# winter tires



## jane (Jun 18, 2008)

Hi,

I drire a 1999 Pathfinder, a friend told me to change it to winter tires (winter is coming soon down here...).

I'm not a car expert to say the least.....

All the shops i visited offered me a 15 inch winter rim, but right now the car has 16 inch (quite the efforts to learn all of this info...).

Does this matter or can i have these rims fitted on to my car?

Thank you very much,
Jane.


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## jane (Jun 18, 2008)

*anybody out there?*

Can't anyone help me?


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## MLWRS18 (Jun 6, 2008)

I would suggest just staying with the rim size you have. That way you know it will fit.

I recall some discussion on another Pathfinder forum on just this issue. There was a question of the 15" wheels (which were the size on Pathfinders before 1999) would fit over the bigger brakes found on 99-04 versions. There was no clear answer, it really depended on the wheel.

So I would either get a set of 16" wheels for the Pathfinder and mount the snow tires on them or just mount the snow tires on your current wheels (sometimes called rims). 

For both our Sienna and Pathfinder we do the first option as our tire shop offers free rotations as part of the price, so we save about $80 CDN twice per year. That savings pays for the new wheels in about 3 years.

If you still want to go the 15" wheel route, get the tire shop to fit the wheel over the front and back brakes to make sure they will not rub. Note too that by changing the size of your tire you will change how your odometer/speedometer reads.

Hope this helps.


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## underling (Nov 26, 2006)

if you change the tire size. you can inch up or down , all you have to do is change the tire aspect ratio. For instance, a 31x10.5x15 tire is the same overall diameter as a 265/70/r16. no odometer change. also, the change on a 1" overall diameter to your speedometer is less than 1% at 110km/hour.
all that being said, i agree that you should at least keep the same size rim as stock. or as i do, use the stock rim for winter use and buy a nice aftermarket for spring/summer/fall. the cost of aftermarket rims is minimal now and the rims will pay for themselves in savings changing the rubber on them.


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## jane (Jun 18, 2008)

Thank you very much for your advice.

I found some info, I used this site a few times in the past & was happy to discover that they also have a new car section, it seems quite helpful.
That's what i found -
Nissan 1999.5 pathfinder winter rims - FixYa

Pls let me know what you think of it, i would like to hear a second opinion about the info at this site.

Thank you for your time,
Jane.


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## 88pathoffroad (Jun 6, 2004)

Did you not ask at the tire shop? I'd think they would be the people to ask about wheel size changes and tire choice.


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## K03Sport (Jun 1, 2008)

88pathoffroad said:


> Did you not ask at the tire shop? I'd think they would be the people to ask about wheel size changes and tire choice.


you would think a tire shop would know what's best....right?

for winter, I would find/buy 4 steel 16" wheels (same used with the spare tire) and mount 4 dedicated winter tires on them. You will have to find a place to store your now summer wheels/tires, but having two sets of tires will make it easier to swap out tires as the season changes. Plus it will put less wear and tear on your current wheels when you have tires mounted and dismounted each season. 

Now, for winter tires, I would reccomend tires from Nokian, in particular their Hakkapaletta. Hopefully there is a Nokian tire retailer near you.


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## C-DUB (Jul 27, 2007)

I would stay with 16", more traction.


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## westslope (Jun 25, 2008)

"Here"? Mysterious..... Are you hiding from the law?

I run 4-season M&S on my '93 pathie in the snow with no difficulties.

Unless you are driving huge snow drifts in mountainous southern Chile, why bother with expensive, noisy snow tires? There's always 4WD.


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## 88pathoffroad (Jun 6, 2004)

Why would 16" wheels give more traction? It's the tires that contact the ground.


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## R50 Nismo (Jun 26, 2008)

i run my pro comp xtreme mt's all winter long...here in Ontario Canada we get alot of snow...if anything ever gets to slick i just shift into 4wd...get yourself a nice pair of goodyear silent armor's or BF Goodrick Ko's...they are rated for winter traction aswell.. you can run them all year long with no troubles and you'll even be able to take them offroad..


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## westslope (Jun 25, 2008)

FWIW, I run 4-season M&S Michelin LTX tires on the '93 pathie off-road on a frequent basis. Scree, mud bogs, rivers. 

Never had a problem where I wished I had big, nobby, noisy, fuel inefficient tires. I've wished I had a D-7 Cat on occasion....


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## jane (Jun 18, 2008)

What's the weather like where you live? do you face snow?


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## westslope (Jun 25, 2008)

I could be facing charges on a triple homicide, I cannot reveal that information. How about you?


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## C-DUB (Jul 27, 2007)

88pathoffroad said:


> Why would 16" wheels give more traction? It's the tires that contact the ground.


Doesn't bigger = more surface area?

Thus, more traction.


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## westslope (Jun 25, 2008)

More surface contact (if required--not adviseable really) can be accomplished by reducing the air pressure in the tire.


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## greybrick (Feb 11, 2008)

C-DUB said:


> Doesn't bigger = more surface area?
> 
> Thus, more traction.


Bigger = more surface area = less pounds of vehicle weight per square inch = slide into the ditch. 

.


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## underling (Nov 26, 2006)

you can get tires just as wide in a 16" as you can with 15s. its the aspect ratio vs the overall diameter. a 31x10.5x15 is the same o/d as a 265/70/16 and approximately the same width. 
a wider tire helps with traction to a certain extent, it all depends on who you talk to and what you believe. i have researched this extensively and there are as many arguements for one as there is the other and i still havent decided which school i belong to.


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## greybrick (Feb 11, 2008)

Some interesting reading on winter tires from TireRack;

Winter Tire Tech at Tire Rack

.


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