17" wheels with moon & tunes.. whats the deal?

[oolunchbox]

I read a post on here about how GM wont put the 17" alloys on a vibe with moon and tunes because of structural problems. makes perfect sense to me, my question is, the concept GXP vibe has a moon/sunroof and in reading the specs it has 18" wheels. does anybody know what they did or i could do to allow 17" wheels on my vibe without having to worry about cracking some glass?

[NSimkins]

They get away with it on the Vibe GXP because it's still just a concept - there is no way they would release the GXP as is given it does not meet their public standards for performance and quality.I have 17" wheels and high performance tires on my 2003 Vibe and I do have the sunroof. I was leary at first but given the vast majority of people that have gone the 17"+ wheel route and have the sunroof with no real issues, I decided to do it.My suggestion, whether it helps in this issue or not, would be to maybe purchase some additional suspension modifications which would reduce body flex (ie. strut tower bar, etc.).For the 2004 Vibes, I believe the only change they made to allow for 17" wheels and the sunroof was to use all-season tires instead of the high performance (grippier) summer tires that was used on the 2003 models. They may have also strengthened the body for 2004, but I am not aware of that.

[oolunchbox]

so basically youre saying i should be ok with 17" wheels but pontiac doesn't garuntee anything. I was thinkin about getting some lowering springs anyhow so maybe before i get the new wheels i get those and the strut tower bar just to be safe.thanks a lotLuNCH

[Nervous_Dog]

I put over 12,000 miles on my Vibe GT with 18's and a sunroof and I never had any cracking of any kind. I don't have any suspension mods either.

[NSimkins]

Quote, originally posted by oolunchbox »so basically youre saying i should be ok with 17" wheels but pontiac doesn't garuntee anything. I was thinkin about getting some lowering springs anyhow so maybe before i get the new wheels i get those and the strut tower bar just to be safe.Exactly. Also, I ran without any suspension mods and 17's for about 4 months. I now currently have lowering springs, strut tower bar, and rear sway bar installed. However not necessary, the mods make a great improvement with handling.

[DavidPIL]

Hello there...I don't really know if this means anything but I simply up-sized from the 215-50/17 to a 235-45/17 and immediately noticed as I backed out of my garage the body of the car creaked (uneven driveway of gravel). Now, I'm strongly considering a Strut Tower Brace to help solidify the body a bit. Ok, the tires are a bit softer than the OEM Dunlops and are All-Season but I'm thinking the wider tire alone could be causing the heightened chance for the body to flex. Although it's minor and nothing I haven't experienced before in something like a long bed truck, it still could be a reason for GM originally not wanting to risk putting larger wheels on the Vibe. I can only guess that during tests of a sort that none of us would ever experience on our own, they found possible problem with slight body twisting or whatever. I am noticing something with mine and I don't have a moon-roof.Just a though...Dave

[NY Pete]

Quote, originally posted by Nervous_Dog »I put over 12,000 miles on my Vibe GT with 18's and a sunroof and I never had any cracking of any kind. I don't have any suspension mods either.Did you track the car, though? Driving around city streets at normal speeds is not going to replicate the conditions on a racetrack at high speed...Pete

[oolunchbox]

hrm... i guess i really want to konw if ill be ok getting 17" wheels and a lower profile tire for them.. im figuring that if the wheel is a little bigger and the tire is a little smaller thus having the same wheel + tire size will that matter? i realize that the smaller tires will absorb less shock.. but other than that will it make that much of a difference?

[NY Pete]

You'll be fine as long as you're not trying to do maximum g tests on sticky heated-up autocross tires...! Driving around town I really can't see you having a problem (I don't think we've heard of a problem yet, have we fellas?)Pete

[Craigmri]

Lunchbox,I'm confused here....Our '04 Vibe came with factory 17" alloys and the Moon and tunes package. Its printed in black and white on the window sticker. Must have been a '03 kinda thing.

[ragingfish]

Craigmri:They used "grippier" tires on the 03 models, which had a tendency to cause body flex...Allegedly they switched tires in 04, which made the option available.See Nick's post above:Quote, originally posted by NSimkins »For the 2004 Vibes, I believe the only change they made to allow for 17" wheels and the sunroof was to use all-season tires instead of the high performance (grippier) summer tires that was used on the 2003 models. They may have also strengthened the body for 2004, but I am not aware of that

[NSimkins]

Quote, originally posted by NSimkins »For the 2004 Vibes, I believe the only change they made to allow for 17" wheels and the sunroof was to use all-season tires instead of the high performance (grippier) summer tires that was used on the 2003 models. They may have also strengthened the body for 2004, but I am not aware of that.Look up.