Need wheel ideas! Share with me...

[JonnyRock]

Hey guys (and gals),

I've been looking into updating my wheels recently and hope to do so relatively soon. The problem is, I've had a real rough time finding ones that will fit. I'd like to stay away from spacers, or modifying my stock suspension.

I'm currently running a set of old school 14" gold mesh Enkies. I'm planning on keeping them, but would like to update to at least 16, if not 17 inchers. No Watanabes because while I like the look, that's what everyone seems to do (or look-alikes). So I'm hoping you guys could give me some good ideas!

I think the wheels will need to have little to zero offset. And they need to have at least 5 spokes. Thanks for the help!

[BRE-240Z]

Personally I've never seen a set of 17's that didn't look too big. 16-inch Panasports look really nice, though.....

[Oiluj]

I agree with BRE-240Z on 17" wheels. They just don't look "right" to me. I went 15" panasports, but 16" looks fine as well.

One thing to consider is ride quality & potholes. I know two people with tall rims and low profile tires, (which is how I would characterize 17's on a Z). Their cars ride very hard and both have had to repair or replace rims after hitting a pothole on the highway. There's not enough cushion in the tire sidewall to protect the rim.

Just my 2 cents...

[ktm]

As John Coffey likes to say, the 240z suspension has a lot of "stiction" (stickiness and friction). As such, it does not move as freely as modern suspensions. Larger diameter wheels with smaller sidewall tires results in a harsher ride.

I've been struggling with this decision myself for a while now. I NEED wider tires in the back. I have NO traction in 1st or 2nd when I get on it and I am running 225s now. I've been looking into what will fit and I'll share the info I got.

Stop thinking offset, its backspace, backspace, backspace (to quote John Coffey again). The most backspace you can run on an S30 with stock suspension to 4 to 4.5 inches. With a 0 offset, that translate to a 7 or 8 inche wide wheel. You can run a positive offset wheel if it is narrow. For instance, you can run a 6 inch wide wheel with a 25 mm offset, but the effect would be for the face of the wheel to appear sunken in the wheel well.

Personally, for a street vehicle, I would look at 15s, maximum 16s. You want some sidewall to cushion the bumps.

[Arne]

My thoughts as an ex-tire/wheel guy. The facts first, then personal opinion.

FACT - The selection of current production wheels that do not require spacers is very small. There are no cars in recent production that use our bolt pattern with minimal offset. The market for such wheels is limited, and so the incentive to tool up for such is also limited.

FACT - Of those few that are available, most will be either well-known semi-vintage-look wheels, or one of a few custom-built multi-piece (translate as expensive) wheels. Examples - Konig Rewinds (14, 15 & 16"), the very similar Fast-Forwards (15"), Panasports (14, 15 & 16"), the American Racing repro slot mags (15 & 17"), and a SportMax style or two (15" and maybe 16").

FACT - Large diameter wheels with low-profile tires are more prone to pothole damage, but the possibility can be greatly reduced by keeping sufficient air pressure in the tires. And lower profile tires require more pressure than normal - simply the same as a normal profile tire isn't enough. For a 225/45-17 (which is stock overall diameter) on a Z, I'd recommend a minimum of 36 PSI, perhaps as high as 40 PSI.

FACT - Larger diameter wheel and tire packages are almost always heavier than smaller packages. Yes, the tires weigh less, but the larger rims weigh enough more to overrule the tire savings. Granted, the weight difference is probably not noticeable if the change is small, but the increased rolling resistance of a wide tire when added to an extra 4-6 lbs. per corner can add to a more sluggish feel, especially off the line. In your case, Jon, your 14" Enkei Apaches are moderately lightweight. So the difference between those wheels and a set of cast 17" could easily be 4-8 lbs. per corner.

OPINION - Z cars (S30s) look funny to me with large diameter wheels. I can accept 15" generally, and 16" can look OK on many cars, but I've yet to see a set of 17" on an S30 that I thought really looked 'right'.

OPINION - I believe many people go too wide for normal use on these cars. For daily driving, 7" wide is more than enough, and most people overlook the narrower tires for their bigger wheels. For 15" rims, consider 195/65-15 or 205/60-15s instead of the more popular 225/50-15s. Or perhaps 205/55-16s instead of 225/50-16s. Or 205/50-17 instead of 225/45-17s. All of the sizes listed in this paragraph are similar height to the stock tire sizes for an S30. (The 195/65-15 is a small touch taller, the 225/50-15 a touch shorter.) But with mostly stock suspension (i.e. no coilovers or adjustable control arms and tension rods) the wider tires will not add much, and can actually detract from the daily drivability.

