Rear tires on the front ?

[SMOKEY53]

Originally Posted by bcredliner

Is better appearance or improved handling the goal?

If handling, I can tell you what I have evolved to over the years.


If appearance, you can get great input on maximum width spacer here that matches up with the offset and widths of your wheels. I have 87s with 17mm spacers front and rear. I didn't go wider because I didn't want crap thrown up that would damage the rear quarter panel and I didn't want to put more stress on the suspension.

Bit of column A, bit of column B.

I can tell you, categorically, that it does handle better - on medium speed corners the turn in is so much more confident. There is a downhill, off camber S-bend that snakes under a railway bridge on my way to work - before the car used to fill a bit nose heavy and you could really feel it leaning on the outside front wheel. Made the car feel tall and uncertain.

Now it feels a lot squarer and more planted. Wants to be loaded up, and this on on front shock absorbers that I know are past their used by date. That is the pro - the con is the tramlining - there is one section of road, also on my way to work, where it literally squirrels around approx 2-3 feet side to side - the grooves in the road must just be the wrong size for the X5 and it pushes it around seriously.

In terms of crap throwing up the sides, I'll have to keep an eye on it. My driving is mostly city driving and we don't have the debris on our roads that some of you guys get in the winter months. I also have the bigger mudgaurds on the rear from factory - believe it was an Australian Design Requirement. Even with the spacers on the rear, the tyres are still covered. Fronts are a different story...