Originally Posted by Rosko
OEM arrangement on my car is like this.
Front: 7.5" wheels / 225/50/17 tires
Rear: 8.0" wheels / 235/50/17 tires
I have replaced all four tires with 245/45/17.
I know this is not recommended (and possibly a dumb question), but would it be a big deal to switch the 8" wheels to the front and the 7.5" wheels to the back? I'm just trying to avoid paying $80 for removing and re-mounting, and plan to only use this arrangement for about three months - until these tires are autocrossed to death.
Why do this? The front tires are looking rough, and they are "feathering" aka "cupping" - a common problem on the 350Z. Basically, this means uneven treadwear on the inside and outside edges. It probably doesn't help that I keep 32 PSI in them during autocrosses. I can also hear a slight sound on the front right tire. It sorta sounds like it's flat-spotted, but it's not.
I realize that the best idea is to buy new tires now instead of waiting. If that's what I've got to do, then that's cool. I was just hoping to get more than 9 months out of these tires.
i once did a used car inspection on a 350z it needed tires and had a bad cup feather problem like you mentiond.. i decided to call nissan and speak with the foreman he explained to me that there is a service bulliten out with corrected alignment specs to cure this problem.... and he explained to me that everyone with a hunter alignment rack had the wrong specs .. this was about a year ago when i did this and dont remember exactly what the different specs were but id call and find out .. .. and for your original question is the offset of the wheels different? if not go for it .. the footprint of the tire should be really close to the same