The "Will it fit?" thread

[Mynamedoublem]

Originally Posted by Mynamedoublem

i have a 10 base on megan lowering spring and thinking about going 18x9.5 +22 with 265/40/18 in the front and 18x10.5 +15 with 295/40/18. What are your opinions help anyone !

oh and i plan on getting 25mm spacers in front and 20 or 15 mm spacers in the rear just don't know what kind ?

[Dire370]

(first post)

Gday from Australia
Got these recently:

TSW Bathurst (gunmetal)
19x9+30
19x10.5+27

Michelin Pilot Supersports
245/40
285/35

Grey 09 Z, stock height. I believe all Australian 370Z's have the 'sports brakes'.

Front wheels are flush with guards, rears are slightly in, could do with a 10mm spacer, may or may not do so in the future (they're definitely illegal here).
Exactly the fitment I was expecting thanks to my research on here.

One quirk I found was the holes for the lugs are bloody narrow... Had to actually go out and buy a slimmer socket because the one I had barely fit and would've fouled the wheel.

[/Angelo350Z/]

Originally Posted by Mynamedoublem

i have a 10 base on megan lowering spring and thinking about going 18x9.5 +22 with 265/40/18 in the front and 18x10.5 +15 with 295/40/18. What are your opinions help anyone !

Originally Posted by Mynamedoublem

oh and i plan on getting 25mm spacers in front and 20 or 15 mm spacers in the rear just don't know what kind ?

25mm spacers on 9.5" wide wheels with +22 offsets and 265 tires will be too much. How much camber do you plan on running? I have 19x9.5 +20 and 265/35 tires up front and I could maybe, get away with 2.5mm spacers.

For the rear, I'm running 19x11 +10 (+15 really, with 5mm spacers), so you should be good with 15mm or 20mm spacers on 18x10.5 +15 wheels with 295 tires. I would suggest H&R spacers.

[solteroblues]

I'm planning on some 20x9 F and 20x10.5 R both with +15 offsets. Stock suspension setup... Will they fit and What size tires should I go with?

[Darwins Child]

Originally Posted by PharmDZ

So for next years autocross season I'm thinking of buying another set of rear sport rays and running them on the front with a true square setup, nitto nt01 305/30r19 tires. I've run 295 Hoosiers with no rubbing on the front Rays - think the Nitto setup would work?? Has anyone run the rears on the front with a meaty tire?

I too am considering the same thing for our '14 touring sport -- buying two rear wheels and putting them on the front. However, in my case it is because when our OEM tires have to be replaced, I'd like to replace them with Michelin Pilot A/S 3+, which I understand can be swapped side-to-side on a vehicle, as long as the word "outside" on the tire remains outside / visible. To me this means never having to remove the tire from the wheel (which would have to be done to swap from side to side a one-spinning-direction-only tire).

Even further, if all four wheels on the vehicle were identical, this would allow "put it anywhere" flexibility when it comes to tire rotation.

(BTW, IMO, these Pilot A/S tires would be more appropriate for both Edmonton's possible-snow-in-any-month climate, as well as for my wife's and my rather sedate driving.)

I suppose I could buy two additional fronts to have all four wheels as fronts, so I have to make a hopefully informed decision about this and that is why I'm writing.

The front and rear Rays wheels that came with the vehicle have different, for lack of a better expression, "dish depth". That is, the outside edge of each rim is a different distance from the inner surface of the rim that the lug nuts secure to the wheel hub. I'm guessing that this means that if rear wheels are put on the front, the outside edge of the rim might stick out beyond the outside edge of the wheel / fender well.

If that is true, then the opposite would probably be true for putting front wheels on the rear -- the wheel might be sunk inside that rear wheel well a bit. However, in this case, I suppose that some kind of spacer could be used to bring the edge of the wheel exactly where the wider wheel would have been.

I'd appreciate any advice on which way to go.

Thanks.

[jchammond]

Stock Sport Wheels are 19x9+47F & 19x10+30R
The offset differential for these cars is right at 1", so with the same diameter wheels (F/R) 25mm spacers will put them close to spot on...(20-25mm pending on camber adjustment)
That's why you see a 9.5+25 & 10.5+12 a common fitment....1" difference in wheels = 12,13mm offset difference.

[Darwins Child]

Originally Posted by jchammond

Stock Sport Wheels are 19x9+47F & 19x10+30R
The offset differential for these cars is right at 1", so with the same diameter wheels (F/R) 25mm spacers will put them close to spot on...(20-25mm pending on camber adjustment)
That's why you see a 9.5+25 & 10.5+12 a common fitment....1" difference in wheels = 12,13mm offset difference.

Thanks.

If I understand you correctly, if I install 25mm spacers on the rear hubs, when I install on top of them the narrower OEM sport fronts, the outside edges of the rims with respect to the opening edge of the wheel/fender well will be very close to where the edges of the OEM rear sport wheel would be, correct?

If I were willing to live with the look of the wheel being inside the wheel well a bit (in other words, without a spacer installed), would there still be adequate roome between a front wheel and the rear caliper (or any other component, for that matter)? (This situation may actually help prevent some of the road debris that is normally picked up from hitting as much of the painted parts of the vehicle, but I might be wrong on that.)

While I'm at it, in order to install a 25mm spacer, do the OEM studs have to be shortened so that they don't poke out of the spacer?

[jchammond]

No, 25mm spacers on rear with 19x10 wheels will be a flusher fit with the 19x10's on front...talking 4 rear wheels.

[jchammond]

That would be a 19x10+30 front & a 19x10+5(after 25mm spacers) on the rear...a 20mm may be closer / pending what your rear camber is.
More-camber can tolerate more aggressive spacers.

