Ray Posted October 2, 2000 Share Posted October 2, 2000 There have been several referances to the 17x9 Cobra Wheel. What is the backspacing on this wheel and what are you using to match it in the front. I have seen some Cobra style wheels for Rangers and other Fords any idea on the back spacing for them?? They seem a cheeper option for wheels but any way you go you are going to spend 150-200$ each if you buy them new. I wonder if there are any other wheels people have tried, I have seen Mikes 300zx n/a wheels. What about 300zx turbo rear wheels????? Any thing else rear wheel drive with 16's of 17's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scca Posted October 2, 2000 Share Posted October 2, 2000 i've seen 245's on a unflared car....i rolled the wheel lips on my car in the rear. with a 5 lug converison up front the spacer on my car is 3/8". the rears is 1.25" but i wanted the wheels FLUSH with the body and the car is very low. i run minimal camber for tire wear but enough for imporved handling. ------------------ Mike http://www.fonebooth.com raceparts and brakeupgrades Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scca Posted October 2, 2000 Share Posted October 2, 2000 oh i forgot... i dont think the turbo wheels will fit. that extra bit is too much. i tried supra TT wheels from a 94 and they fit on the front but not the rear. i think they were 9"? 17x9 looked nice but too wide- i think they would work on a ZX. ------------------ Mike http://www.fonebooth.com raceparts and brakeupgrades Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Motorsports Ltd Posted October 2, 2000 Share Posted October 2, 2000 quote: Originally posted by scca: oh i forgot... i dont think the turbo wheels will fit. that extra bit is too much. i tried supra TT wheels from a 94 and they fit on the front but not the rear. i think they were 9"? 17x9 looked nice but too wide- i think they would work on a ZX. yes 9's could work on a ZX, pushing out a little up front maybe. I'm running the 16x8's with lots of clearance up front with 245's front and rear in race treads, streets I stuck w/ 225's for less 'wander'. Need to service my rear control arm bushings and throw some 315's out back but no idea what cheap rims I could put them on. FWIW, '98 cobra wheels are 17x8's v. similar in look to 'R' w/o the R in the centre ( a snake instead), lots of OEM and knock off replica's on ebay and your local buysell. 17" rims sure do jump up the tire prices though, that was the main reason I went w/ 16's that and the lighter wheels/tires etc once I knew they'd clear my 13" rotors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted October 3, 2000 Author Share Posted October 3, 2000 Thank you both for the information and the offsets (I am doing a 73 240 BTW). I understand about raising the spring perch and/or going to coil overs. Mike have you ever tried a set of turbo wheels maybe with a 40 series tire???? Several people have mentioned a 17x9 wheel fitting with the appropriate mods, does the 16x8.5 get to close to the strut??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsil Posted October 3, 2000 Share Posted October 3, 2000 Ford Motorsport Cobra Rims: 17x9 rims have 5.95" backspacing on 94+ rims, for 93- they are 6.1 or so. You will have to use spacers (2.5" front) in front but you will have to swap coilovers in order to fit them in the rear. N/A 300zx rims 90+ they have 6" backspacing. you need to use 1.75" spacers (front) with a 4lug to 5lug conversion. Rear: need to use 1.5" spacers with same conversion. the largest tire you can use on the back without modification is 225/50/16. if you use 245's, they will rub on the outside fender, and barely miss the bottom of the spring perch. You have to raise the spring perch 2.5" and swap shorter springs (280z 2+2 springs with 4 coils cut), but the problem is you can't get spacers with less than 1.5" space with the 5lug conversion. You would have to do a 5-lug conversion to the hub (which is pretty easy) and then use 1" spacers. that's the only way besides coilovers. Turbo rims will not fit unless you do the same conversion and use coilovers and .5" spacers. They are 16x8.5", while N/A's are 16x7.5". Hope this answers your questions. ------------------ http://refuse.netdojo.com/Zcar [This message has been edited by alsil (edited October 02, 2000).] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scca Posted October 3, 2000 Share Posted October 3, 2000 i never had a set of turbo rims to try. FOR sure you would need coilovers $400 a set. as far as the 8.5" i thought wasnt worth it. the fronts are smaller correct? 7.5"? that means no tire rotation! and i run more camber on the rear than the front so i like to be able to rotate to get more life. the 8.5 will fit it will be VERY close to the strut but it will work . 8" coilovers etc. the 7.5" rims can use a 10" coilover and it goes beside the rim not above it so coil pressure can be lower for a smoother ride. well as smooth as coilovers can get anyway! ------------------ Mike http://www.fonebooth.com raceparts and brakeupgrades Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted October 3, 2000 Share Posted October 3, 2000 FWIW, I have 17x8.5's with 142mm backspacing and a 1/8" wheel spacer mounted with 235/45-17 tires and I am able to run 10 inch springs without rubbing in the stock fender on my 73. It is close to the spring though. