helping out a coworker with a tire question-

her minivan needs new tires. the stock tires are 215 70 15

we found a set of 4 on CL but the size is 215 65 15

slightly lower by 5mm? Will this still work without any alignment issues?

your opinion is appreciated

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Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

My answer is that it will probably be fine, but its worth asking about - an alignment shop (here we have a few chains - Tire Discounters - that do alignment). Lotsa minivans have forums (I can point you to the Kia one...) so someone might have done this before, and tirerack.com will show you a list of what tire sizes the manuf. used for that make and year.

Your biggest rub might be getting them put on - if they arent the same size as what the factory shipped on that vehicle, any shop is going to be hesitant to install them (liability). If you have a friend/after hours at a shop it'll probably be ok, but lots of the bigger chains have directives not to install any tire that is not the OEM size for that vehicle (and wheel?).

If money is that tight, ask at an alignment shop - give them the tire sizes and the model/year of the minivan - their alignment guy has probably seen them more than a few times and knows the geometry of that specific vehicle enough to give you an answer. (I might even try the dozen donuts bribe for this- just go help make friends who might be useful later)

Hope this helps - John

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2009 Kia Sedona
2009 Honda Odyssey EX-L
12006 Jetta Pumpe Duse
(insert Mercedes here)

Husband, Father, sometimes friend =)

It will work fine.

The vehicle will sit slightly lower and there will be a bit more gap over the tires in the wheel wells.

My winter tires are 65's and my all seasons are 60's. I switch mine out twice a year with no difficulties at all.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

thanks guys. we'll go for it.

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Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

The smaller diameter will cause the speedometer and odometer readings to become slightly optimistic, but nothing significant.

I am forever doing oddball aftermarket tire/wheel setups with my fleet...

...this site has a neat tire size calculator, and gives you a fairly accurate cross section diagram of what you are getting into...

Custom rims, wheel tire packages for your ride - RIMSnTIRES.com

It even calculates what your speedo error will be when you choose a size that strays from OEM specs.

I punched in your specs, and according to the chart, with the different tire size, the vehicle will actually be doing 58.1 mph when the speedo reads 60.

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

I have no doubt they will work, but unless it's a really killer deal, used tires are a crap shoot.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

Point of information...

The "65" in the tire size is a % that the height is relative to the width, and not direct measurement, right? ( Not 65mm, but 65%)
Not that it affects this situation, but I want to be sure I understand tire sizes.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

Its not that simple. While I dont aruge any of the other opinions here, I do remember a few of my FWD volkswagens - whatever their front suspension was- if the front struts were old/leaky- the front of the car sat lower- this caused one of the alignment measurements to wander out of spec.
my Corrado was on the alighnment machine when the tech took me out and showed me. We were under the car looking at the numbers (only one of which was OOS) and then he put his hand on the oil pan, and lifted the car about 1 or 2 inches (Just uncompressing the springs a bit) and the errant measurement returned to spec.

wierd. But probably statistically so small that if someone is trying that hard to save money on tires, the possible wear difference is negligable.

-John

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2009 Kia Sedona
2009 Honda Odyssey EX-L
12006 Jetta Pumpe Duse
(insert Mercedes here)

Husband, Father, sometimes friend =)

That is correct.

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

That's correct. Multiply the section width by .65 to get the section height. Multiply that by two and add the rim diameter and you will then have the overall height.

Example:

21.5 / 2.54 (CM per inch) = 8.46" X .65 = 5.499" X 2 = 10.5" + 15 " = 25.5" Tire Diameter

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

The camber is definitely affected when the springs are compressed or extended. Any alignment of vehicles with independent suspensions is always specified at a given ride height. If the vehicle has more weight in it than it had when it was aligned, the wheels will have more negative camber. It's a function of the geometry of the suspension system.

In theory, you could easily wear out a set of tires on the inside edge if you loaded the vehicle to the maximum and drove it for 10K miles.

However, in this specific case, the vehicle's springs remain in the identical position that they were when aligned. They are simply attached to smaller tires. The suspension system doesn't see the smaller tires..............the body simply sits closer to the ground.