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Assist me in my wheel shopping! by pmbrunelle
Started on | : 09-21-2016 12:10 AM |
Replies | : 13 (775 views) |
Last post by | : pmbrunelle on 12-04-2020 06:35 PM |
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Sep 21st, 2016
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pmbrunelle Member Posts: 4543 From: Grand-Mère, Québec Registered: Sep 2008
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Here is my current setup: - 1985 Fiero
- LeBaron brake mod
- Coilovers in the rear with 12" springs; the perches are currently directly facing the tire sidewalls.
- ASA AR1 17x7 ET+48, 205/45R17
- ASA AR1 17x8 ET+35, 245/40R17 (currently a .763"+ clearance between the perch and tire)
I like the high front offset of my setup. However, I've managed to bust two front wheels in the past year. I guess the sidewall height just isn't enough for my driving/road quality. I've had these wheels since 2011. The other day I went to Tirerack to buy my 2nd replacement front wheel (after looking at the website since initially bending the wheel in June). Discontinued. ASA/Tirerack discontinued the wheels without any sort of warning. No one-year notice to warn the customer of the product's end-of-life. Even on digikey (low-dollar parts compared to wheels/tires), you can see notices on some component pages such as "Not recommended for new designs". So now I am shopping for four new wheels. At least my tires are all bald, so now is a good time... I have narrowed down my choices to the following: Enkei RSF5 http://www.1010tires.com/Wh...Painted/Hyper+Silver16x7.0 ET+45, 195/55R16 17x7.5 ET+40, 235/45R17 Drag DR-31 http://www.1010tires.com/Wh...-31/Painted/Gunmetal16x7.0 ET+40, 205/50R16 17x9.0 ET+38, 255/40R17 Reasons I prefer the Enkei setup: - Fitment is pretty much guaranteed to work; I don't know if 17x9 will fit in the back
- Tire won't stick out too much (I find my current setup OK in this regard, so this is more sunken in)
- I prefer the bright silver paint to the gunmetal finish
- 5 hole lug pattern rather than the 10 hole cheapy looking dual lug pattern
- More front offset to reduce kickback from bumps (don't know if a 5 mm difference is significant)
- Narrow front tire should minimize tramlining (again, not sure how to quantify difference)
- More sidewall height for bump/pothole resistance
Reasons I prefer the Drag setup: - Less abysmal sticky tire choice in the 205/50R16 size than the 195/55R16 size
- Tires are installed on rims close to the measuring rim width (no stretch/balloon)
- More rubber means the car will stick better to the road?
- Wide rear rubber looks cool
- Rear tire is smaller in diameter, so offers a shorter "final gear ratio"
Ideally, I would go for the SSR Professor 3-piece wheels, but $$$  Trying to find a staggered combo with off-the-self one-piece wheels is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I will try to figure the end-of-life schedules for each wheel; I don't want to be stuck with this same wheel replacement problem a few years down the road from now. What do you think about fitting a 17x9 with 38 mm of offset? Any thoughts?
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12:10 AM
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PFF
System Bot
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Joseph Upson Member Posts: 4951 From: Registered: Jan 2002
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Consider wheel weight. A move from stock 15" wheels to HP 18x8 and 9 along with tires resulted in a weight gain totaling 80 lbs for my car. 15 for each wheel and 5 for each tire. Don't sacrifice performance if you can avoid it.
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05:24 AM
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pmbrunelle Member Posts: 4543 From: Grand-Mère, Québec Registered: Sep 2008
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What I have now is pretty heavy, so whatever I do will be a "lateral promotion". At least the Enkei wheels have a weight listed. The Drag wheels do not have a weight listed. I think that if the weight is any good, the manufacturer would want to flaunt it. I assume that no weight listed = heavy. Nevertheless, 255/40R17 on a 17x9 ET+38 is appealing. I might just start by buying one rear wheel for test fitting purposes; if it doesn't work out, I will only have lost the value of one wheel. I do not own a coffee table; it could become an auto-themed coffee table with a round piece of glass sitting above. I may try the following measures: - I use exclusively stick-on wheel balancing weights. I could move the balancing weight strip outboard by an inch or so to gain clearance with the knuckle.
