17" wheels, lowering struts shocks every for 73'

[Guest Anonymous]

Recently I found a 240z with 17" wheels and it looked stunning, i was wondering what i have to do in order to put 17" wheels comfortably in my 73 Z

My Z as of right now is empty, just a chasis, so...what struts shocks, lowering, bolt pattern etc, do you recommand to so i can fit some 17" in there, also i have very mild fender flares i think 17" x 8 is what im looking for

[Guest scca]

we should really do a message somewhere to prevent retyping this over and over and over .. get the idea..

do a search on wheel sizes. for a ton of posts...

you need to decide on 4 lug or 5 lug and IF you wantto upgrade the brakes at the same time or not...

 

 

 

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Mike

mike@fonebooth.com

http://www.outlaw-brakes

raceparts and brake upgrades.

[DavyZ]

Perhaps one of the more technological among us could write a "tech" article and have it be the definitive page we can turn guys to who ask this question? What do you think?

[Guest scca]

there was a post BLkmgk just did on brakes about a week ago- if we took that and added the info about wheels .

ie to go larger than 8" is generally accepted to need coilovers and a few bits and put that away for future reference...

 

MIke

[Owen]

How about a message asking to search the archives first before posting?

Owen

 

 

 

 

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http://www.homestead.com/s30z/index.html

[Guest Anonymous]

This is my strut bolt pattern, brakes, coil overs etc http://www.arizonazcar.com/strassy.html

 

could i still fit 17" in there?

[BLKMGK]

Ooookay... we were all new once so...

 

Firstly going to a larger diameter rim does NOT effect ride height. When you go from say a 14inch wheel to a 15inch wheel it's called a "+1" upgrade. What you do is change the tire sidewall height such that the total height of the wheel is the same or nearly so. The same goes for changing from 14 to say 17 - that would be +3 or 3 sizes larger. I think the TireRack WEB site also explains this very well.

 

If you look here -> http://www.eng.fsu.edu/~jthagard/otherzs/walker/heatedpassion.html you'll see a Z with 18inch wheels! That style is what I want

 

So, why doesn't everyone run say 20inch wheels? The answer is that as tire sidewall gets smaller ride gets rougher. You end up with a wheel that has what looks like a rubber band around it - potholes begin to take a major toll on your wheel too as there's not enough cushion between the wheel and the road and you bend wheel lips.

 

Another thing to consider is brakes. IF you put BIG brakes on a car, like you've apparently done, and then try to run a 14inch wheel you'll find that the room inside the wheel isn't great enough to fit the rotor and caliper package. Mustangs run into this when they put 13inch Cobra brakes onto the older FOX bodies. Most 16inch and all 15inch wheels will no longer fit - they MUST run 17s in most cases. For you this is no biggie since you're moving UP to 17s.

 

So, what tire size do you now have? If you give us that then someone can dig up what tire size you'll need with the new rims or you can hunt over at Discounttire.com or Tirerack.com to find the answers yourself.

 

Howzzat?

[DavyZ]

quote

Howzzat?

 

Jim, YOU THE MAN!!!!!

 

 

 

[This message has been edited by DavyZ (edited March 23, 2001).]

[pparaska]

Havok, I have those brakes. The old version at least. If the rotor hat is 1/2" thick at the flange, then you can put 17"x9" wheels and 255/45-17 tires on there with a stock fender lip and 8" free length coil overs. I just wrote this up in the "THE FAQ" thread.

 

 

 

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Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project

pparaska@home.com

Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

[Guest Anonymous]

Wow, you have all been so helpful, you guys rock. Anywho, after researching, my coil over kit and brake kit will fit very nicely into the Z with the 17x9 mmmmmmmmmm delicious!!!!!!

-Chase