Sorry in advance if this has already been asked, but I'm looking for some guidance on wheels/tires.

Just bought the 08 Pathy V8..totally love it, but would like to change up the wheels/tires from soccer mom to stud. I'm torn between putting more aggressive tires (more offroad looking) on the existing rim or just going to a 20/22" wheel with more of a sport tire.

Does anyone know what the biggest tire is that I could get on there without rubbing? I like the Goodyear Wrangler SilentArmor 275/65r18, but couldn't tell if it would hit. The tire guy said the size is custom order and that he'd hate to put it on my ride and then have to take them off. They would not be able to send them back.

Also, if anyone is riding on 20" or 22", is the ride worse? I've heard some rumblings about the ride going to !#*&^ after putting a larger diameter wheel on. If you have some pics with measurements (i.e. tires size, wheel diameter and width) to share, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks for the help!!

I've got 285/75-16s on my truck and it fits fine with just some minor fender liner modifications: http://www.thenissanpath.com/viewtopic.php?t=321 Therefore I'd suggest don't do a diameter larger than that nor width wider than 285 unless you want to get more extreme in your tweaks to make it fit.

Sweet ride! What minor mods did you have to make? Just cuts? Thanks again.

Click the link I provided, it details the minor head-gun work.

First off, I have to tell Carl to stop posting pictures with the 285s-the temptation hits the redline whenever I see them.

Birdbath8 wrote: Just bought the 08 Pathy V8..totally love it, but would like to change up the wheels/tires from soccer mom to stud. I'm torn between putting more aggressive tires (more offroad looking) on the existing rim or just going to a 20/22" wheel with more of a sport tire.

My biggest question would be this: are you in the market for a "look," or actual function? If you even think of leaving the pavement, then I would go for some kind of all terrain/all season on your existing wheels. If you don't, then anything is fair game.

When you have larger diameter wheels, a couple of things happen:

1. Ride becomes very firm-there is much less cushion to absorb even the tiniest of bumps, and the PF is no featherweight.
2. If you hit a pothole, odds will be substantially greater that the tire(s) will get shredded, which means buying a replacement. I had this happen 2 weeks ago in a Jetta, and it caused a 3 inch gash in the sidewall.

I will take my pathfinder off-road on occasion, but it will mainly be for town and highway driving.

I noticed in Carl's original thread about tires and Death Valley (amazing pics btw) that the 285/75r16 were too big..there was a comment that some major cuts would have to take place in order for them to fit. In this string it is indicated that these same tires do fit with only minor mods.

I don't want to do any mods to the fender lining, so with the tire size i'm considering 275/65r18 I would be at about 32.07" total diameter vs. Carl's total diameter of 32.83" with a width of 10.83" vs Carl's width of 11.22". Carl, since you appear to be the most experienced in this area, can you tell me with any certainty if I'll hit the fender lining?

Thanks again.

I would stay away from anything any larger than 31.7" x 10.5" that size will rub a tiny bit especially if your suspension has any sag to it. But no need to modify anything with those... depends if you mind a little rub or not?