ABS & Tire Size Warning - Fact Or Fiction?

[No_Quarter]

The guys told me down at Townfair Tire that I had to stay with the OEM tire size on my Lumina Euro. The OEM size is 215/60-16. They said if I go with any other size this would throw my ABS off and cause pre-mature ABS modulation. Has anyone ever heard of this phenomenon? I wanted to go a bit wider like a 225.

 

Thanks!

[Guest]

It is recommended at most places, but I don't necessarily believe that is true. What it is, is with a lot of cars, if you have ABS, and you try to replace the wheels, they will not work. EXAMPLE: A guy came into Sears (where I work). He had just bought a wheel from a junkyard because one of his had bent (nice aluminum ones. Not the steel ones with hubcaps). He wanted us to put it on for him. We did because it LOOKED identical. when we went to back the car out of the bad, we heard a BAD grinding noise. We took the wheel, off, and the underside was differant. HE HAD ABS, AND THE CAR THAT THE WHEEL CAME OFF OF DID NOT!!!!! You will also notice if you go to AAArims.com, and look up certain cars that it will say that the wheel is differant between ABS, and NON-ABS cars. Do a search for a 1991 Oldsmobile Toronado, and it will have 2 pictures that look the same, but it says they are differant.

 

As to the width of the tire, you just have to make sure that you don't go too wide. Going from a 215 to a 225 should not be a probles, but keep in mind that a 225-60-16 is TALLER than a 215-60-16. Despite what people think, "60" is not the HEIGHT. It is the aspect RATIO!!!!! the example is if the TREAD WIDTH is 215, the HEIGHT is "60" % of the width. A 195-75-14 is WIDTH: 195, HEIGHT: 75% of the width (195) RIMS SIZE: 14

 

Hope this helps.

Taylor

[GnatGoSplat]

On a W-body, there is no difference in wheels between ABS and non-ABS. That's because the calipers and everything else are the same, the wheel speed sensors are integrated into the hub in the rear and behind the hub on the front so no interference with the wheel.

 

Anyway, so long as all 4 tires are the same size, you will be okay. The ABS detects loss of traction by comparing the speed of all 4 tires. If it detects one wheel spinning faster than the rest, it thinks that wheel is slipping. One wheel will only spin faster than the rest if it's a different size than the others.

[No_Quarter]

Anyway, so long as all 4 tires are the same size, you will be okay. The ABS detects loss of traction by comparing the speed of all 4 tires. If it detects one wheel spinning faster than the rest, it thinks that wheel is slipping. One wheel will only spin faster than the rest if it's a different size than the others.

 

Thanks! I didnt think it would matter as long as the tires were matched.

225/55-16 it is.

[Lee]

My 91 Regal came with 14" wheels and 205/70/14 tires. I've run two sets of 225/70/14's in the last 5 1/2 years and absolutely no trouble with my ABS. Powermaster III.

 

I'm just running cheapies up front right now because of tire wear problems from needing new outer tie rods.

 

Also got my glasspack in today. It sounds better and a bit quieter. I won't know how well it eliminated the rasp until I hear someone else drive it.

 

I put the flow Tech "Purple Hornies" on it. It had the scalloped cuts inside. I wandered through Champion Auto today and looked inside a Thrusher glasspack.......little bitty holes all in rows about an inch apart. The scallops in the flow tech were much bigger and laid out in a swirl design. And it was much heavier.

 

Just sharing.

[Lee]

Anyway, so long as all 4 tires are the same size, you will be okay. The ABS detects loss of traction by comparing the speed of all 4 tires. If it detects one wheel spinning faster than the rest, it thinks that wheel is slipping. One wheel will only spin faster than the rest if it's a different size than the others.

 

I've had smaller tires up front for over one year and haven't noticed a problem. Can you tell me more about this wheel slip detection deal. my anti-loc worked fine last winter. Never loved it but it worked.

[GnatGoSplat]

Slightly smaller tires shouldn't have much effect because the ABS has to compensate for turning, when the outside wheels are rotating faster than the inside wheels.

[GPRACER]

Different size tires are ok as long as they are all the same, and ABS will still work, BUT, actual stopping distances may be greater when the ABS is active. The pcm also detects distance traveled when comparing wheel speed, the trick is to maintain the same outside rolling diameter as the original tires.

 

for example I switched recently from original 205 70 R 15 to 235 50 R 17 almost exactly the same rolling diameter but way better handling and traction. sombody posted a link to a great tire size calculator here.

 

http://www.secret-secret.com/turbo/DIY/tirecalc/turbotire.html

 

you can compare actual diameters.