Professor Threadkiller Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 (edited) I'm looking for a steel Z wheel from 70 or 71 to use for a spare on my 77. I've heard that the first two years used 4 1/2 inch wide wheels and then in 72 they wend to a 5 inch wide wheel. I want as narrow as possible to save space in the rear hatch area. I've already got a 5 and a 5 1/2, but I'm looking for narrower if possible.. So... Anyone got a 4 1/2 inch wide steel wheel from 70 or 71 available? Edited June 5, 2014 by Professor Threadkiller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle319 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Ive got a bunch of steelies that I can go and measure when I get home. Is there any thing in particular that you want or will any rim do the job? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Threadkiller Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 (edited) Not exactly sure what you mean by "any rim", but I want to use it on my Z, so I guess I'm looking for: 14 inch sized wheel 4 1/2 wide 0 offset 4 x 4.5 bolt pattern Oh, and as for aesthetics, I'm not overly concerned. Surface rust is expected, and I don't care about paint quality, but I don't want something pitted and cratered so badly that looks like it spent two years underwater used as a boat anchor. I don't care about any particular slot design.I don't care if it has hubcap mounting tabs or anything like that. I don't care what car it came from as long as the geometry is appropriate for a Z. Hoping I answered the right question... Does that help? Edited June 7, 2014 by Professor Threadkiller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Threadkiller Posted June 8, 2014 Author Share Posted June 8, 2014 Kyle319, Did you get a chance to measure any wheels? BTW - If your wheels still have tires mounted, I've come up with a simple way to measure rim width without dismounting the tires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle319 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Sorry I've been busy but yeah I wasn't sure if you were looking for a certain pattern but yup this helps! Ill go pull one off and throw it in the spare tire area to give you an idea of how it'll fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle319 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Hey I went and checked the wheels and they are 14's and they are the Z bolt pattern, but they do have tires mounted on them so what method are you referring to for measuring? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 tuff z Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 theadkiller, i pulled my spare from an old datsun maxima. 16" space savef, fits in the tire well easily with more room that the original and is light and clears the 240sx brake upgrade for the rear! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Threadkiller Posted June 10, 2014 Author Share Posted June 10, 2014 1 tuff z, Thanks for the help, but I'm not sure that would work for me. I've got a 77 and I don't think any 16" space saver spare will fit in my spare well. It's smaller than the 240s and 260s because they reduced the diameter of the spare well when they went to the collapsible spare. But... I do have a 14" space saver that is a small enough diameter that it DOES fit in the smaller well. Problem is that the offset of the space saver rim is way wrong. and the wheel won't clear my front caliper. Fits in the rear, but won't work in the front. So... Either I hope that if I do get a flat, that it's in the rear, or I need a different wheel. So, bringing this full circle... If only I could find a narrow rim with the right offset and bolt pattern on which to mount that 14 inch space saver rubber. That way, I could ditch the collapsible stock unit and I'd have a fully inflated space saver spare with the correct offset that would fit in my embarrassingly small 77 spare well while still being large enough to fit over my front calipers. That's the plan,, anyway. PTK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Threadkiller Posted June 10, 2014 Author Share Posted June 10, 2014 kyle319, So about determining the wheel width with a tire mounted... I came up with this: Start with this. Ultra fancy coat hanger and a pair of little wood blocks that I had handy:Measure the blocks. The ones I used are 3/4 per side or 1 1/2 inch total for both:Tape the blocks to the rim lip. This is one side and the other side looks the same: Bend the wire so it reaches around the tire and just barely touches the blocks on both sides:Carefully lift the wire off and measure the distance between the points:Subtract the thickness of the blocks, and guess on the rim lip thickness. Here's my calculations for this wheel. It's my narrow space saver spare:I've found that most steel wheels are around 1/8 inch thick per side. Aluminum rims are usually thicker, up to maybe 3/8 each side. If you can assume that the rims are in increments of 1/2 inch, you can usually figure out what they are using this method. PTK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle319 Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Interesting, seems like common sense in hindsight. But yeah I'll measure them tomorrow and let you know what I find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Threadkiller Posted June 11, 2014 Author Share Posted June 11, 2014 Haha! Well I didn't say it was brilliant... Thanks for the help and let me know what you find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Threadkiller Posted June 12, 2014 Author Share Posted June 12, 2014 For anyone who was planning to check out rims for me, it shouldn't be necessary as I've scored a 4 1/2 inch rim. I still have to get the tire dismounted and give it a good going over, but unless I missed some detail or measurement somewhere, the hunt for this thing should be over. Here's to hoping I didn't miss something and I can move to the next part of this project! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle319 Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Glad you found some because mine were 5's anyways! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Threadkiller Posted June 14, 2014 Author Share Posted June 14, 2014 Well I thank you for taking the time and going through the effort! So unless someone has a 4" rim option I can use...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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