[Six_Shooter]

I think 17s look just perfect on an S30:

More info:

http://www.turbomagazine.com/features/tur0801a01_1972_nissan_datsun_240z/index.html

http://www.superstreetonline.com/featuredvehicles/custom_1972_datsun_240z_import_car/index.html

[Six_Shooter]

I think 17s look just perfect on an S30:

More info:

http://www.turbomagazine.com/features/tur0801a01_1972_nissan_datsun_240z/index.html

http://www.superstreetonline.com/featuredvehicles/custom_1972_datsun_240z_import_car/index.html

[Arne]

I think 17s look just perfect on an S30:

That car is lowered enough to get away with 17" visually - although just barely. But on a less radically lowered car, those same wheels would look too big, with not enough sidewall. In my opinion, of course.

[JonnyRock]

Thanks guys!

I can see what you're saying about 17's being too big. I'm aware of the loss in ride quality, I just think of them as "the right size" wheel for most applications. For a Z tho, sounds like 16's would be right.

Konig Rewinds and Panasports are what I'd like to stay away from. And I don't think other vintage wheels like AR Torq Thrusts would give me the look I want, so it sounds like I'll need spacers just to find a contemporary wheel.

I have searched around the site for information, but most of this forum is dedicated to talking about Panasports, and most of that "other" forum talks about radically changing their suspension (going to 5-bolt setup, coilovers, etc). Does anyone know of a site that will give me information about using spacers properly. It seems sketchy to me.

[Arne]

For the amount of offset change you will need, spacers are simple. They will bolt to the hub, and the wheels will bolt to the spacers. Not much to it. Most spacers of this type will be at most 25mm (1 inch) thick, and so they will reduce the offset by 25mm.

This picture is five lug, but otherwise the same.

[WingZr0]

As John Coffey likes to say, the 240z suspension has a lot of "stiction" (stickiness and friction). As such, it does not move as freely as modern suspensions. Larger diameter wheels with smaller sidewall tires results in a harsher ride.

I've been struggling with this decision myself for a while now. I NEED wider tires in the back. I have NO traction in 1st or 2nd when I get on it and I am running 225s now. I've been looking into what will fit and I'll share the info I got.

Stop thinking offset, its backspace, backspace, backspace (to quote John Coffey again). The most backspace you can run on an S30 with stock suspension to 4 to 4.5 inches. With a 0 offset, that translate to a 7 or 8 inche wide wheel. You can run a positive offset wheel if it is narrow. For instance, you can run a 6 inch wide wheel with a 25 mm offset, but the effect would be for the face of the wheel to appear sunken in the wheel well.

Personally, for a street vehicle, I would look at 15s, maximum 16s. You want some sidewall to cushion the bumps.

Everything you said is right but I you got one thing wrong problely by

mistake.

The more Positve Offset you have the closer the center off the wheel will

come to the rim lip or face of the wheel.

The more Negitive Offset the more sunken in the center of the rim is as

I believe you intended to say .

Backspace is the key of what matters and using this tire calculator guide in

the link below you can see visually what a Positive Offset will do.

For example, add the deminsions for a 14x7 rim with 0 Offset and

compare that with the second wheel on the right using the demisions of

14x6 with +10 Offset.

You will see the backspace for both are nearly identical with the

left 14x7 rim having 4 inches backspace and the 14x6 rim on the

right having 4.1 inches.

Also the you can see the +10 Offset rim has the center closer to the face or rim lip,

i.e. closer to the outside.

The more Negitive the Offset the deeper the rim is

http://www.rims-n-tires.com/rt_specs.jsp?item=Wheel-Tire%20size%20comparer&showRim1=1

&showTire1=1&sw1=215&ar1=60&bd1=14&rd1=14&rw1=7.0&et1=0&showRim2=1&showTire2=1&sw2

=215&ar2=60&bd2=14&rd2=14&rw2=7.0&et2=0&text1=&text2=

~Z~

[WingZr0]

If your realy looking for rims then chack these 2 sites.

1~

This one is loaded with tons of New and sometimes used stuff.

But if you not hung up on rim refinishing then this is the place to

find some pretty unique or otherwise hard to find stuff, especially JDM.

http://yhst-1408381693991.stores.yahoo.net/rarejdmrims.html

2~

This site here is the same but 2 different links I will give you to it.

The first is the home page to the rims by company and the second link is

the rims by photos (I think).

Either way if you click on the rim makers image link it will show you a pic of all the rims by

that factory and the bolt patterns and other information per rim along with a

homepage link to the factorys website if included and also if the rim is discountinued or not.

You can search by rim size, style, color, construction type,

manfacture or number of spokes etc etc etc

Just keep in mind that it may not be up to date far as the newest styles that

are currently out, for instance Tenzo has some rims that are not on thier

list yet.

http://www.wheelspecs.com/WheelBrands.aspx?BrandPrefix=A

AND~

http://www.wheelspecs.com/default.aspx

~Z~