2002 Base Wheels & tires

[RemaxRalph]

I have 2002 base PT with 15" inch wheels-bolt on hub caps & Goodyear Tires w/ 12,000 highway miles. I want 17" wheels. Is there any market to sell my existing wheels & Tires? Will the same lug nuts work on the new tires. Will I have to recalibrate my speedometer?

[Air Ride PT]

Can't help you with selling your wheels, but here's a tire calculator to help you with your new wheels. http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html I got the link from powertrip's webpage. All you have to do is put in your stock size on one side, then put in the size of your new tires on the other. It will show you the size difference between the two and how much your speedo will be off. For example, I went from 205/55/16 to 225/45/17. Changing the overal tire diameter will not only screw up your speedometer reading, but it will also mess with your towing capabilities. Finally, most aftermarket wheels require "tuner" lugs. They are a lot thinner than your stock lugs, and all of mine were lock nuts, just a little added protection. Good luck.

[Mean Green]

Originally posted by RemaxRalph
I have 2002 base PT with 15" inch wheels-bolt on hub caps & Goodyear Tires w/ 12,000 highway miles. I want 17" wheels. Is there any market to sell my existing wheels & Tires? Will the same lug nuts work on the new tires. Will I have to recalibrate my speedometer?

Have tried to sell my 15" wheels, hubcaps and tires (12,000 miles also), off and on, for over a year. Tried the forums, garage sales, etc. Will keep trying.... The lugnuts have threads on them for the hubcaps. They will look ugly and stick out a ways..... Went to 16" wheels and tires on the '01 base PT and am actually going three mph faster than speedometer says. The speedo is controlled by the computer. I don't think you can recalibrate it.

[RubyRed]

I tried to post a response to this the last time the forums crashed so here we go again.

Try posting ads for your wheels when the fall gets here, lots of us live where snow tires are needed to get around reliably in the winter and the best way to mount them is on the steel 15" wheels (15'' snow tires are A LOT cheaper than 16" and there is more variety to pick from in the smaller size.)

Sell the rubber seperately,there are a lot of Cavalier, Neon and Sunfire owners who need those tires more than you do and you'll probably get more for the wheels and tires by selling them seperately than as a mounted set to a PT Cruiser owner.

As for lug nuts, most aftermarket wheel dealers will give or sell you new lugs when you get your new wheels (the lug seat is fairly wheel-specific), so save the old ones as spares or sell them with the wheels.

I wouldn't worry too much about throwing off the speedometer. If you believe the manufacturer's specs, a 195/65-15, a 205/55-16, a 225/50-16 and a 225/45-17 tire are all within about 1% of each others' diameter (24.9 or 25 inches when measured on an "ideal" wheel size). You'll only get a lot of variation from that if you fit a tire on a wider or narrower rim from the ''norm", the measured rim width listed in the manufacturer's specs. Adjust the diameter about 0.1inch for every 1/2'' difference in rim width from the measured rim width in the manufacturer's specs to figure out how close you are to the ideal diameter.

[Mean Green]

Originally posted by RubyRed
I wouldn't worry too much about throwing off the speedometer.

I'd worry. I changed from 15" to 16" and mine reads three mph slower than I'm actually going. I got clocked by a cop. What I saw on my speedometer and what he clocked me at was a 3 mph difference.

[RubyRed]

Originally posted by Mean Green


I'd worry. I changed from 15" to 16" and mine reads three mph slower than I'm actually going. I got clocked by a cop. What I saw on my speedometer and what he clocked me at was a 3 mph difference.

Just because a cop says he clocked you at 3 over doesn't mean you actually WERE going 3 over. What sucks, though, is that his speed equipment will stand up in court.

Was he using radar or one of those devices that requires him to trigger a timer twice as you cross two painted lines? A fraction of a second early on the second click can push you several MPH over your actual speed. I had a cop using this kind of set-up when he tried to tell me that my old P.O.S. Ford Windstar was accellerating from a traffic light at 58MPH in a 35 zone. There was no way that van was capable of that kind of accelleration and when I politely pressed the issue and inquired about his method of speed detection he backed down.

When you switched from the 15" to the 16" wheels, were they factory rims and tires or did you use aftermarket? Your first post didn't say.

[Mean Green]

Originally posted by RubyRed


Just because a cop says he clocked you at 3 over doesn't mean you actually WERE going 3 over. What sucks, though, is that his speed equipment will stand up in court.

Was he using radar or one of those devices that requires him to trigger a timer twice as you cross two painted lines? A fraction of a second early on the second click can push you several MPH over your actual speed. I had a cop using this kind of set-up when he tried to tell me that my old P.O.S. Ford Windstar was accellerating from a traffic light at 58MPH in a 35 zone. There was no way that van was capable of that kind of accelleration and when I politely pressed the issue and inquired about his method of speed detection he backed down.

When you switched from the 15" to the 16" wheels, were they factory rims and tires or did you use aftermarket? Your first post didn't say.

The cop was using radar and had me doing 30mph in a 25 zone. My speedo said 27 mph and I knew he was behind me. I've also passed those speed machines on the way to work that tell you how fast you are going and there is always a 3mph difference. I switched from factory 15" to factory 16" mags off of an LE PT.

[RubyRed]

Mean Green, are you sure you had factory tire sizes (195/65-15 and 205/55-16) on both sets of wheels? Even if the 15'' tires were fully worn before the switch there's no way you should see a 10% speedometer error!