- I am willing to trim the upper part of the steel clamp on the strut that grips the knuckle. I could also trim the knuckle a bit.
- Possibility to change to 10" springs instead of my current 12" springs. This would move the spring perch up 2". I would need to also buy longer sleeves though.
[This message has been edited by pmbrunelle (edited 09-21-2016).]
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08:21 PM
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cvxjet Member Posts: 3859 From: ca, usa Registered: May 2010
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I have some VOXX Monzas (Not made anymore(Of Course!) that weigh in at approx' 14 lbs....When I went from the old 15 x 7 215/225-60s to the 16 x 7 205/225- 55s I took 6 lbs off the front and 3 lbs off the back....It was like a whole new car! If you can, it is well worth it to eliminate as many lbs as you can....Watch the tire weight also; My old tires (General G-max) were 3-4 lbs lighter than my new BFGs....I notice that difference, and although the BFGs out-perform the G-maxs I would now rather have the G-Maxs Because of the feel.
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08:53 PM
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Dec 11th, 2016
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pmbrunelle Member Posts: 4543 From: Grand-Mère, Québec Registered: Sep 2008
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So I bought a single Drag DR-31 wheel: 17x9 38 mm offset I test-fitted it on my 85 Fiero with KYB struts:  Seems to clear the knuckle:  I expect to trim the steel tabs slightly on the struts like so:  Trimming may not be strictly necessary, but more clearance is always nice! The spring perch is 1-3/4" above the lip of the wheel.  Laterally, there is not much separation between the spring perch and the tire. Therefore, my perch-to-tire clearance will come from vertical separation. I will replace my 12" springs for 10" springs. I will need some longer threaded sleeves. Measured from the lip (incorrectly, but whatever), I expect the 255/40R17 tire to have a 3-1/8" sidewall when measured that way. So with a 10" spring, there would be 5/8" of vertical separation between the tire tread and the spring perch. Also, I kind of assumed that the tire has a square shoulder. In reality, the round shoulder will further increase clearance. Moving the inner plane of balancing weights outboard by an inch or so is a given.
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12:38 PM
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Dec 1st, 2020
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Will Member Posts: 14267 From: Where you least expect me Registered: Jun 2000
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| quote | Originally posted by pmbrunelle:
I expect to trim the steel tabs slightly on the struts like so:
 Trimming may not be strictly necessary, but more clearance is always nice!
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Be careful with that... the top is the highest loaded part of the taco clamp... GM probably has those "may trim" tabs there to reduce the *stress intensity factor* on the material to prevent fatigue cracks from starting there. [This message has been edited by Will (edited 12-01-2020).]
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09:15 PM
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Dec 2nd, 2020
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pmbrunelle Member Posts: 4543 From: Grand-Mère, Québec Registered: Sep 2008
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Yeah, that's why I considered those lips "may trim", due to the sketchiness of the affair, I wouldn't want to charge forward without thinking. Looking at the wheel/strut assembly more closely now, I think it is reasonable to leave the "may trim" lips intact and not have to worry about it. Speaking of taco shells, I'm having tacos for lunch, and they're flat-bottomed so they sit vertically on your plate. Old El Paso. [This message has been edited by pmbrunelle (edited 12-02-2020).]
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12:40 PM
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Dec 3rd, 2020
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FFIEROFRED Member Posts: 750 From: GULFPORT, MS Registered: May 2008
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This is what I use on my V8 fiero. I like the tall side wall. It helps to close up the wheel well and I can stall the converter to 2800 rpm and dead hook it.
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09:17 AM
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cvxjet Member Posts: 3859 From: ca, usa Registered: May 2010
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I went with 16 x 7 38 mm offset wheels with 205/55 and 225/55 tires....One nice thing about this setup is that those size tires were very popular so there are a lot of tire options....I run General G-Max AS-05 tires which are well rated all season tires....and actually a few lbs lighter than most tires. I made a decision in the 90s that I would NEVER go below a FOUR INCH sidewall ever after a friend wrecked his Dodge Charger when he hit a 2 x 4 on a freeway ramp, stripped the tire off the wheel and slid of said ramp (Tires were 195/50 x 15)  [This message has been edited by cvxjet (edited 12-03-2020).]
