Stretched tires, are they legal and safe?

"It's a long stretch."

Are stretched tires safe? This is a question we get asked over and over again.

Firstly we do not recommend or condone tire stretching but we shall cover this topic in a sympathetic way giving both sides of the arguments for and against.

There are 2 schools of thought on this subject and we aim to cover the pros and cons in as open and unbiased way as we can, and we welcome your comments below.

Firstly a bit of an introduction.

What is a stretched tire?

This is a tire which has been fitted to a much wider rim than it was originally intended or designed to fit.

Stretches vary from an inch to around 3 inches. It has gained a lot of popularity in VW circles and the look is really starting to take off.

The benefits of stretched tires are that they look great (this is a matter of subjective opinion though).

They also allow you to run much wider rims without having to alter the arches or bodywork as no part of the tire may protrude from the bodywork.

We have heard many horror stories including the increased risk of blow outs, or sudden deflation and the extra risk of kerbing your alloys.

We have even heard of track days where cars running big stretches would often lose tire pressure and "blow out".

There are obviously wide variations in stretch, some are just 1cm of a stretch, and we've seen very large 5cm stretches!

So lets look at the two main arguments for and against them.

Stretched tires are dangerous and risky :

The argument against stretched tires.

Are stretched tires safe or even legal, TorqueCars attempt to unpick the arguments for and against.

The arguments against stretched tires will cite that a cars tires are designed to fit a specific width of rim.

Tire makers will not warrant their products fitted outside of tolerances and the speed ratings will typically be a few steps lower than a correctly fitted tire.

The load bearing wall of the tire is designed to be at around a 90 degree tangent to the rim and under cornering this allows a small degree of vertical 'wobble' which aids cornering feel and grip.

They will state that stretched tires are no longer within this ideal tolerance and probably 80 or 70 degrees from the rim so subjected to extra stresses and strains.

They are also more likely to pop away from the bead when the pressure drops than a standard fitting tire.

On heavy driving, a stretched tires wear pattern, will be different to that of a standard tire with a greatly increased edge wear.

The narrower tire width also reduces grip and traction - most people fit wider tires to increase the grip and this seems diametrically opposed to that philosophy.

Stretched tires are perfectly safe :

The Argument For stretched tires.

Modern tires and especially low profile tires have much thicker walls and are more than capable of handling the extra loads they might be subjected to.

In a pneumatic tire the car is resting effectively on a bubble of air so the actual walls of the tire are less important when it comes to strength.

If the tire pressures are maintained correctly there should be no risk of the tire popping off the rim under cornering. A lot of those with stretched tires run with much higher pressures than a conventionally fitted tire.

Lots of people have stretched tires on their cars without any problems at all. The narrower footprint argument is also immaterial as generally speaking the rim size has been increased and standard tire widths are used.

Now unpicking these 2 arguments is not going to be easy. There are going to be lovers and haters of stretched tires and neither side is going to back down.

They are getting more popular and the craze is really catching on. As with any modification one has to examine the parts used and the dimensions involved.

It is fair to say that the larger the stretch the greater the risk of having a problem with your tire.

We can also say that those who drive hard or use cars on tracks subject the car to a lot of extra wear and tear.

So the use of the car also comes into it.

Whilst one make of tire might be ideal for a stretch, by virtue of the tread pattern and sidewall construction another may prove woefully inadequate. Different rim sizes and tire profiles also have a bearing  on this issue.

We would have to concede that stretched tires can be perfectly safe in some situations where the stretch is not excessive, the car is not driven too hard and the tires are properly maintained.

The risks of damage from a kerb also needs to be mentioned as most tires give a degree of protection to a rim. Personally I don't like the look and do not recommend them from that point of view.

There is also the question of whether these tires are legal. We are obviously based in the UK and we know that regulations vary from state to state and country to country. But from a UK MOT test point of view (as at the time of writing) there  are no points raised specifically concerning stretched tires.

Insurance companies may not be happy though and tend to take a cautious view of any modifications made to a car.

If an accident happened that could be directly attributed to the stretched tire there will certainly be questions raised about the "did the insured take reasonable steps to maintain his vehicle in a road worthy state" clause.

As with any modification always notify and get your insurers approval or you would invalidate your policy cover.

