boosted300 Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 (edited) I’m sure this has been done before but I thought I’d share my experience anyway. I found myself in dire need of traction, but apprehensive about going the ZG flare route. I agonized over this for a loooong time because, although my S30 is a resto-mod, I really had a hard time imagining carving up the panels. I absolutely love the ZG flare look…but for some reason just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I love the look so much that my goal is to eventually get another S30 and go the flare/tail/fender mirror route. Obviously not going the flare route limits options due to the size of the factory wheel wells. I also was dead set on staying with Rota RBR’s which further complicated things due to the limited size and offset options. I had 17 x 8.5 +4 which I found to be the size that best fits the factory wheel well. The look was exactly what I wanted. However in second gear, it was like driving on ice. I tried to compensate for the lack of tire width a bit by going with soft compound tires: 235/45/17 Yokohama Advan A048 – treadwear 60…but it didn’t help at all. I’d read that some had gotten away with 245’s but some also mentioned that they rubbed…in either case, I didn’t feel 245’ would be enough. I decided to get the desired results I would need to go with 275 drag radials…which, near as I had researched, would be a challenge without flares. So I had two challenges here…getting a 275 tire to fit…and staying with Rota RBR’s in a width/offset combination that was not available because 275’s on an 8.5 inch wheel was not a practical option. I didn’t want to roll the fenders for fear of cracking the paint…but I knew I had to compromise somewhere. While there was no room to go outward, I examined the inner side of the wheel and determined I could get approximately 3/4 inch of wheel width towards the inside…still not quite enough. I decided to trim the inner lip of the fender. That, combined with ¾ inch on the inside, would net me about 1 more inch in total width. So I decided to trim the fender lip, rather than roll it, and have my Rota’s professionally widened by 1”. Not being a big fan of downtime, and thanks to the fact that Rota’s are so economically priced, I decided to order another pair of Hyperblack 17 x 8.5 +4 RBRs and had them drop shipped directly to Weldcraft Wheels to have them widened 1” to the inside. Meanwhile, I ordered a pair of Nitto NT05R 275/40/17. A few weeks later, the wheels arrived to me. Now I had a custom set of 17 x 9.5 + 29 (?) One little thing I noticed though almost as soon as I opened the box…the rim seemed darker than the ones I currently had on the car. I verified the color on the box as Hyperblack…but they were definitely a shade darker. An email to Racing Lab explaining the issue got me a quick response…Rota changed the shade of their Hyperblack to slightly darker about 3 years ago…my current Rotas were about 4 years old…Just my luck! Now I was faced with different colored rims in the front and the back of the car…sigh…I ordered two more of the “new” Hyperblack for the fronts so I could match all the way around. After mounting the tires, I compared them to my current setup. Then I did a quick test fit…(no modifications made yet) The wheel and the tire both touched the coil over, as anticipated. Using some old 3mm spacers, I played with combinations and determined that, for some reason, I would need 6mm on the passenger side, and 10mm on the driver side. And, as a result, I would also need longer wheel studs. I ordered some Kics spacers, and a set of 12x1.25 60mm studs. Surprisingly, it was not all that easy finding the longer wheel studs in the factory 12x1.25 thread. Most of the research I had done on here resulted in suggestions of going with ARP 12x1.5 studs. But I really wanted to stay with the factory pitch. Then it was time to trim the fender lips. The last step was to tighten up the coil overs just a tad to minimize squat that would cause the tires to rub. The finished product… You can see the slight shade difference from the rear wheel to the front. But the most important thing is…it works perfectly. The car sticks now on full throttle and there is zero rubbing. I have launched from 1st, floored it in 2nd, and taken some high speed highway cruises over dips and bumps that would definitely cause rubbing if there were an issue…but there is none. This setup works like a charm! I'm very pleased. Edited March 25, 2018 by boosted300 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madkaw Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Nice work. What's it cost to widen a wheel anyway. I like my Rotas too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Gadsby Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 That came out awesome! Man I love hybridz.org lol. Only on this site do people really push the envelope on everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluDestiny Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 This is awesome because know i have good info on what I would need if I got flares (a 17x9.5 0 offset would stick out about an inch, which is awesome for flares). Looks fantastic also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Pray that Nitto never discontinues that tire. I did something similar a couple years back, not with widened wheels, but with shortened control arms. It was a ton of work and money. Then I changed tire brands (same size) and started rubbing. That is why my rear fenders are flared. Like you, I didn't want to cut, but now I'M FREE! Your work looks terrific and that's a beautiful car-thanks for sharing. I bought a aet of 4 hyperblacks a couple years ago-every wheel was a different color-there is no consistenct im Rota's paint booth. What did it cost for the widening per wheel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boosted300 Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 (edited) So madkaw/RebekahZ: regarding the cost of widening...ironically enough, with these wheels, it was more than the wheel itself. It was $215/each. Blu: RebekahZ reminded me of something