staggered vs. same size all around?

[joe440]

Is there any benefit going staggered, or is mostly just a looks thing? Im pretty much ready to order my wheels and im up in the air about going all 18's or 17's front and 18's back. Any info or opinions would be appreciated, thanks Joe

[JayR]

I love that color!

The rule of thumb from a design and functionality standpoint is if the rear wheel diameter is more than will comfortably fit in the front wheelwells, then you should stagger especially if the rears are bigger than 18 or 19". For instance, 18s look and fit great all the way around on a 69 Camaro so there's no need to put a 17 up front and if you actually want to stagger the o.d. or give it a slight rake, you can just put a taller tire in back.

Think of it like staggerring 16s and 17s on your car. The 16s wouldn't fill up the front wheelwells proportionally to the rear and would kind of swim in the open space compared to the rears. Same thing as you go up in diameters and vehicle size.

If you can mock up an 18 in front and it fits nicely and is able to turn lock to lock, then don't worry about staggerring or possibly consider running a 19 in back if you like the staggered look.

Hope that made sense and didn't offend anyone who has done what I've described. It isn't the law, just a rule of thumb.

[GetMore]

I think it's just a looks thing.
The only performance advantage I can think of is that the rear tires can have the same sidewall height, so they have the same flex, but by being a larger diameter they will have a little more contact with the road.

[joe440]

I love that color!

The rule of thumb from a design and functionality standpoint is if the rear wheel diameter is more than will comfortably fit in the front wheelwells, then you should stagger especially if the rears are bigger than 18 or 19". For instance, 18s look and fit great all the way around on a 69 Camaro so there's no need to put a 17 up front and if you actually want to stagger the o.d. or give it a slight rake, you can just put a taller tire in back.

Think of it like staggerring 16s and 17s on your car. The 16s wouldn't fill up the front wheelwells proportionally to the rear and would kind of swim in the open space compared to the rears. Same thing as you go up in diameters and vehicle size.

If you can mock up an 18 in front and it fits nicely and is able to turn lock to lock, then don't worry about staggerring or possibly consider running a 19 in back if you like the staggered look.

Hope that made sense and didn't offend anyone who has done what I've described. It isn't the law, just a rule of thumb.

thanks, and it made sense haha. I would love to try and fit a 19 in the back but that just means a smaller sidewall, and in new england pot holes are the devil. I know an 18 fits fine in the back ill have to borrow my brothers 18's and just try them on the front and see if they turn lock to lock like you said, and if so ill probably just go with them in the front. thanks again for info

[Vegas69]

I'm a big fan of staggered but only if you run a larger tire out back and keep the sidewalls as close to the same width as possible.