Tyre woes

I decided I wanted to fit larger tyres to the 17" alloys on my 1.9 and swap them onto the Syncro. The main reason for this is to increase the ground clearance and fill the arches a bit more, so I looked at Seikel who offer various suspension lift packages, tyre packages and other goodies for the Syncro. I did some calculations and I reckoned that I should be able to fit on some 255/60/17 tyres without modifications and these would lift the van 42mm, so I ordered some from Mytyres and they promptly arrived today.

Upon arrival I was shocked to see how large they were. I stood one next the the tyres that are already on my Syncro and my 1.9TD and they dwarfed them, they didn't look like they had a hope in hell of fitting. Anyway not to be deterred I popped to the tyre fitter in Burton On Trent and he didn't think they would fit either. I got him to fit one tyre on the front and it did fit in the wheel arch, unfortunately it rubbed on the edge of the bumper when you turned so its a no go. I got him to swap the old tyre back on and I'm going to send them back and order a smaller size, probably 235/55/17 which will still lift the vehicle by 18mm or I might take the chance and go for a 225/60/17 which is +24mm.