Any changes to tyre size/shape/dimension is a notifiable change or modification from standard of your vehicle.

The law and stretched tires:

It is also worth noting that the Motor Vehicles Approval Regs 2001 section 16 state that tires should be of a nominal size appropriate to the wheel to which it is fitted.

The police have also taken a dim view of these in the past and issued warnings and penalties under various construction and use clauses.

In some countries cars with stretched tires have been siezed and impounded. We've heard of drivers getting on the spot fines and penalties too.

This one webpage is unable to comment on the specific laws and regulations of each country so bear this in mind when making a decision to stretch your tire and seek local regulatory guidance.

We would also refer you to the more recent UK "road vehicles (Construction & Use) regulations 1986", and specifically Regs 24 to 27 concerning tires.

The lack of specific legislation either against or for stretched tires does not add to the clarity of this issue.

"Appropriate" in our mind rules out excessive stretches.

Tire manufacturers specify suitable width rims for their tires as further guidelines to those wanting a "stretched look". Speed ratings are also nominally lower on stretched tires in use so this needs to be born in mind.

Personally I'd leave majorly stretched tires to show use only.

There is a degree of common sense required here. Check your tire makers specifications and don't go to the extreme.

Very minor stretches have always been used to fit tires to rims and are within the manufacturers tolerances.

I'm sure tire makers will pick up on this trend and provide specific stretch designs that are suitable for this type of look.

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8 Responses to “Stretched tires legal & safe?”

  1. Scottyb2103 says:

    I’m a tyre fitter and my opinion on Stretched tyres is that yeah they look kool but would you wanna look kool or be safe?? it is highly dangerous to fit a tyre to a rim that is not within the width specification for many reasons, such as.. it will give no improvement on handling it will dramatically worsen the handling of the vehicle, yes there is chance the tyre could pop off the rim cornering at high/low speeds or even loss of pressure which will also change the vehicles characteristics..uneven tyre will be another factor, you will see wear on either edges where the tread has formed a bend in the middle thus less contact with the road..this uneven wear will be a faster rate than regular wear and a few of you dumb asses will be paying out for unnecessary wheel alignment checks…you could stop this bend in the tread by applying extra pressure to the tyre but then again you are altering the vehicles spec causing handling problems and adverse effects on your braking system..is it really worth risking your life to look good?? personally i think the safer way of a flush wall to the rim looks way better than scraping a few mil on the suspension…think about it!!

  2. TCJBOLDIE says:

    Stretched tyres that are excessive and outside the makers fitment specs are in MHO dangerous and generally only seen on slammed fully sic cars with wanna be boy racers/ricers behind the wheel and often wearing a flat brim cap worn at a silly angle.

  3. jay says:

    if a drift car can drift a corner at 100mph with stretched tyres, then i would trust them not to do something “highly dangerous” when attacking a roundabout at 30mph

  4. TCJBOLDIE says:

    Each to their own I agree that drifters use them BUT they are not insured and dedicated drift cars are not normally road registered.
    That said I would not want to be claiming insurance on a car with excessively stretched tyres as the acessor will be looking for any excuse to deny your claim due to the tyres being outside the makers recommended fitment guidelines and could be deemed as unroadworthy when the policy requires the vehicle to be kept in a roadyworthy state.

  5. stevo4756 says:

    A MINOR stretch is easy to get away with. Some of the factory low pros on new cars these days are thin compared to most. If your insurance adjuster gets down on all fours with a measuring tape to measure your rim width, then convert that to MM and compare to the tires it sounds to me like you need a different insurance company. Like the author of the thread said there are no federal regulations laying this out for the consumer. Basically, “Don’t go too extreme”…

  6. TCJBOLDIE says:

    Just remember that an assessor is not working for a charitable institution and IF he does a thorough inspection that he is paid to do then he well may deem your car “unroadworthy”and deny your claim AND you will be pursued by the other parties insurer If you have collided with another vehicle or property.
    IF you must fit stretched tyres then I would strongly advise that you get WRITTEN approval from your insurer.Verbal approval is only as good as the paper it is written on.

  7. Keith says:

    It’s spelt Tyres

  8. TorqueCars says:

    NB: Only shown as Tyres on our .co.uk site, this US oriented .com site has the US spelling of Tires.

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