I would like to increase the tire size on my car. I currently have 235 45 17 mounted on a 17 x 7.5 wheel with 40mm offset. I would like to go to 235 50 17. I've reviewed lots of prior posts and from what I've seen, the 50 is the preferred size for this size wheel. However, due to the fact that the wheels I have are not made for our cars, I believe my clearances are tighter than if I had the stock backspace..............The wheels were on the car when I purchased it and this is my first time purchasing tires for the car. Due to the amount of fender gap, I was hoping to put 255 50 17 but after some research quickly determined that this would require some major spacers/adapters which I really don't want to deal with at this point. I tried to test fit a 245 45 17 but the tire guy was afraid he was going to damage my wheel....This confirms a comment posted by XR7 Dave on 9/11/02 "Mfg's recommended wheel widths mean about crap.".... I can get a good deal on some AVON 235 50 17s from tirerack.com but I don't want to order them if they won't fit. If this is the case, I guess I will have to get the 235 45 and then lower it to get rid of the gap. I really want the larger tire to mellow out the ride. What do you think? Will the 50s fit?