Minor Concern On Uprading To 20's
09-17-06, 07:30 AM
#1
Minor Concern On Uprading To 20's
Well fellow GS owners, summer is just about done and within two months I'll be removing my rims and putting the stocks back on in time for winter. As my sig says, I have 18's and wanna put on 20's. Should I be concerned about the tires rubbing or making some form of contact with the fender or car's wheel well let's say when I drive on a dip on the road. Is there anything else that I may or will have to be done to minimize that such as getting suspension mods. For a time, my car looked nice with the rims on, but I want it too look nicerrrr with those 20's. Am I concerned about nothing 
09-17-06, 08:48 AM
#2
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If you plan to lower the car, you should be concerned about rubbing. If you plan to do coilovers, then at least you can adjust the height accordingly.
If you plan to do nothing regarding lowering, then you should be fine as long as the wheel offset is within spec and usually wheel vendors will help you with that.
Although you will get a lot of "Now lower that baby" or "Lotsa Gap" or "Hey Cool Man! You need to lower it now" when you start posting pics of your new wheels on here and decide not to lower it yet. In any case, you do need to consider rubbing issues. To be honest, a good set of 20's do look funny without some sort of lowering. The gap makes it look like a 4x4 with dubs. LOL! Good luck!
If you plan to do nothing regarding lowering, then you should be fine as long as the wheel offset is within spec and usually wheel vendors will help you with that.
Although you will get a lot of "Now lower that baby" or "Lotsa Gap" or "Hey Cool Man! You need to lower it now" when you start posting pics of your new wheels on here and decide not to lower it yet. In any case, you do need to consider rubbing issues. To be honest, a good set of 20's do look funny without some sort of lowering. The gap makes it look like a 4x4 with dubs. LOL! Good luck!
09-17-06, 01:54 PM
#3
If you plan to lower the car, you should be concerned about rubbing. If you plan to do coilovers, then at least you can adjust the height accordingly.
If you plan to do nothing regarding lowering, then you should be fine as long as the wheel offset is within spec and usually wheel vendors will help you with that.
Although you will get a lot of "Now lower that baby" or "Lotsa Gap" or "Hey Cool Man! You need to lower it now" when you start posting pics of your new wheels on here and decide not to lower it yet. In any case, you do need to consider rubbing issues. To be honest, a good set of 20's do look funny without some sort of lowering. The gap makes it look like a 4x4 with dubs. LOL! Good luck!
If you plan to do nothing regarding lowering, then you should be fine as long as the wheel offset is within spec and usually wheel vendors will help you with that.
Although you will get a lot of "Now lower that baby" or "Lotsa Gap" or "Hey Cool Man! You need to lower it now" when you start posting pics of your new wheels on here and decide not to lower it yet. In any case, you do need to consider rubbing issues. To be honest, a good set of 20's do look funny without some sort of lowering. The gap makes it look like a 4x4 with dubs. LOL! Good luck!
Even with low profiles??
09-17-06, 03:36 PM
#4
yeah man, you really should lower it with the 20s. check out my picture gallery on here, a few pages in, and youll find pics of my car at stock height with 16s, lowered with 16s, lowered with 17 inch stocks, and now with the 20 inch staggered axis milanos... you definitely do not want to be driving around with 20s with the car at stock height, it REALLY makes the car look cheap sorta ghetto IMO....especially for the amount you can get a decent set of springs/shocks for in comparison to how much your going to spend for those 20 inch wheels and tires! also, my car is my daily driver and i live in NY where the roads are BAD and ive still yet to run into any kind of issues with the lowering or the big wheels/low profile tires... another thing which was already brought up is offset and width..these are two of the most important things to consider when youre picking out wheels so they sit right with your setup... you should get a hold of d2autosport (member/wheel vendor here on this site) pick his brain a little bit and check out his selection of wheels for your gs...they have tons...and they pride themselves on selling wheels that are designed to fit your vehicle PERFECTLY based on your specific setup...you can also PM me if you have any other questions.... also do a search in this forum on 20 inch wheels and wheel gap and stuff like gs with 20's etc etc etc you will be surprised the amount of stuff the search will turn up if you give it a few runs... oh yeah, welcome to CL 
Last edited by upstateGS4; 09-17-06 at 03:40 PM.
