What minimal size wheels would fill out ZG flares?

[Azon]

Please give diameter, offset and width (and pics of them on a car if possible). Particularly interested in Sulio's wheels - i think they seat nicely... :shock:

[Zeddophile]

rim diameter is fairly irrelevant, as you generally try to match your tyre selection to try and keep as close to the original overall diameter tyre. Width wise, i'd say around 8 inches would be close to the narrowest, maybe 7 inch if you had the wheels pushed out a bit.

 

Offset is going to depend on whether you decide to get adaptors made up or not, but at a guess the offset for an 8 inch rim with no adaptors would be about -20? which, if assuming standard offset of 0, would leave the inner edge of the wheel about 5mm closer into to strut (easy fit) and bring the outer edge of an 8 inch rim about 45mm to the outer of the car, which should fill the flares nicely, although i'm not 100% on how far the flares stick out. -15 would bring you 10mm closer to the strut than standard (still easy fit), and give 40mm further out rim distance.

[Azon]

Offset is going to depend on whether you decide to get adaptors made up or not' date=' but at a guess the offset for an 8 inch rim with no adaptors would be about -20? [/quote']

 

So you suggest 8 inch for frond and back?

[gav240z]

This is what www.sr240z.com is running:

 

WHEELS/TIRES:

`Watanabe R-Type 16x9 w/ -13 offset (Front)

`Watanabe R-Type 16x9.5 w/ -19 offset (Rear)

`Yokohama AVS ES100 225/45/16 all around

 

I believe Sulio used this as a guide for his combination the only difference being that he went to 17" Rim for better tyre selection.

[Zeddophile]

I think 8 inch would be the minimum to fill the flares, otherwise you'll need an enormous negative offset, and the wheels may start to look a bit skinny under there. If you are looking for the cheapest NEW rim, a 16x8 will be the cheapest option.

 

However, if you start talking used rims, you may find a set of 17x9s cheaper than a set of 16x8s, but I think finding secondhand rims in that kind of offset might be a little tricky..... unless you use bolt on adaptors.

[Azon]

I was thinking something like 17x8 on the front and 17x9 at the back, had anyone installed wheels in this size? What offset would it have to be?

[Toecutter]

Hi blue leaf,

As far as that ZG flared look goes and rim/tyre combo's I racked my brain with pros and cons with rim/tyre sizes and cost for some time on this one.

For me the first decision to be made was offset which was easy because I really like the way www.sr240z.com looked.

 

`Watanabe R-Type 16x9 w/ -13 offset (Front)

`Watanabe R-Type 16x9.5 w/ -19 offset (Rear)

oh and this set up clears the stock suspension

 

the combo above works but I also found that a lot of cars in Japan used a 16x8.5 at the front with -9 offset.

 

However I soon found that 16" tyres can be a little limited so I decided to go to 17" seeing the tyre selection is plentiful and cheap in that size. Also whilst at the wheel shop I found that the price difference for the actual rims was only $45 per rim more going from 16 to 17 so that sealed the deal.

 

Once I decided on 17's I had to decide on wether to use 8.5" wide for the front or 9" wide fronts seeing I was dubious about fitting the front tyres I wanted (225x45) whilst using 17x9's, I wanted to keep rolling diameter same front and back to keep it looking "right" when looked at from the side. The reason this was on my mind was I knew I wanted that old school "stretched" tyre look and I was a liitle worried that 9.0" wide might be a bit too wide to fit the 225x45 for the front, especially since tyre wall was reduced going from 16 to 17. This prooved a very important desicion because at 17x8.5 I had to go through 3 different tyres in 225x45 before the tyre shop managed to fit one, tyre stretch was the problem so 17x9 would have made things really difficult if I had of got them. I also tried 235x45 tyres at front, I actually took the wheels home with fitted tyres and the look really pissed me off. The wheels sat too high at the front with no stretch and that lower profile look was taken away with the higher wall height whilst I knew the rears looked great at 255x40 with the 17x9.5. I took the fonts back and managed to find a set of 225x45 that fit.

It gets very tricky because I think the look of the whole car depends on how those tyres sit.

