Alright, so I did this to myself, but my front 2 rims officially have a bent lip. They are not losing air and they still ride nicely. The reason being (aside from potholes obviously) was that I chose to go 18 on harsh streets.

So here's my question: Being that the front wheels take most of the big hits, how do you think it would be to put 17s up front and keep my current 18s (the straight ones) in the back still? Would this look funny on a fwd car? The extra rubber up front should help cushion some of the bumps....I'm very undecided.

Thanks for your help!

 

I would suggest going to steel wheels.
Running 2 different size wheels is not a very good idea on fwd cars.

 

Steel wheels will bend also. I suggest a reroute or slowing down over the worst of it.

No way I would run 2 different sizes of wheels.

 

I don't see a problem with putting 17" wheels on the front and running 18" wheels on the rear. If you have the same style wheels front and back, it would be difficult to tell the difference. There are a lot of manufacturers that put different sized front and rear wheels on their cars.

Dave

 

I get a sense now days they are purposely allowing roads to deteriorate to push this new mileage tax down our perverbial exhaust pipes.....

MINI has wheel insurance if you happen to live in an area prone to crappy roads. But it has to be purchased at time of new car contract I think. It's pricy but can pay for itself and then some if it's a problem for your area.

Between the two types of rims, OEM and aftermarket. OEM are usually bit stronger. But if you must go aftermarket, I would choose 16" instead of 17" as they would provide a bit more side wall for those unavoidable pot holes......

 

Thanks for the input guys! I was going quite slow ( ~20mph) when I bent the last one. Just didn't see the crater coming up in front of me somehow. I must admit however, that the first one I bent was on the highway going about 75... My OEMs have winter tires on them which is why I went to aftermarket for my summer set. The Motegi's that I have come in the same exact design but in 17" as well. The only difference should just be an increased sidewall height to keep the same diameter overall. The rim itself is holding up fine...it's just the lip that hit the ground as the tire contracts to take the blunt of the hit (I checked my tires inflation just before I left and they were fine).

I'll probably wait a week and see if I can live with the bent ones as it doesn't affect driving at all....if not I'll prob try 17's out on the front.


Also, I was thinking that the old rims would make a sweet table or wall decoration

 

I would think about going all 16" or 17" and get as much sidewall as possible if you do not want to save yourself the aggravation of bent rims. Whatever you do, get rid of the 18".

I bent two 17" this year as well, but both had run flats that I was using for the winter. I decided to go not non run flats conti dws 215 45 17 and had no problems anymore.