Jump to content
HybridZ

280ZX Owners Warning on Fitment Issues Rota RB \ RBR Wheels + Coilovers..Pics!


Recommended Posts

Guys 280ZX Owners - Just a heads up that 17x9 -13mm offset RB and RB-R wheels will have fitment issues on the front especially if your car is lowered. I was disappointed to discover this and these wheels should have been more like 17x9 with a -19mm (not -13mm) offset for perfect S130 fitment.

 

The spring perch will catch and rub on the inside of the tire or wheel (depending on how low your car is) and you have two options:

 

1) 1/4+" Spacers with longer wheel studs - I am less of a fan of this option unless you use the same spacers in the rear so keeping the wheel track ratio constant.

 

-or-

 

2) Coilover with longer threaded collars, low profile spring top hats, and shorter stiffer springs and adjustable camber plates.

 

My car has coilovers that I made in 2003 so went with option 2 - this was still a complete re-work of my entire coilover set-up (front and rear) mind you. And I sourced all my new parts and pieces from Gabriel Tyler over at Techno Toy Tuning. Gabe was great and super helpful as always (thanks Gabe!). At the same time I changed my front struts as one Illumina was looking "suspect".

 

The key is to get the spring spring perch up and away from the inside of the tire or wheel as much as possible and maximize the clearance and still achieve your desired ride height. It took me over 2 weeks of messing around and playing with options, measuring, thinking, bit stressed frustrated, yadda yadda before it worked out and I am VERY pleased that after the adjustable camber plate install this afternoon I got the clearance and the ride height. The shorter profile Techno Toy Tuning adjustable camber plates yields an additional 3/4" of lowered ride height over the taller factory strut bearing and that was a key part of making the installation successful.

 

Re-doing the coilovers with shorter 8" 200# springs, and a shorter profile top hat. My old coilover set-up in the back ground had 10" springs and a taller profile top hat.

369932998.jpg

369936262.jpg

 

Quick test trial:

369932999.jpg

 

Adjusted for the desired ride height and finally clearance and no rubbing conflicts!

369933015.jpg

Shot of the camber plates:

369933014.jpg

 

Back on the ground, looks a tad high but weight of the car not settled on the new suspension and I have about 1/4"-1/2" I can still lower the car if I so desire:

369933016.jpg

 

Hope that helps all.

Regards - Yasin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1) 1/4+" Spacers with longer wheel studs - I am less of a fan of this option unless you use the same spacers in the rear so keeping the wheel track ratio constant.

 

Why? Wider front track is generally better for handing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...
...Back on the ground, looks a tad high but weight of the car not settled on the new suspension and I have about 1/4"-1/2" I can still lower the car if I so desire:

 

Looks good Yasin. Is that 1/4"-1/2" before the lower perch interferes with the tire, or is that all the threads you have left on the collars?

 

It looks from the pictures that if the lower perch in screwed down to the last few threads on the collar you would run out of strut travel and bottom out on the upper perch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
  • 3 months later...

Wheel fitment was almost perfect on my dads car when we installed them. 9 up front and 9.5's in the back, but he has no coils just running tokico 5ways all around and eibach springs with some thick eibach sways. Also this was on 275/40/17 and 235/40/17 tyoko sdrive tires. -Jeff

 

 

Just took my 1979 Datsun 280ZXR (www.280zxr.com) to America Tires yesterday for the right fitment of tires. I will have to say that on a 1979 with lowered suspension, all you need it the Techno Toy Tuning RCA's (Roll Center Adjusters) in order for the tire not to rub on the spring perch. My ZXR is fitted with Suspension Techniques Springs, Tokico non adjust Struts/Shocks and Suspension Techniques Beefy Sway Bars. I also have my rear A-arms slotted for toe in and toe out. We fitted a 245/45/17 on the front and hadn't any problem with rubbing. Although, I opted for the 235/45/17, because I saw a possibility with fender rub on a bumpy corner and I have the full MSA body kit. In the rear, I thought I would be able to run a 275/40/17, but just as "SlownRusty" indicated I believe the offset for the rear should've actually been 17X9.5 -13 instead of -19 or just reversed from front fitment. After installing the 275, tire stuck out 2" on the outside of the fender with no camber. So honestly, without having coilovers and camber plates on the rear, how "sticky280zx" got a 275 to work, I disagree.

 

I ended up going with the Continental ExtremeContact DW's, 235/45/17 and 255/40/17. After doing extensive research, they are rated #1 tire in the Extreme Summer catagory.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=ExtremeContact+DW

 

Also after calling Racing Lab and inquiring on weight. They indicated that these wheels run roughly 19-20lbs each. So I opted to find a lightweight tire to make up the difference. Rarely does anyone look at the tire weight. Usually only wheel and overall with Wheel and Tire. Rotating Mass is extremely important for gearing and HP. The Continental ExtremeContact DW 235/45/17 weighs 21lbs and the 255/40/17 weighs 25lbs. I compared several different makes and models. I was looking at the Continental's, Nitto NT 555's, Yokohama S Drive and Hankook's Ventus V12 EVO. Also the Continental appears to have the lowest height profile of all of these. I live in the NW. I only drive my Z in the summer months. So I only wanted to tire with Dry performance. Since I drive my Z aggressively, but still wanted them to last a little longer. I've ran the Yokohama AVS ES100's (280AA/A) for years on a 15X8.5" Wheel and swore by them in the DRY. The Continental has a 340AA/A rating. A little higher then what I wanted, but the ratings smashed the competition as with the lower numbers between 280-320. I will update you on actual performance later on, when I tear em up.

 

Please indicate any feedback respectively. Not sure what else to do on the rear except to run coilovers and camber plates.

 

-ZXR

Rubbins Racin!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...
  • 5 months later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...