Am I overthinking doing a 2022 RTL Front Tire Change?

[FRALEYW]

I just received my new tires Continental ContiProContact 165/60R15 77T and I placed them up against my OEM tires and felt under the front fender and now I'm starting to get worried that they are not going to fit. I know that a lot of people are running these on the front. Should I worry myself to death all weekend until I can get them put on or am I just overthinking this?

General AltiMAX RT45 225/60R15 96H comes in tomorrow for the back tire.

 

[Peter Aawen]

You're overthinking this!

There are Spyder Owners out there running 185 wide tires in various low profile sizes under the stock fenders with no issues; others running 175/65R15 tires with no issues; and very few who've had any problems fitting the same size & brand/model of the same tires you're planning on fitting! But do remember to check their pressures after they've been fitted - they AREN'T motorcycle tires, and despite needing about 40 psi for a moment or two in order to properly seat the bead, you'll only need about 18 psi in them to comfortably carry the weight of a fully (over)loaded Spyder.

Back to fitting them - the fenders are flexible enough to allow even a 175/65R15 to be slipped in there, and the only things 'inside' the wheel well that have any likely possibility of impeding that tire fitting are the screw heads holding the fenders on (which project into the wheel well about 10mm - if necessary, swap them for readily available pan-head screws); the struts supporting the fenders (which can easily be spaced out with a few washers IF that's necessary, or gently pressured/bent a tiny touch so they clear everything); and possibly the wiring for the lights in the fenders (wiring which is sometimes run along the inside of the struts by a lazy assembler rather than tucked behind the struts where they should fit it!) There's nothing there that is insurmountable, and nothing that really causes any issues with fitting such a similarly sized tire to the OEM size!

So relax, and don't sweat the small stuff. Those tires will fit, even if there's some minor tweaking required - hey, as many Spyder Owners have found, even BIGGER tires will fit in there too, often without any minor tweaking, so you really don't need to stress about it.

Enjoy, and please tell us what you think of the new tires after you've done a couple of hundred miles on them. We really do like to hear how things went.

 

[FRALEYW]

You're overthinking this!

There are Spyder Owners out there running 185 wide tires in various low profile sizes under the stock fenders with no issues; others running 175/65R15 tires with no issues; and very few who've had any problems fitting the same size & brand/model of the same tires you're planning on fitting! But do remember to check their pressures after they've been fitted - they AREN'T motorcycle tires, and despite needing about 40 psi for a moment or two in order to properly seat the bead, you'll only need about 18 psi in them to comfortably carry the weight of a fully loaded Spyder.

Back to fitting them - the fenders are flexible enough to allow even a 175/65R15 to be slipped in there, and the only things 'inside' the wheel well that have any likely possibility of impeding that tire fitting are the screw heads holding the fenders on (which project into the wheel well about 10mm - if necessary, swap them for readily available pan-head screws); the struts supporting the fenders (which can easily be spaced out with a few washers IF that's necessary, or gently pressured/bent a tiny touch so they clear everything); and possibly the wiring for the lights in the fenders (which are sometimes run along the inside of the struts by a lazy assembler rather than tucked behind them where they should fit them!) There's nothing there that is insurmountable, and nothing that really causes any issues with fitting such a similarly sized tire!

So relax, and don't sweat the small stuff. Those tires will fit, even if there's some minor tweaking required - hey, as many Spyder Owners have found, even BIGGER tires will fit in there too, often without any minor tweaking, so you really don't need to stress about it.

Enjoy, and please tell us what you think of the new tires after you've done a couple of hundred miles on them. We really do like to hear how things went.

Thank you. I'm really looking forward to the new tires; I've heard such great things about changing them. I will definitely come back and update this thread. Thank you again.

 

[Knizar]

You will have no problem with the continentals on the front.
The rear tire of 225/60R15 may cause problems rubbing the back flap on your rear fender, and bottom out when hitting potholes as it is about .43" taller diameter than the 215/60R15.

Bill