BLKMGK Posted May 6, 2001 Share Posted May 6, 2001 Some company has created a tool for figuring out backspacing an dit's got write ups in Car Craft and I think Super Chevy this month. It bolts to the wheel flange and you use a tire (I think) to help you figure out what backspacing you need. It has a couple of pointers etc. and you can move the wheel in and out of the wheelwell until you've got it perfect without interferance. Only trouble is they want $500 bux for it! I'm wondering if anyone that has seen this has ideas for making one cheaper? Of it perhaps someplace like Tirerack might rent them? Seems like the perfect way to ensure you get the right wheels and can fit a particular tire. Unfortunatly I'll probably have to buy before such a thing is available to me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted May 6, 2001 Share Posted May 6, 2001 I made one out of plain old angle iron. One long piece has two holes drilled in it so that it can be bolted to the hub using two adjacent studs (does not need to be opposite studs). This piece is at least as long from the hub out (up toward the wheel well) as is any tire size you realistically plan to use. In my case mine stuck up 13" from the hub (so the total length was about 20"). Then I took a piece of strap steel (1/8" thick X 1" X 6") and welded a 1/2" steel tube (about 4" long and with one end of it having a small hole drilled and tapped for a set screw) at a right angle to the wide, flat side so that this piece (strap/tube assembly) could then be clamped onto the angle iron, which is already bolted to the hub, in such a way that the tube is now pointing inward into the wheel wheel. Then I just stuck a pencil (a rod, or anything will work here) in the end of it and rotated the entire assembly throughout a 360 degree arc to find the closest part that the adjustable length (pencil) rod would just touch. Once this was found, I cinched the pencil (rod) down with the set screw and measured the length from the face of the angle iron to the end of the pencil. This gave me the total back spacing of the tire. Of course, some very simple math is required to determine where the bulge of the tire will ride in this arc, so you will have to know what size tire you are wanting first. Then clamping (used cheap Home Depot plasic spring loaded clamp) the tube at a distance up the angle iron this calculated distance from the center of the hub will put the tube (or pointer) in correct relation to a point that will show where the tire may rub. This cost me about $2 is scrap metal, and about 1 hour to build, and allowed me to put 245/45zr16 (on 8" wheels) tires under a stock Z body that had been lowered 1.5", allowing 3/8" on both sides of the tire from any metal or springs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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