 

So the final desicion was 3 peice ROH wheels in,

 

front 17x8.5, -9 offset with 225x45 tyres - rolling diameter 634.3mm

rear 17x9.5, -19 offset with 255x40 tyres - rolling diameter 635.8mm

[/b]

 

I would'nt go any narrower if your going to fit the flares because the dish gives it half the look and if you go to narrow rims at the rear you will need to go to an offset like -30mm or so to fill in the guards, Theres too much potential for things to start looking wierd, better off sticking to a proven.

 

If your concerned about price I keep telling friends to look into the new superlights by PERFORMANCE that are currently available in 16x8 for front and I believe coming out in 16x10 for the rear some time this year. Just add a small spacer at front to pump them out about 5-10 mm. You can get these wheels for about $225 ea. I'm trying to get my brother to buy a 240 and if I succeed I'll get this SUPERLIGHT set up for him I reckon it will look awsome.

 

Cheers

Sulio

[NZeder]

I agree with Sulio, re the width. Go 8.5 on the front and 9.5 on the rear. Sulio and I talked about sizes and offset over the phone before he purchased his rims. I have 16 though and like he stats tyre size is an issue in 16. The tyres I am running are 225/50/16 front and 245/45/16 rear. Both are a small strech for the rim but I think they look good. Anyway I tested fitted my Rims to Dad's Zed (stock suspension) to check the clearance (my car still in bits so could not test fit on my car). This photos show the clearance on the front (the rear have a bit more room (I think this is what Sulio needed to confirm before he ordered his rims, to ensure they would work with stock spings and spring purches).

 

Anyway here are some photos of my rims on Dad's car (non flared - check out other photos on my site if you want to see my custom steel flares)

 

Wheels RS Watanabe Type R. 16x8.5 -6 with 225/50/16 fronts and 16x9.5 -19 with 245/45/16 rears

 

And fitted to Dad's Zed.

[Toecutter]

G'day NZeder,

Those pics are great, very informative, as they say worth a thousand words.

I've often read posts about the question of using a fairly standard width rim say 8 inch for the rear and just getting a huge neg offset or large adapters for them as this thread hints at. I remember seeing a pic on either hybridz or classicz of this sort of thing done. I really should of copied the photo but anyway it looked wrong, looking at the rear veiw of the car the rims/tyres certainly were pumped out to fill the guards but seeing the tyres were only about 215 or 225's they looked like sticks propping up the car.

9.5 wide at rear is definatley what I would go for, and 245 rear tyres is a nice size.

Oh and hows your car going anyway mate? Any plans to visit us in the near future?

[NZeder]

G'day NZeder' date='

Oh and hows your car going anyway mate? Any plans to visit us in the near future?[/quote']

 

Sorry for the slight movement away from the original post. But yes I am planning on visiting Melbourne very soon. I am back at work next week (after a good break) and will arrange a visit - might be a quick trip this time not the usual 2 weeks. Just a few days mid to late Jan by the look. I will however be back in town for the GP week as normal. Car is coming along slowly - check my site for pics of the my new exhaust (in Stainless Steel also )

 

Back to the original post 8.5 and 9.5 seem to be the common sizing for ZG flare in Japan and as you can see by Toecutter (Sulio) and my rims we have followed this path. Both Sulio and mine are 8.5 -6 fronts and 9.5 -19 rears. I am using 16" rims and tyres were as Sulio has gone 17" (more tyre choice these days. As the widest tyre to can get in 16" is 245/45/16 here in NZ anyway, and road legal I believe a race tyre can be purchased in 255 or 265/40/16). However I have RS Watanabe 8 spoke R-Type (I think that is the offical name of the rim) and the biggest they make is 16" (however they are a very light rim and one piece

 

Cheers

Mike

[Toecutter]

Just a suggestion on something different in regards to wheel suggestions. Some might think these wheels don't look good and I must admit at first glance they look strange but I think they have got a cool 70's feel and they come in 16x8 and 16x10 for the rear. The only thing to do is find out offset options on them. But what do you guys think of them. Try and picture them with a dish, perhaps black centres and polished dish? I reckon you could buy these cheap cheap and have that ZG look!!!!

 

hmmm, this post should prolly be in the wheels section!?

I'm talking about the wheel on the right.

