Width & Offset for 'wide' look

[Tee]

Brought my new brocks today, they'r 16" and all 4 are 9J, should have checked before but I've got clearance issues at the front. Question is though whats max width I can run on my 280.. I'd guess 8.5 up front and 9/9.5 rears..?

Also for anyone who's gone for the 'down and out' look, what set up are you running (width, offset, tyres). Even though the brocks are 9J and I have an 18mm hubcentric spacer, they don't sit out of the arch at all (28 offset).

 

[datsfun]

Brought my new brocks today, they'r 16" and all 4 are 9J, should have checked before but I've got clearance issues at the front. Question is though whats max width I can run on my 280.. I'd guess 8.5 up front and 9/9.5 rears..?

Also for anyone who's gone for the 'down and out' look, what set up are you running (width, offset, tyres). Even though the brocks are 9J and I have an 18mm hubcentric spacer, they don't sit out of the arch at all (28 offset).

They may be 9J but what you dont tell us is the offset of the wheels. 9J wheels will easily fit the 280ZX with a 18mm spacer if they are a modern or FWD offset eg 40mm.
On a 280ZX,I can see a 9J wheel sitting hella flush

 

[Tee]

I've written offset, it's 28, rears are fine but catches at front. I think I'm aiming for 8/8.5 all round with a zero offset, but it's damn hard finding wheels without spending a bloody fortune!

 

[datsfun]

I've written offset, it's 28, rears are fine but catches at front. I think I'm aiming for 8/8.5 all round with a zero offset, but it's damn hard finding wheels without spending a bloody fortune!

Where does it catch at the front?..given that they are 16", I cant see these fouling brakes,so most likely the wheel is fouling the strut? Are you running standard springs or have you converted to coilovers?

The back spacing on a 280ZX is preety lousy, less than 100mm IIRC. Have you considered using wider spacers at the front to cure the fouling?

A proper 9J wheel is around 10" wide bead to bead. With +28 offset means back spacing of around 150mm+...so you probably need a 50mm spacer just to clear the struts !...Hmm, 2" spacer would be the limit

 

[Tee]

Yep it's catching strut and I'm running standard springs. I really want to restrict spacers to 20mm, so will just have to get some 8.5 or even 9J but with much lower offset. Was hoping I'd get pics of what set-up peeps are running on their zeds but don't spose that's likely!

 

[datsfun]

Yep it's catching strut and I'm running standard springs. I really want to restrict spacers to 20mm, so will just have to get some 8.5 or even 9J but with much lower offset. Was hoping I'd get pics of what set-up peeps are running on their zeds but don't spose that's likely!

What you want is to run -ve offset wheels, which are hard to come by. My suggestion would be to convert the front legs to coilovers as this will reduce the spring platform and hence fouling with rims.

Also, 0 offet wheels are easily available for not a lot of dosh....15X8 with 0 offset can be had for £400 new. In fact, some of the wheels do come with 15X8 (0 offset) front and 15 X 9 ( 0 offset for rears)...with some spacers that should fill the lardy 280ZXarches

 

[Tee]

Any particular wheels your referring to dafsun? 8J with a zero offset I'd happily buy for £400. I've got 4x100 adaptors on there at the moment so that's opened up a whole world, but I've gone through 3 sets now and still not overly happy

 

[Wes]

check ebay. Try searching for stag wheels.
they do 15x8 et minus 8 for under £400 including delivery

Wes

 

[datsfun]

Or do a search on ebay US for XXR wheels

They do them in

15X7 +ve 15 offset
15X8 zero offset
15X9 zero offset

16X7 +ve 15 offset
16X8 zero offset
16X9 zero offset

And many sellers help to sell you a staggered set, so wider rears etc

Whatever option you go for, I am sure you will benefit from converting the front legs to 2.25" coilovers and if you want them to fill arches, then give the back space on 280ZX is around 95mm. So you will have to use bolt on spacers me thinks to avoid the rim catching strut.

