BABolt, I am widening my wheels to 10.5 thru the same merchant that you used (thanks for your helpful input), I have found two tires that will fit. The Goodyear Supercar and the Pirelli P Zero. Both are about the same price. Since you mentioned the Supercar in another post, I was assuming that that is what you have on your set up. If so, how do you like them over the F1's as far as better traction? I had a set of Pirelli's before and loved them, so I was leaning toward them. At $350 a tire, any input would be much appreciated. Thanks, Jeff

 

Hi,
I have run the SuperCar F1's for two years now and I like them on the street but for drag racing they stink. Since they are an F1 their patern was a very close match to the front tires. I think you made a wise choice is going to 10.5 any wider would require a spacer and a good eye will pick up the off-set. James and Chris do excellent work so you are in good hands there.

 

All right then, I will do a little experimenting myself. I will go with the Pirelli's just to see how they do and post how I like themnext month. At this point, I would rather go with better traction and less wear. It's just too hard trying to excellerate quickly under 35 mph and not spinning out. Its expensive, but hey, somebody has to do it. Did you notice any difference with the extra width? Bottom line, if you bought a brand new 2003 Lightning (not the cobra), would you purchase the widened wheels again. Or better yet, are you going to widen the wheels on new baby (cobra)?? Thanks, Jeff

 

What I saw was more floatation with the wider tires. They drive well but I would have liked to have found the ultimate tire in a 315. As you know these trucks are torque monsters and I have so much low end torque that I turn these big tires at the base of my driveway when I shift from reverse to drive and with a very light tap of the throttle. Next time I will do some modifications that will not be apparent to most people and widen the wheels so that I can use the Michelin Pilot Radials, 295/35/18 for the front and 345/35/18 for the rear. Check the specs on these tires. I use them on two of my cars and I like them. As for the Cobra the wheels are in process. I modify all of my wheels. I even made front runners out of the stock ones for the racecar.

 

Hmmm, so do think the mod is worth it. I am about to spend over $1000 in the search for better traction so I can put my $4000 worth of mods to "practicle" work. I guess the bottom line is that I hope wider wheels and stickier tires will bring "noticebly" better traction. If not, I can plan plenty of better things for the family to spend the money on. I rationalize the expense on tires because if they allow me to capitalize on the extra power, they are worth it. But if they are only going to spin away just like the F1's, then lets not waste the money. What has been your experience???

 

To be honest with you they will just spin away. They never helped me at the drag strip but then at Milan nothing will. What you could do is mount a set of the Nitto Drag radials on the widened wheel and that should be a good combination. When I did the wheels for my Lightning it was for looks and they are fine on the street. The trucks handling is nice on wide sweepers but it was a no go for drag racing. You inquired about the Cobra wheel and I will widened a set to use a 315 drag radial as that tire size on a 9 inch wide wheel is a joke.

 

Hmm, should I or shouldn't I. I am already getting some slicks for the strip. This mod would only be for the street. But if they spin like all on the strip, I suppose they are going to spin like all on the street. I was just hoping that with a little wider than stock wheel and a stickier tire, it would give me noticably traction, but I guess what you are saying is "no", save your money. I guess I wanted to "hear" otherwise so badly that it is difficult to accept. But hey, sometimes the truth hurts!!

 

OK. Look at the possible good side the contact patch will be wider, you could just pick a very good tire for traction and you would have a traction gain. I just do not wish to give you bad information. I still like my combination very much. I never race on the street and for the drag strip there are just better combinations to choose from.

 

On the street you will always be at the mercy of the surface. Debris, oil, water, and all the other fun stuff hurts traction. A soft compound tire will offer more improvement than just a wider tire. A wider tire will offer better dry lateral traction. Both will be a compromise in one way or the other.