[Darwins Child]

Thanks for taking the time, jchammond. I'm new to both the 370Z (we bought our Z in the spring) and the science / jargon of staggered tires, spacers, etc., so please forgive me for my ignorance and treat me like a 5-year-old when it comes to this subject.

Originally Posted by jchammond

No, 25mm spacers on rear with 19x10 wheels will be a flusher fit with the 19x10's on front...talking 4 rear wheels.

I think you are saying how to make imaginary lines drawn through the outer edges of a Z that has 4 rear wheels installed on it as parallel as possible, correct? That is, if rears are installed on the front, their outer edge is going to poke out more than the rears do. And in order to make the rears poke out that same distance, the rear 19", 275mm-wide OEM Rays wheels need a 25 or 20mm spacer, correct?

Originally Posted by jchammond

That would be a 19x10+30 front & a 19x10+5(after 25mm spacers) on the rear...a 20mm may be closer / pending what your rear camber is.
More-camber can tolerate more aggressive spacers.

You pretty much lost me here.

FWIW, our vehicle now has about 10,200 km (6,338 miles). AFAIK the camber on all wheels is as it came from the factory, whatever that is.

You say "19x10+30 front". So this is if rears are put on the front (as I suggested in my original post). What does the "+30" mean -- that the edge of the wheel will "poke out" 30mm from where they normally are (as if a 30mm spacer were installed on the OEM front wheel)?

The OEM rear, still on the rear, having the 25mm spacer installed, will be "+5". What does that "+5" mean?

Then you suggest that a 20mm spacer instead of the 25mm "may be closer", but I'm not sure closer to what -- being flush with the fender -- the edge of the rear wheel being "even" (on the same straight line) with the edge of the front?

I'd be very interested to see what a rear looks like on the front without actually having to manage that with our vehicle. If all of the above is done as you suggest, do all of the wheels poke out from the wheel wells? Do you happen to have a photo of a Z that has the rear OEM sport wheel and tire on the front?

It's beginning to sound to me like the way to go is with 4 fronts instead of 4 rears. What do you think of that option as opposed to 4 rears?

Thanks again.

[jchammond]

Bingo!

[jchammond]

Camber play's a huge role on proper offset & fitment.
Camber is negative on front & rear of car from the factory (wheels lean inward) the rear has twice as much neg-camber as the front (from the factory)
Example F-0.8* R-1.6* (* is for degrees)
on a 26.5" diameter tire/the wheel will lean inward 7mm for every degree of negative camber....3.5for 0.5*,10.5mm for 1.5*etc....
easiest way i found to properly space,is to ensure your alignment is to your suit & then tape a small plumb weight to a string on fender's -directly over center of wheel & measure your gaps (rim lip or tire sidewall) Be sure to park on level surface w/no wind.

[Darwins Child]

Originally Posted by jchammond

Camber play's a huge role on proper offset & fitment.
Camber is negative on front & rear of car from the factory (wheels lean inward) the rear has twice as much neg-camber as the front (from the factory)
Example F-0.8* R-1.6* (* is for degrees)
on a 26.5" diameter tire/the wheel will lean inward 7mm for every degree of negative camber....3.5for 0.5*,10.5mm for 1.5*etc....
easiest way i found to properly space,is to ensure your alignment is to your suit & then tape a small plumb weight to a string on fender's -directly over center of wheel & measure your gaps (rim lip or tire sidewall) Be sure to park on level surface w/no wind.

What is the typical ultimate goal of "properly spacing" -- to bring the top-most point of the edge of the wheel/tire "even with" the top-most part of the wheel/fender well?

I just examined the passenger-side wheel/tires on our vehicle, with the front wheels pointed directly ahead. I placed a short carpenter's level against the edge of the top-most ("highest") portion of the fender-well, adjusted the level plumb and made a rough estimate of the space between the part of the tire that bulges out the most and the side of the level. Looks to be very roughly 1". If I were to install a rear wheel on the front, would that gap disappear, or would the tire go beyond that imaginary plumb line?

So I assume that this intentional camber is why the tires on the Z, especially the rears, tend to wear on the inside, correct? If this is the case, then I would imagine that tire rotation becomes even more important.

In the case of the OEM sport wheel/tire setup with directional fronts and rears, to do the only rotation allowed -- side to side -- all four tires will have to be removed from their rims and then the sides swapped so that tire rotation remains the same. How often (after how many miles) do owners actually go through this process? Each time that happens the owner runs the risk of the tire place damaging one or more rims, which is not a nice prospect, IMO.

At least if you've got tires that can rotate in either direction you can do the side to side rotation yourself without removing tires from wheels.

Since writing my first comment on this thread I was told that none of the local tire businesses will deal with vehicles that have spacers installed. So far I have called Costco to confirm that the owner whose vehicle has spacers literally has to take the wheels off the vehicle and bring them to the tire place to have tires installed on them and that if Costco does not actually install the wheel/tire combo onto the vehicle they will not honor any part of the tire warranty. Because this is the busiest time of the year for tire dealers in Edmonton, I have not been able to confirm this with other tire dealers.

Anyway, back to the four front scenario. Will a front wheel installed on the rear clear the caliper without a spacer? Does a front on the rear without a spacer look really weird or present any operational issue?

Thanks.

[jchammond]

Darwins Child,pm sent

[jchammond]

A front 9"+47 offset will sink way in on the rear & probably hit the brakes? My factory base 9"wide rears are +15 with a 5mm spacer/ but I have less that 1* neg camber.....tires will evenly wear on your Z unless you are burning them off,,,negative camber is for the curvy roads.
I mostly straight line & burn mine/so I adjusted my camber more straight up & down. You would need 35-45mm worth of spacers to bring a front wheel flush on the rear of a sport...not recommended. The rear 10" on the front will be 5mm further out than the stock wheel w/25mm spacers.


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