a distinctly higher chance in my opinion.

1985sport

Title: Re: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: Agreeable Slick on 18 April 2006, 02:25
usually ( and i say this in it's loosest form ) the cars with stretched tyre walls have the suspension to compensate for such forces through corners. I.E. Coilovers and ARBs.
Title: Re: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: mr.s on 18 April 2006, 10:26
I have just realised that I am going to sound all nerdy, but her goes...... slick as far as I was aware your suspension is only as good as the weakest link, therefore if you have uprated suspension (coil overs, thicker arbs, firmer bushes etc) then there will logically be more forces transmitted to the tyre side walls,and not the car. Therefore more flex in the sidewalls, as they will be the weakest part of your set up...I could be wrong, but it seems logical to me. :nerd: :nerd:
Title: Re: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: ronnie'C' on 18 April 2006, 22:59


^^^^ not only a maths geek^^^^^ lmao

 :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin:
Title: Re: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: Raceboy on 18 April 2006, 23:41
Whats MOT? we have DOT (Department Of Transportation) is it something like that?
Title: Re: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: Optimus Wol on 18 April 2006, 23:56
MOT is ministry of transport. you have to have a MOT test done anually to show your car is of at least minimum quality to be on the road. you also need this certificate to tax your car and such. just thought i'd clue you up  :smiley:
Title: Re: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: Thom89 on 19 April 2006, 00:07
Mr S.. your your barking up the right tree now! not so much damage to the tyre, but to the alloy wheel itself! although there are tyre issues.
Stiffer suspension, maybe a little "Toe out", and a couple of degrees of neg camber will turn a standard car into something like kart handling, on something like a Golf! why would anyone want to spend serious "doe", only to kill the gain, with over stretched tires, and the more grip you have the worse the problem can get
Going back to my original post, I stated in the "third" that the angle at which the tyre bead sits up to the lip of the wheel is crucial, too much angle, will cause direct pressure, pushing outwards on the edge of the rim (the weakest part) possibly leading to failure!
by the way, the piccie of the silver Golf, although it has stretched tires, they are nothing to what I've seen in the past
Tom
Title: Re: Stretch Tyres, Legal or illegal??
Post by: Raceboy on 19 April 2006, 00:12
MOT is ministry of transport. you have to have a MOT test done anually to show your car is of at least minimum quality to be on the road. you also need this certificate to tax your car and such. just thought i'd clue you up  :smiley:
Thanks for clearing that up homie.