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project - pparaska@home.com">pparaska@home.com - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted October 3, 2000 Author Share Posted October 3, 2000 Mike, how much clearence do you have in the front in between your coilover and the tire?? and Pete how much room is there in your front setup??? It also looks like I will be looking for some 300zx wheels in the future and maybe a set of turbo rear's with some drag radials. BTW Tire rotation never occured to me I seem to buy 2 or 3 sets of rears before I ever buy a front set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scca Posted October 4, 2000 Share Posted October 4, 2000 my tires are a good 1/2" from the spring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted October 4, 2000 Share Posted October 4, 2000 1/8"+ at the spring to rim lip juncture and 3/16"+ at the tire to spring area. These tires (Michelin Pilot SX MXX3) have a wide bead protector that makes that closer than it might be on other tires. But that 1/8"+ is the kicker. The last time I had a fender on there it looked to have a decent amount of clearance outboard. You can see a pic of the clearance measurements at: http://members.home.net/pparaska/wheelstires.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jason Posted October 4, 2000 Share Posted October 4, 2000 Ross, could you tell me a bit more about your ZX setup? In front, with my stock 195's, I can just squeeze my fingers between the front tire sidewall and strut. Physically, there's about 2" between the outer sidewall and outside of the fender, but considering the fender lip and liner, I think I only have about 1" of room. The rears have plenty of room, but I'm worried I might upset the balance of the car if I throw some monster tires in back and keep the fronts small. Perhaps the 79-81 and 82-83 have different clearances? [This message has been edited by Jason (edited October 03, 2000).] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danno74Z Posted October 4, 2000 Share Posted October 4, 2000 Hi Pete, Reading through your responses and web page you use 8" coilover springs in the back and the original stock 240Z strut top cushions and spring seats. My question is, I plan on using camber plates on all four corners on my car and I was wondering if I could use a longer ( than 8" ) springs in the back. I want to use 9"x17" rims in the rear. Camber plates do give one more "head" room vs. the original seat and cushions. Any thoughts or opinions? I do like the picture you added to your web site. Could you do the same for the rear? Very helpful. Thank you, Danno74Z (Dan) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danno74Z Posted October 4, 2000 Share Posted October 4, 2000 Pete/Mike, Thanks for all your help and the rest of the HZ crew. I haven't said this in awhile but everybody out there has been a real inspiration. In my case, I got the cart before the horse - disassemble the rear end really before I should of - live and learn. Anyway, I have GC plates and coilovers with 10" springs. I may not be able to use the springs (rear) with 9x17rims. Not a costly mistake because I may be able to use them in the front. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted October 5, 2000 Share Posted October 5, 2000 Danno, for you anything . It was 1am when I went to the garage to take that picture, I'll do the rear tonight for ya. I need to do that as well as pics later of where the rear fender lip gets rolled to fit these tires. It's not much, as the car can come down over the tire and the fender lip just touches. I think if you used a camber plate with a short spring perch below it you'd be able to use a 9" spring. The problem is there doesn't seem to be much choice in the 9" length (somebody tell me who makes a variety in 9" if I'm wrong here. I'll measure the overall height of the stock spring seat and cushion tonight and see how big that is. That way you'd know if the camber plate and short spring perch (whose, I don't know) would be short enough to use a 10" spring, which would open things up for spring selection alot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted October 5, 2000 Share Posted October 5, 2000 Dan, Don't fret about those springs yet. I did get some pics late last night, but th ecamera locked up (I think Bill Gates is in league with Kodak) and it was later (1:30am) when I got that fixed. Anyway, the real deal is like this: - I shortened the struts 1.5" and used 240Z front cartridges in the rear - The stock Isolator and spring perch (including that little rubber donut that's between the two measures 2.95" in height between the top of the spring and the underside sheetmetal of the strut tower. - For now the Carrera threaded tube is at the top of the strut. With the stock isolator and upper spring perch, I have to