[Azon]

Just found the information on standard wheel sizes (including offset) early Zs (JDM specs I would presume), thought some people might be interested:

 

http://www.rs-watanabe.co.jp/matching/nissan.htm - scroll down and you will find S30 wheel specs

 

Even the original wheel had a really low offset, although not 0 as some people suggested

[matt drago]

I tried that link but is was a frameset. I think I found the page that you meant with the info on it though

 

http://www.rs-watanabe.co.jp/matching/nissan.htm

 

Cheers,

 

Matt

[Azon]

I tried that link but is was a frameset. I think I found the page that you meant with the info on it though

 

http://www.rs-watanabe.co.jp/matching/nissan.htm

 

Cheers' date='

 

Matt[/quote']

 

Thanks for that.

[NZeder]

I tried that link but is was a frameset. I think I found the page that you meant with the info on it though

 

http://www.rs-watanabe.co.jp/matching/nissan.htm

 

Cheers' date='

 

Matt[/quote']

 

Thanks for that.

 

Those are the ones I have for my Zed. However I went 16x8.5-6 fronts (as stated) but went with 16x9.5-19 on the rears (my custom flares are a little larger than the stock ZG in the rear but these rims will still fit under the stock ZG flare)

[Mr Camouflage]

Just wondering how far the ZG flares stick out Sulio, say if you were to measure form the outside edge of the metal wheel arch to the outside edge of the overfender.

 

 

Cheers.

[Toecutter]

I measured it, 50mm on the rear and about 40mm at the front.

Rear minus flares

Front minus flares

 

The pics above show you how much of the tyre you will need to fill in the flares above.

[Mr Camouflage]

Thanks Sulio.

 

The Z I plan to put flares on has rear flares already. Smothed into the body, but I want to remove them and put ZG style ones on it - when i get around to it. It has chevoit hotwires (think they were 7 inch from memory) with 235 tyres on it.

 

How did you attach your flares? rivets or bolts?

 

Also the reason SR240Z doenst have 17 inch watanabes on it is because 16" is the largest they make in old school offset (R wheels).

 

Their 8 spoke 17 inch (F8 wheels) smallest offset is +30 (one piece. 2 piece smallest is +15). which would probably not fit a 240/260z

[Toecutter]

Hi Mr Camo,

I believe I've seen Panasports or perhaps another American wheel like the Aussie Superlite that comes out in the 17" . Anyhow as I keep raving on about on this site, with surprisingly little response, superlights are my second choice for this setup. I'm really hanging to see someone do the 16x8 fronts and 16x10 rear with ZG's, that would look great! and for such a small price!?

[NZeder]

Hi Mr Camo' date='

I believe I've seen Panasports or perhaps another American wheel like the Aussie Superlite that comes out in the 17" . Anyhow as I keep raving on about on this site, with surprisingly little response, superlights are my second choice for this setup. I'm really hanging to see someone do the 16x8 fronts and 16x10 rear with ZG's, that would look great! and for such a small price!?[/quote']

 

I pic of the newer superlights would be good - I know the older style, like the ones I used to own and like the ones on Dad's Zed have more than 8 spokes and don't look right to me. Also at 16x10 finding a tyre that will fit will the issue. The 245/45/16 I have was a strech to get the beed to take on the 16x9.5 that I have so the extra .5" will mean finding a larger tyre or tyre shop that has one of the ring things to help get the beed to take.

 

And if the these new Superlights are like the old ones that should be called Superheavy's. But as you say the price is right if you live on that side of the tassie (for a new $$ more you can import from the UK Compomtive ML here in NZ which I think look much nicer and they are lighter and FIA approved if you want to rally but 15x8 is as big as the Comp ML go)

 

If the newer superlights are 8 spoke then I say yes someone go for it if un-sprung weight is not a concern

[Toecutter]

Yer the issue with tyre limitations in 16 will always be a pain. Jeez I did'nt know the Superlights were that heavy!

Oh well easy choice then, get custom wheels made up, about the $2000 mark or, buy Watanabes, at least $2500 or be patient and wait for a second hand set of wheels in the correct PCD and correct offset (might have to wait for a quite a while) and then the chance is 98% that the wheels would have to be modified to be wider for flares, more money!