Jump to content
HybridZ

Recommended Posts

I think that collectively this community must have tried about every wheel/tire combination possible and it is, indeed, sad that a good resource with info on what works and what doesn't work, is not available. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You now what I love? I love that anywhere you go in the forums regarding wheel and tire size, there is literally NO LIST anywhere that I have been able to find of verified wheel and tire combo's that work on the Z's. A whole lot of talk about what may or may not, but nothing solid. It doesnt make sense to me. It either does or does not fit, you either have to cut/roll or dont. Why cant anyone just post a flipping list of tire combos that work?

Because everyones car is different. What works for a totally stock car isn't right for one that has suspension or body modifications.

Also, because the cars are so flippin' old they don't always retain the clearances they came with from the factory. It's not unusual for the wheel well area to be wider on one side than the other or for an axle to be forward or aft of the original stock location.  Stuff happens.  It's better to get measurements off the car you're trying to fit wheels to and then do the research for yourself.  The original wheels were 14x6" with 0 offset and 4x114.3 lugs.  Original tires ran from 175/70-14 to 195/70-14. I have a 280Z and had Centerline build my wheels which are 16x7's with 0 offset.  I ran 225/50-16 tires on them with a stock suspension. Some 8" wide wheels work too but that requires a different, and exact, backspacing with a stock body/suspension. Modify to coilers and it all goes out the window and you have to start over.  Add ZG flares or a wide body kit and it all goes again.  

Do the work and learn something about your car rather than referring to a file and then blaming someone else when the wheel/tire combo doesn't fit your car.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tire sizes are also different between brands, a 225-45-R15 G-force Rival might not be exactly the same as a 225-45-R15 Toyo Proxes.

 

When I order wheels it's always just one at first with the stipulation it can be returned if it doesn't fit. Not talking mounting the tire, just caliper and strut clearance.

 

You can also construct a wheel / tire cross section profile from cardboard and set it up in the wheel well to see how close it is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fortunately for me my sone has some Rota RB's in 17x9.5 and 17x8.5 that I can try on my car to sweet the inside clearances are like.  Then I'll have to figure out how wide my ZG flares will have be if I decide to go that way.  I have the TTT coiler suspension so there is some extra room on the inside my stock springs didn't have.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

While I agree with the exhortation to experiment for one's own self, to not rely solely on internet-advice as if it were incontrovertible truth, and so forth, it also seems to me that general trends can and should be noted in a sticky.

Often the criterion for "does it fit" comes down to a few millimeters.  Then of course such factors as manufacturing-tolerances in the McPherson struts will be paramount.  Folks noted years ago – and I verified in personal experience – that the angle between the strut housing and the plane of the brake-rotor can be off by a degree or so.  It took me several junkyard forays, plus parts-trading with acquaintances, to arrive at a set of front and rear McPherson/Chaplin struts that were mutually square.  Well, with a 1/16" available gap between the wheel-rim and the spring perch, said tolerance stackup can make all of the difference between interference and successful fit.  A FAQ listing this-or-that as a successful fit, given such tolerances, risks giving false advice.

However, in other cases the gap between the wheel rim and the spring-perch is on the order of an inch or more.  Surely then we can publish the successful fitment, without running afoul of individual bad examples from tolerance?  

An example is my 14x7 Western Cyclone wheels and 225/60-14 tires.  I measure ~1.5" clearance between the tire and the spring perch in the rear of my 280Z.  The wheels have 3.875" backspacing.  This suggests that with say a 15x8 wheel, and zero offset (and consequently 4.5" backspacing) ought to fit.  However, that directly contradicts JMortensen's point in Post #51 in this thread… unless I misunderstood.  

Surely such large differences in measurement are a viable topic for general discussion?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
×
×
  • Create New...