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11:26 AM
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pmbrunelle Member Posts: 4543 From: Grand-Mère, Québec Registered: Sep 2008
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| quote | Originally posted by FFIEROFRED:
This is what I use on my V8 fiero. I like the tall side wall. It helps to close up the wheel well and I can stall the converter to 2800 rpm and dead hook it. |
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Drag discontinued the 17x9 I purchased in 2016 (pictured in the previous post), so I don't really like them as a company. They don't seem to offer stability in their product line, which is important if I ever damage a wheel and need to get a matching replacement. My engine only makes good torque at 3000+ RPM. For the few times I will go to the dragstrip, I guess I will try two ways of launching: Maintain engine RPM at 3000 (or whatever), slip the clutch to make up the difference, while keeping the tires in a "dead hook" state. Maintain engine RPM at 3000 (or whatever), but spin the tires somewhat (not sure I'll be able to) so I don't have to abuse the clutch with heat. With the new tires, I guess I will find out what works on the dragstrip, but since I am building this Fiero as a general-purpose sports car, I don't think that my tire choice will be optimized for dragstrip launching. | quote | Originally posted by cvxjet: I made a decision in the 90s that I would NEVER go below a FOUR INCH sidewall ever after a friend wrecked his Dodge Charger when he hit a 2 x 4 on a freeway ramp, stripped the tire off the wheel and slid of said ramp (Tires were 195/50 x 15)
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Like you, 4 inches is pretty much the lowest I want to go; in fact I'll be right at that limit with the wheel/tire setup I'm converging on: 16x7 ET+48, 205/50R16 17x9 ET+40, 255/40R17 This wheel combo is offered by Enkei: https://enkei.com/shop/wheels/racing/pf05/Enkei looks good; for instance, their RPF1 wheel has been around 2002, and it doesn't look like they'll be stopping it anytime soon. I prefer the higher offsets for the front to keep the steering kickback low. The RPF1 doesn't have a 16x7 with high offset (just 35 mm).
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12:43 PM
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cvxjet Member Posts: 3859 From: ca, usa Registered: May 2010
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I would suggest going with a 205/55 instead.....The sidewall measured height is 4" with that tire...Remember the sidewall calculated measurement is from the ground to the BEAD, while the wheel actually extends another 1/2-3/4 inch below that. Also, I would not want a smaller diameter tire than my 205/55s (24.8") vs the 205/50 (24") which is smaller than the 215/60 x 14s that came stock...I like to try to fill up those big wheel wells. In my (Ancient) past the Trans Ams ran with 235/70 x 15s.....They were almost 28 inches in diameter!
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01:44 PM
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PFF
System Bot
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pmbrunelle Member Posts: 4543 From: Grand-Mère, Québec Registered: Sep 2008
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I was considering 205/55R16, but it would result in taller sidewalls than the 255/40R17 tires I expect in the rear.
I think it would look wacky if the rear sidewalls were shorter than the front sidewalls. Besides the look, I think it will work better with similar tire characteristics front and back (i.e. both have similarly flexible sidewalls).
I drove for many years on 205/50R16 and never had problems. I only had wheel problems with 205/45R17.
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10:27 PM
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Dec 4th, 2020
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cvxjet Member Posts: 3859 From: ca, usa Registered: May 2010
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Have you changed WHERE you drive...? (That may be a factor)
I wish they would make (Cheap) Magnesium wheels...I would like to get some lighter wheels...My VOXX Monzas are 14 lbs but I would really like to cut 4-5 lbs off each corner. They actually have a NON-flammable Magnesium alloy now. I was looking at magnesium wheels but the only ones I found were....$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and I don't have $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$...In fact I don't have $$$$$$$.....
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12:47 AM
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pmbrunelle Member Posts: 4543 From: Grand-Mère, Québec Registered: Sep 2008
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At 14 lbs you're pretty much at the low end for aluminium wheels in the 16x7 size.
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06:35 PM
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