adjust the lower collar to about the middle of the threaded tube to keep the spring from moving vertically. I have now idea whether this is where the adjustment will be for ride height, since the car is still not totally assembled. - With the spring perch in this location, it is near the top of the tire. It looks like it could move down amost an inch before it would get too close to the tire sidewall. So with camber plates and a short top perch, I think 10" springs might be a possiblity. If it's not, most places like Carerra let you return springs if they haven't been used or if it's been a month since you got them, etc. Plus, at $50 to $60 a pop, getting new ones is not the end of the world, as car part prices go. I'll try to get some pics together on my site tonight. BTW, the bottom of the Carrera tube wher the threads end is right next to the rim lip the way I have things now. There's only 1/10" clearance there now. I'll probably take the tube out and shorten it, since I can't use the lower inch of adjustment anyway. Then the clearance would be more like 3/16" from the rim lip to the strut tube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jason Posted October 6, 2000 Share Posted October 6, 2000 Sounds about right. Not much clearance with the front strut, but I'm sure 245's would fit with the proper spacing. I might be landing a new job that has a small machine shop complete with CNC machine. If that happens, it should be easy enough to re-drill my hubs for a different pattern, and make some spacers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Motorsports Ltd Posted October 6, 2000 Share Posted October 6, 2000 quote: Originally posted by Jason: Ross, could you tell me a bit more about your ZX setup? In front, with my stock 195's, I can just squeeze my fingers between the front tire sidewall and strut. Physically, there's about 2" between the outer sidewall and outside of the fender, but considering the fender lip and liner, I think I only have about 1" of room. The rears have plenty of room, but I'm worried I might upset the balance of the car if I throw some monster tires in back and keep the fronts small. Perhaps the 79-81 and 82-83 have different clearances? [This message has been edited by Jason (edited October 03, 2000).] Jason, well I'm 99.9% sure the geometry varies v.little among 79-83ZX's. My specifics are as follows (FWIW, 16x7 zero offset was v. tight to my front strut tube but 225 tires had plenty of clearance in comparison (ie. rim to strut was ~1/4" or less, tire/strut was >1/2")): front setup: Z31 5 lug hubs plus 4-5mm for slipon rotor, then a 1.25" custom spacer to my 16x8 Rx7 wheels (16lbs!, v. strong/cheap), clearance is tightest from mid tire bulge to bottom of coilover perch at 1/4" or less with 225's(SZ50's or S1's) and 3/16" or less with 245's(advans-A032R's). I have an 'insert' to bump my rim out another 1/4" but haven't put them in, come track next year I'll likely do this. rear setup: rewelded/redrilled hubs for 5lug pattern, OEM slip on rotor (redrilled to 5), 1.5" bolt-on spacer, 16x8 as above. Lots of clearance inside, maybe a 1/2 to go further out. I'd guess 315's might even fit on proper rims inside OE wells back their, 275's easy as 245's have LOTS ofroom I'm not into slamming my ride to the ground with all my daily driving/trips so keep it only 1" below OEM height. I've done all my plans around using EASILY available/CHEAP strong wheels as I'm not into spending $ for looks at this stage with all the following Rx7 wheels/300ZX wheels/stang wheels (supra?) are all quite easily available in good sizes (for reasonable traction w/o putting a lot of xtra force into your car) cheaply allowing you to have multi sets for street/track and really save/simplify running various tires. I pocketed $ after selling my 2 sets of 4 lug 16x7's and completing my 5lug conversion AND including wheel costs for 2 sets. I ended up with a bolt pattern easy to fit wheels to, huge brakes and a lighter wheel allowing a lot more air to move thru my brakes with nimbler response. You can't buy 16x8 aftermarket wheels at 16lbs for less than 3-400 each. With above you get a set for that or less. but obviously I'm tight w/ my dough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danno74Z Posted October 6, 2000 Share Posted October 6, 2000 Pete, I think you might be right on being able to use the 10" springs. I measured the original spring setup (spring, top and bottom perch) and it's 14 ¼" long. The new GC setup (spring, camber plate, top and bottom seats) measured in the same way is 12 ¼". So I may be able to do this. What do you think? Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted October 6, 2000 Share Posted October 6, 2000 Danno, Dunno. What's the distance from the top surface of the camber plate (that rests against the underside of the strut tower) and the bottom of the TOP spring perch (that the spring top rest against) ? The stock 240Z dimension (using the center of the top perch with the 2.5" springs) is 2.95". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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