What Is Staggered Wheel Fitment, and Why Do It?

By Tire Agent Staff

November 18, 2022

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If you're a gearhead, you likely know much more about cars than the average Joe. Your friends and family probably turn to you to find out what that check engine light means or why their brakes are squeaking.

But do you know everything about tires? There is more to learn about tires than size and aspect ratio. With the proper techniques, tires can change the look of your vehicle and even how it performs. That leads us to staggered wheels, sometimes called offset wheels. No, not wheel offset. That's an entirely different thing. Tap or click here for our post on wheel offset to learn more about wheel offset.

Today, let's focus on staggered wheel fitments. We'll explain what staggered fitment is, and the pros and cons of having different wheels and tires in the front and back of certain types of vehicles.

What Does Staggered Tires Mean?

Staggered tires refer to a setup where the tires – and often the wheels – on the rear axle of the vehicle are larger in overall diameter than those on the front axle. This staggered application means running wider or larger wheels and tires on the rear of your vehicle than the ones on the front. This configuration provides increased front grip for turn in, better braking, and better thermal management.

What is Staggered Fitment?

First, let's explain the meaning of fitment as it applies to cars. Fitment means your tires, and sometimes rims, are different sizes in the front of your vehicle versus the rear.

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Why would someone want different wheels in the front versus the back? There are a couple of reasons. First, it can make your vehicle look really cool. If you haven't seen a sports car with staggered wheels, check one out. You might fall in love immediately!

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Another reason is to boost your car's performance. When done right, staggered wheels can give you the performance boost you're looking for, which we'll explain later. Now let's describe what it means to have staggered wheels.

Staggered wheel fitment explained

With staggered wheels, you typically have rear wheels slightly larger than the front. However, if you have a front-wheel drive vehicle, that will be reversed with marginally larger wheels in the front. And there are two variations of staggered wheels.

The first deals with the tire's width. The easiest way to stagger tires is to look at the first three digits in a tire's size and put different sizes from the front to the rear. This allows you to change a tire's width without changing rims.

A little more effort is needed for the second staggered wheel configuration. You may be familiar with the phrase staggered rims. It's when the rim size is altered, causing the tire to have a wider diameter. Some prefer bigger rims to wider tires, but to achieve this, you must ensure that your car has enough clearance after the new wheels are mounted.

In the next section, we'll discuss the pros and cons of staggering your tires and wheels. But first, take note. If your vehicle is relatively new, there is a chance that the manufacturer will view a staggered application as a modification that voids the warranty. So check with the warranty company before making modifications.

Pros of Staggered Wheels and Tires

Staggered wheels have a few advantages, with increased traction being the most notable.

The rear tires provide the most traction in a vehicle with rear-wheel drive. A wider tire means more surface area for it to grip the pavement. Traditional thinking might have you believe wider tires slow you down due to increased friction. But the improved traction benefits easily counteract this.

To get the most of the torque produced by your engine, you need tires that can grip the road. The bigger the tire, the more surface area they have to grip. With the proper setup, staggered tires can result in better braking. Faster acceleration and better handling are more pros with staggered tires.

Cons of Staggered Wheels and Tires

Uneven tire wear is the most significant disadvantage of staggered wheels and tires. Bigger tires with more surface area grip the road better for increased traction. However, that additional traction can cause uneven tire wear.

And you have to be careful when installing a staggered system. If you put the bigger tires on the wrong axle, you'll see a decreased performance from your vehicle. For example, if you have a front-wheel drive automobile and install larger rims in the rear, you won’t get any performance benefits.

Instead, you’ll get decreased handling and less braking power. You'll get the same result if you have a rear-wheel drive automobile and install the larger wheels on the front.

Another disadvantage is you won't be able to rotate tires from front to rear. You can only rotate from side to side. This can also impact your tire's tread wear.

Finally, you can see a reduced braking performance if you don't have the proper setup. Larger wheels make brakes work harder to stop them from spinning. You can offset this by upgrading your brakes if you increase your rim's width.

Shopping for Staggered Wheel and Tire Fitments

Yes, we can accommodate vehicles with staggered fitments.

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Tire Agent knows that some manufacturers install staggered wheel sizes on vehicles. For example, some Infiniti Q60 models have different size wheels on the front versus the back. When that happens, you'll see an option like this when you shop for tires and wheels with Tire Agent:

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