09-20-06, 12:26 PM
#5
Biggest problem I have is when on the freeway and going around a good corner at a high speed, I get some rubbing in the front, mainly on the drivers side. On the rear, I think Ive hit the fender like twice, and thats whith four people in the car and I hit a dip in the road. You do need to be more cautious, but it worth the look. My cars pretty low though.
09-20-06, 07:06 PM
#6
Biggest problem I have is when on the freeway and going around a good corner at a high speed, I get some rubbing in the front, mainly on the drivers side. On the rear, I think Ive hit the fender like twice, and thats whith four people in the car and I hit a dip in the road. You do need to be more cautious, but it worth the look. My cars pretty low though.
09-20-06, 08:31 PM
#7
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Rubbing
I have 20's on my gs and they will rub if you don't [put the right size tires. I first went with 255/35/20 and they rubbed everytime I made a hard right turn. Now I have 245/35/20 and they are not as wide and do not rub. As far as dropping it I am puttin bags on mine eventually becasue I do alot of shows and drivin gmy GS around Houston dropped would be a very rough ride. So the bags would allow me to lift it the way I have it right now.
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09-20-06, 09:11 PM
#8
The car has been lower, but Im not sure by how much. I think its the L-tunes springs on it. I bought the car this way. It has 20" wheels and I dont remember the tire size and its too late to go look in the garage. (My cars going to the dealer for service tommorrow so I put the stock wheels back on last night.) The 20's are huge compared to the stock wheels. The pics look like theres more room than there really is. on the rear I can put my finger in the gap and not much more. Theres more room in the front, but thats where I get my rubbing on fast turns. Let me know if you want actual tire size and Ill get the sizes tommorrow. It fits perfect. who ever put this wheel/tire setup on my car did a good job. Its night and day going from the 20's back to the stock wheels.
09-21-06, 11:24 AM
#12
If you get tire sizes that most of us have, the diameter will be about 1" more than OEM. With the extra 1", you will be 1/2" closer to the fender so yes you will close the gap. Still the gap is not that small. On top of this, the other 1/2" gained in the diameter is towards the ground. You are now 1/2" higher than OEM. With the still good size gap, more metal, less than OEM rubber, and higher off the ground, the car will again look more like a 4x4.
The only solution if you want 20s: drop it.
My personal preference with 20s is that it is minimal to do a mild drop AND a mild kit (unless you really lower the car).
Last edited by Neo; 09-23-06 at 10:02 AM.
09-22-06, 09:41 AM
#14
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Neo and rominl...Howz my gap???? LOL!
I only lowered it with no body kit except for the TTE front lip. I THINK I clear driveways better now so that must mean the body is a little higher than previously with my 18's...
Brent
Brent
09-22-06, 12:29 PM
#15
If you get tires with sizes that retain the OEM diameter (there is more availability of these sizes then before), it really does not matter if you have 18s, 19s, or 20s. The gap will still be the same. With the same gap, less rubber, and more metal, it will look more like a 4x4.
If you get tire sizes that most of us have, the diameter will be about 1" more than OEM. With the extra 1", you will be 1/2" closer to the fender so yes you will close the gap. Still the gap is not that small. On top of this, the other 1/2" gained in the diameter is towards the ground. You are not 1/2" higher than OEM. With the still good size gap, more metal, less than OEM rubber, and higher off the ground, the car will again look more like a 4x4.
The only solution if you want 20s: drop it.
My personal preference with 20s is that it is minimal to do a mild drop AND a mild kit (unless you really lower the car).
If you get tire sizes that most of us have, the diameter will be about 1" more than OEM. With the extra 1", you will be 1/2" closer to the fender so yes you will close the gap. Still the gap is not that small. On top of this, the other 1/2" gained in the diameter is towards the ground. You are not 1/2" higher than OEM. With the still good size gap, more metal, less than OEM rubber, and higher off the ground, the car will again look more like a 4x4.
The only solution if you want 20s: drop it.
My personal preference with 20s is that it is minimal to do a mild drop AND a mild kit (unless you really lower the car).
This is the info that I needed. And thanks to ROMINL, NEO, and EFMJR for the insight and pics. I've yet to post any pics of my GS since it looks like a "4X4" as most. I plan to stop at shop where I bought my rims from and inquire about getting my GS dropped. If you guys know how much that I'll have to shell out please let me know. Since I'll be throwing back on the stock wheels in a couple of months, I'll most likely wait 'til next spring to have the car dropped and save up during the winter depending on how much it'll cost.