Will these wheels fit my 1972 240z

[rhands]

Hello guys,

I have been looking at the wheels on another site but I can not figure out this offset thing. The bolt pattern is the same as mine 4 by 114.3 but the offsets and rim size my be a real issue. The wheels are 16x9 +13 offset and 16x9 +25 offset ssr reverse mesh. I'm really in love with these wheels but I don't think they will fit and I don't want to buy these things and become stuck with them. Would I need to buy spacers, adapters etc and if so what size? I really love these wheels so any help with this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

[Bruce Palmer]

I'm guessing going from a 14X6 to a 16X9 regardless of off-set will be a stretch. The tires it'll take to fit the 9" wheels aren't going to help the fit problem either.

[DougN]

I'm sure our wheel expert, Arne, can say for sure, but since the standard offset for a wheel to fit the Z is 0, and these and have a very large offset (not to mention being 16"x9" which might be tough even with a 0 offset!), my guess is not even close. If you really want to try to stuff these wheels on your Z, the folks over at HybridZ may have some tips on how to do it

[rhands]

Thanks guys. I kind of knew that they were not going to make it but I'm a hard head sometimes.

[rhands]

Can someone put me in touch with Arne?

[Arne]

Arne doesn't have much experience going that wide on a Z. But after sketching it out a bit I feel fairly safe in saying that wheels of that width with that offset would require spacers, coil-overs and possibly flares to fit on a Z. You're dealing with two separate issues here - one is that there isn't that much clearance to the inside, deep positive offset wheels will hit the strut tube. Coil-overs give more clearance, but I think you might still need spacers to boot with that much offset. (The +13's will have 5.5" backside, the +25's will have 6.0". Too much for a Z.)

But even with coil-overs and appropriate spacers to tuck them in as far as they can go, 9" wide is probably going to have fitment issues at the fenders too.

In short, they could probably be made to work, but it will be very expensive (past the expense of the wheels themselves), and require a lot of modification and work.

[Bruce Palmer]

In short, they could probably be made to work, but it will be very expensive (past the expense of the wheels themselves), and require a lot of modification and work.

And don't forget the Lift Kit. ROFLROFL

[rhands]

You gouys are great! That is exactly what I wanted to hear. Thanks so much.

[Zs-ondabrain]

I tend to watch anything "Tire" related on the site as I'm building a 260Z in the garage and want to do as large a tire and wheel as possible. I'd also like to keep then the same, front to rear.

I have 225/50ZR16's on all 4 corners of the 70' and they fit beautifully. There is no rubbing or bottoming out issues and the car was lowered 1.5" with no problems.

I'd love to go a little wider in the rear of the 260Z but I'm thinking ZG flares are in order.

So my question to Arne and all Tire wise guys is this......

1) The 260Z will also be lowered like the 70' but I WILL have ZG Flares. WHich will require cutting the fender lip off, Will a 245/45ZR17 on 17"X8" wheels fit?? (

2) if so, what should the offset be to clear the springs and strut assm.???

3) If those will fit the rear, will the same size in front, fit as well without rubbing??

Are these HybridZ questions??

Any help is appreciated, as always.

Dave.

[Arne]

Dave, I'm fairly certain that with ZG flares and cutting, you should be able to get a 17x8 or 8.5 under the rear. I'd normally recommend a 245/40 rather than a 245/45 due to the 45 being taller. I don't know off-hand what effective offset (true offset + possibly spacers) would be needed to clear the strut tube, but with the flares it shouldn't be too tough to do. If I had your car in my garage I could take a few measurements and we could figure it out. Send me an email when you get the rear suspension put back together.

On the front, I think the 17x8 with 245s might be pushing it a bit. I'd normally recommend 17x7 or 7.5 in front with 225/45s. With the proper effective offset we can definitely fill flares up front nicely too.

[Walter Moore]

You can get a rough guess of the maximum offset by taking your maximum available back spacing, the distance from the wheel mounting surface to the first obstruction which is typically the spring or strut tube, and subtracting 1/2 the maximum section width of the tire you want to mount. (The tire is normally wider than the rim, so it is what counts.)

The bad news is that you just about have to look up the section width for a particular tire on a particular wheel in the Tire and Rim Association year book.

For example, I assumed that on my 71' I could live with a backspace of 5 inches, so the equation becomes 127mm - (section width / 2). For a 215/60R15, on a 15x6 wheel the section width is listed in the book I have at 221mm. That calculates to a maximum offset of 16mm, and since my wheels have a 10mm offset that tire would at least fit on the car. (The speedometer accuracy is a totally different question).

I am sure there are more accurate ways to get this information, but I am throwing this out as a suggestion. Use it at your own risk.

[Zs-ondabrain]

That helps a lot. I'd like to keep the same size wheel and tires all the way around but might have to sacrifice the fronts a little.

Thanks guys, it does help,

Dave.