important to note before you make any decisions. When I originally got the 17x8.5 +4, it was based on research I had done on here and in speaking to members on this board who had Rotas that I felt had perfect fitment on non-flared S30's. When I got the Rotas, for some reason they actually sat too far outside the wheel well. I came to the conclusion that it was due to the fact that all of the members on here that I had asked for their wheel size, likely had stock suspension whereas I have AZC LCAs and coil overs. In any case, since the wheels had already been purchased, I had to go through a rather arduous process of getting them to fit underneath the wheel well...kind of a backward way of doing things unfortunately. Because AZC LCAs are adjustable, I moved them inward as much as possible but it still wasn't enough, and I was limited by the length of the halfshafts which wouldn't allow me to move the arms any further inwards. I ended up getting some custom shortened half shafts from Driveshaft shop, which allowed me to move the arms in farther as you can see here: For those unfamiliar, the AZC LCA comes default at parallel to the ground, here you can see I rotated the arm's tube downward, which pulled the whole arm inward. Then I had to drill through it and insert a retaining bolt to prevent it from rotating back outward (which happened several times to disasterous effect throughout this whole process!). I did a mini write up in the Drivetrain forum, I'll look for the link. The whole process was such an ordeal, I guess I tried to block it from my mind! But nonetheless, it is important for anyone to know if they decide to try this. Edited May 18, 2015 by boosted300 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boosted300 Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 Pray that Nitto never discontinues that tire. I did something similar a couple years back, not with widened wheels, but with shortened control arms. It was a ton of work and money. Then I changed tire brands (same size) and started rubbing. That is why my rear fenders are flared. Like you, I didn't want to cut, but now I'M FREE! Your work looks terrific and that's a beautiful car-thanks for sharing. I bought a aet of 4 hyperblacks a couple years ago-every wheel was a different color-there is no consistenct im Rota's paint booth. What did it cost for the widening per wheel? That's a good point I hadn't thought of that. However, of the drag radials I looked at that were available in 275, these had the widest section width, so hopefully if I have to switch tires at some point I won't have an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 I may need the company that you worked with for the widening. Please (if you have time) post up the name and contact info for the company and especially the name of the dude (or dudette) that you worked with most closely. Then I can put them in my cell phone for future use. I am not in love with my landspeed wheels and may want something custom made up. I talked to several companies last year, but I think this one escaped my net. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boosted300 Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 I may need the company that you worked with for the widening. Please (if you have time) post up the name and contact info for the company and especially the name of the dude (or dudette) that you worked with most closely. Then I can put them in my cell phone for future use. I am not in love with my landspeed wheels and may want something custom made up. I talked to several companies last year, but I think this one escaped my net. PM'd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-E Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Boosted should have talked to me man, I have nissan-datsun specific cromoly studs coming out of my ass haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boosted300 Posted May 20, 2015 Author Share Posted May 20, 2015 Boosted should have talked to me man, I have nissan-datsun specific cromoly studs coming out of my ass haha Actually I did! I saw your studs first and loved them but if you recall we discussed how the shipping for such a small item would be more than the studs themselves almost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boosted300 Posted May 23, 2015 Author Share Posted May 23, 2015 Now that I've gotten this to work, I've decided to widen my original lighter-shade Rotas...I may end up selling the prototype set. Keep an eye on the For Sale section for anyone interested in the slightly darker set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 Boosted should have talked to me man, I have nissan-datsun specific cromoly studs coming out of my ass haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 That's gotta hurt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98blackbell Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 Nice work. May solve my "to cut and put fender flares or not" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghettopoptart Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinearEdge Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 PM'd you Boosted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarkie Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Nice write-up, hopefully whoever reads this in future years will also read post #6 for further information on the necessary modifications to have this work! Car looks AWESOME! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 So, if you had to do it again, what offset would you use? 0? good looking car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boosted300 Posted July 29, 2015 Author Share Posted July 29, 2015 Thanks guys. Actually, a 0 offset would be worse I think as the +4 was already to far out. I would've had to go with a higher offset to get them to fit off the bat...but ultimately, despite the mission to get it all done, I'm really happy with where it's at. A higher offset would've eliminated some of the lip, and I prefer a deeper dish look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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