 

[Tee]

Xxr's are gorgeous, there's some floating about on UK eBay as well, US shipping can add up so I've tried to avoid. I've got 18mm hubcentric spacers so I'll be able to go to 8.5 on the front.

Wes the 15x8 minus ET-8 your referring to are only available in ford fitment (4x108) the 114.3 are only available in zero. Might just invest in them and keep my eyes open for the perfect set, if they exist!

 

[Wes]

Email the guy selling them. Theyre just not listed but he does stock them.

 

[Tee]

I rang him yesterday, 4x114.3 15x8 are zero offset, 4x108 15x8 are -8

 

[datsfun]

Xxr's are gorgeous, there's some floating about on UK eBay as well, US shipping can add up so I've tried to avoid. I've got 18mm hubcentric spacers so I'll be able to go to 8.5 on the front.

Hmm,many US guys will send for US$200 postage.

8.5J wheel equates to 9.5" bead to bead generally and with 0 offset this means backspacing of 121mm. 18mm spacer means backspacing reduced to 103mm. This is not going to fitas I believe the 280zxback space is around 95-98mm

You could get some 1" spacers but these will push wheels out and may extend beyond arch

 

[Tee]

dafsun, that description is far too complex for a village boy such as myself. But maybe you can help with this -

10J front with -9 offset
11J rear with -19

Will these fit my 280?!

 

[datsfun]

dafsun, that description is far too complex for a village boy such as myself. But maybe you can help with this -

10J front with -9 offset
11J rear with -19

Will these fit my 280?!

Haha, its simple stuff really once you sit down and pay some attention

Fronts are 10J. This means that the wheel is approximately 11" in width. If it was a 0 offset wheel,then halfway point would be 5.5" or approx 140mm. Because your wheel is -ve 9offset, then the backspace is 140mm less 9mm which is 131mm. We have already established that the backspace on a 280ZX hub is circa 100mm, so you will need 30mm spacer to avoid the wheel hitting the strut. The 30mm spacer pushes the wheel out...

My gut feeling is that unless you go very silly stretch,these rims will protude the standard arches by a fair bit.

Rears are 11j -19 offset. This equates to backspace of 130mm and again possibly spacer time = fouling arches!

It seems you are too focused at the -ve offset principle and overlook the mega width of the wheel.

Why dont you measure the distance between the hub face and the strut as this determines how deep rims you can run (without spacers) and lets take it from there..

I am using 280ZX struts on my datsun(not a zed) and have managed to get 7J wheels with 0 offset ...just... by using a 3mm spacer which is why I think that the 280ZX can not take a wheel with more than 100mm back spacer, without spacers

 

[Tee]

Thanks for that, but are you sure you've got the 280 backspacing correct? And also Isn't adding an inch on to the given width too much.. Given the above even a 15x8 with zero offset wouldn't fit.. I'll try and measure the backspacing tomorrow

 

[datsfun]

Thanks for that, but are you sure you've got the 280 backspacing correct? And also Isn't adding an inch on to the given width too much.. Given the above even a 15x8 with zero offset wouldn't fit.. I'll try and measure the backspacing tomorrow

15X8 0 offset without spacers? No chance...based on the 280ZX struts that I have..

 

[Tee]

Nar dude, I had 9J brocks fitted up front with pretty high offset and although they were touching the strut they still went on. But that was with my spacers I suppose. I'll have to do some probing into this tomorrow!

 

[ryn004]

Sorry from bringing this discussion back up, but this thread helped me a lot.

Yesterday I was trying to fit an 15" 8J +1 wheel with 215/50 tires on the front and it hit on the strut. By going with Datsfun logic, my backspace is 115m, so I would need a 20mm spacer.

However no one mentioned what is the allowance space for the front space, that is the space allowed before hitting the fender. So what is the front space dimension?

I'm ordering the wheels and spacers online and I want to be sure I get the dimensions right.