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In case you want to know
how I'm doing,
Deer Valley, Arizona
ZBUM's 1984 Nissan 300ZX WebSite
My car with new shoes: |
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The donor car with it's new shoes: |
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Update! - Added 1-½ inch adaptors all the way around. Click here.
Before I actually went over to try them on, I had tried photoshopping the wheels onto the car. None of the pictures looked all that good. Most of the posts on z31.com expressed displeasure with the look. But once I actually put the wheels on the car, they looked incredible. I think the picture that best defines the timelessness of the wheels and the car is the bottom right picture. Note that the fender and the spokes appear to have the same shape. Both have a nice gentle curve to them, and both have a sharp edge. And honestly, they look even better in person.
The wheels are off the base, enthusiast, or touring with the automatic transmission model 350Z. The front wheels are 17x7-½" with an offset of 30mm. They come stock with 225/50WR17 Bridgestone Potenza RE040 directional tires. The rear wheels are 17x8" with an offset of 33mm. They come with 235/50WR17 Bridgestone Potenza RE040 directional tires. This gives a backspacing of 4.931" and 5.299" respectively. Stock AE/86T back spacing is 4.287". The front spacing is not an issue. The rear wheel back spacing is not an issue either. But I was really concerned about the front wheels as I have a set of 225/60R15s on my NA, and the tires do occasionally rub on the strut housing. As another tidbit of information, the stock 84 and 85 wheels had a backspacing of 4.431", but this was on 15" wheels. The 87-89 turbo wheels have a backspacing of 4.681". The 17" wheels should allow for a slightly larger backspacing because of the strut tube's angle. Basically, as it all turns out, I have a SMALL amount of space between the wheels and the strut tubes. And a slightly smaller amount of space between the tires and the strut tubes. In any case, they fit on the front with no spacers required.
I went over to try them on after work on Tuesday, March 11, 2003. I didn't take any money with me. What we didn't know at the time was that someone screwed up and put a front tire on a rear rim and a rear tire on a front rim. So when we tried them on we just looked at the tire size (225 = front, right?), and the backspacing made it rub on the strut tube on the front. To counteract this, I bought 5/16" spacers from Pep Boys. The next day (Wednesday), I bought for all four wheels and tires for a good price. While I was washing and waxing the wheels preparing to install them on the car, I noticed the front/rear tire/rim discrepency. Once I tried a front tire on a front wheel on the front of my car, there was no rubbing problem. I returned the spacers and bought locking lug nuts instead. Plus, as part of the "Nissan-delivery-screwed-up-the-350Z's-alignment" service campaign, the original owner received two brand new never been mounted front tires that he turned around and gave to me. When we had the new front tires mounted (Nissan wanted the old tires back), we took in the three wheels (two front and one rear with a front tire) and had everything straightened around. So, four wheels and two with brand new tires. Not a bad deal in my mind. I'm sure in a month or two (or maybe later) the price of them will come down, but if you look at e-bay right now, they are going for over what I'm paying.
To help offset this cost, I'm offering up my 86T wheels for sale I sold my polished 86 turbo wheels.
Check the classifieds on z31.com for the ad.
I've got 2 more sets of true AE wheels that will go to the polishers soon, so I'll have another set or two of polished wheels lying around if I want them.
You can see the wheels in the Wheel Polishing section found under the Modifications link.
The 350Z you see in the background of the first pictures and the two bottom pictures is the donor car. He just got a new set of tires and not-yet-released wheels. The company is going to use the car with the wheels for their ad campaign. I'm sure he got a deal on them, but I'm not sure how much. They are made by Privat and are called Fahren. I believe he has 18x8 in the front and 18x9 in the rear.