Custom wheels and tires are a great addition to any vehicle, but it is essential that you use the right wheels to fit your car correctly. A large wheel and tire combination may offer the look you want, but the wheels need to fit correctly on the chassis and not alter the vehicle's ride.

Wheel Fitment

Custom wheels that are larger than the original tires and wheels that came on the car can present some problems. The wheels first need to fit the vehicle, so they must have the correct bolt pattern for the lugnuts and wheel hub. The wheels also need to fit inside the fender wheels without rubbing the frame or the sheet metal. 

Custom wheels come with many different bolts patterns, so that is often not a significant issue. You just need to buy the correct wheels for your bolt pattern. To fit the wheels inside the wheel wells, you may need to order wheels with a custom offset at the mounting plate in the center of the wheel. 

The offset allows the wheel's centerline to be adjusted moving the wheel close to the frame, or out and away from it and closer to the body. This measurement can be complicated if the suspension on the car is altered, but a tire shop that offers auto wheel customization can help you with the proper measurement. 

Concerning Tires

Custom wheels with low-profile tires are pretty popular, but it is vital to remember that modern cars are engineered to use the tires as part of the suspension system. A vehicle with tires that have sidewalls with very little profile loses the flexibility of the tire sidewall, so the vehicle's ride quality can quickly diminish

If the custom wheels you want to use are significantly larger than the stock wheels, you may have to use a low-profile tire to make it fit. Alternatively, you may want to use custom wheels that are closer to the stock wheel size to retain the ride quality of the vehicle. 

Keep It Legal

Any custom wheels you purchase for your vehicle must be legal for use on the road. Some states limit the number of modifications you can make to your vehicle and still drive it on public streets, so it is crucial to find out what those limitations are. 

Often if the wheels and tires are tucked into the wheel well and covered, they will be okay, but if you need to use a deep offset that puts the tires outside the fender wells, you may want to add some fender flares or a wide body kit to ensure the wheels are inside the body of the car.