Jay H

Damon,

Hopefully you and Ice can iron things out. I've always had great experiences with the Tire Rack.

Would you be willing to expand on Ice's quote above? Should that dot be near the stem in all cases? Are there exceptions? Only my new Honda has been this way with factory mounted Michelins. Every other new car I've bought has never had the red dot near the stem.

Thank you,

Jay
90 964
84 3.2

911S3.6

Hey Iceman,
Dave at Wheel Enhnacement set me up with my Fikse FM5s-and figured all the offset etc for me-perfectly. He's very good.
I also found some notes on unsprung weights: fuchs 7x16 weigh in at 14#; Fikse 7.5x17 at 16#; cup 7.5x17 at 25-26#. You can see the differences. The change on my car was more from the Brembo rotors (additional 4# over my stock rotors; 930 calipers only varied around a pound or so)

Peter Bull-read Pete Zimmermann's explanation of the importance of unsprung weight, he is a consummate professional and built and raced 911s. Also, my car is purpose built, therefore, unsprung weight is more key than for a street car.

///Nick

Edgy01

If I can help out a fellow Rennlister with my spare set of rims I will (at a reasonable cost).

I purchased two 7x16 inch Fuchs (911.362.115.00) and two 8x16 inch Fuchs (911.362.117.00) for one of my last Porsches (a 911SC) and they were GREAT! They weigh very little, but are the strongest wheels available for the weight.

I can't use them anymore on my current Porsche so maybe it's time to move them along. The classic 911SC and 911 Carreras of that era should stay on 16 inch rims.

They're nearly perfect,--no curb rash, and true.

theiceman

Damon

Firstly I would like to thank you for your concern and say that I was NOT publicaly bashing you, and I am sorry if I gave anyone that impresion. I just was not sure I could use your name here. I was more mad at myself because I did not do enough homework. The wheels are heavier ( not your fault . function of a cheaper wheel , and you are not a manufacturer ) and I did expect that, that is why i weighed them. The wheels themselves do not tuck under the wheel wells but they do " fit" on the car. I was upset at myself for not doing enough homework and identifying the right offset, not at you guys. The only thing that surprised me was the tire allignment on the rim that I mentioned and I was surprised such a minor thing that was missed. I would also like to add that Dexter, the guy I worked with did a masterfull Job at geting me the wheels. I do not hold you guys at fault and to be fair to me I think you should re - read my original post. I think you will see I was bashing myself , not you . If I had thought you responsible I would have called. I do think maybe I need a higher offset wheel with a narower tire to tuck under a little more in the front and rear. it would be tight in the rear as I am getting close to the rear trailing arm and oil lines , but the fronts I think could be done.
Just to give everyone an idea if I take a straight edge down the outside of the fender ( not taking into account the 1/2 an inch of depth to the curled fender ) I hit the curverd part of the top of the tire, which means I will of course hit when the suspension compresses.

I will post a couple of pics when I find my digital Cam.


In addition to this I had to pay duty etc to get them over the border ( again not your problem ) , and I could not bring them back regardless as the government hassle and shipping would be huge hassle, but I do want to thank you for your interest and concern in this matter. Agin that is why i did not call.. my issue

I may take one of my original rims to a machine shop and see if they can take off 5mm, this is all I need as the original rears tucked in great ( a 7" rim with 245 50 16s I think. ) This would bring my fronts in enough to miss the fender.

Nick .. Too bad my wheels were weighed with the tires on , it would have given us a good idea for comparison. I new these would be heavier and unsprung weight can be bad. The suspension can not react as quickly when moving that mass , the more mass, the more momentum, and the more time for reaction to take place. I don't track the car so I am not sure how big a deal it is , that is why I opted for them knowing they would be heavier.

As far as the dot at the stem .. I have always had it done this way .. as I believe that is why it is there and theorheticaly would require less weight to ballance , but for 99.9% of the buying public , they would not know or care, but I am in enough trouble already this week , I will let Damon answer this.


ice

theiceman

The famed hockey stick is back in action .....

Here are a couple of pics to illustrate my point . I feel that if I drag a straight-edge ( well it was straight before I cross checked a few guys with it ) down the fender I should be clear of the tire. In fact I should clear by the about 1/4-1/2 inch which is the distance taken up by the stregnthening curl in the fender. This would allow the wheel to tuck, under compression.

I usee my now famous straitedge and I have snappeed a pic where it stopped due to hitting the tire. Anyone have any opinions on whether this is right ?

I also tried to snap a pic of the wheel from above but the camera angle probably doesn't tell anything. I have the fronts set at -.5 degree camber and the rears -1 degree, but I don't tink more would help.

rnln

unsprung weight is important to any car.

jaydubya

iceman - here is my current wheel tire fitment (82 911SC):

FRONT
Fikse FM-10 8x17, 31.3 mm offset
Kumho Victoracer 225-45-17 (24.6" diameter, 9.2" section width, )

REAR
Fikse FM-10, 9x17, 18.6 mm offset
Kumho Victoracer 255-40-17 (24.8" diameter, 10.6" section width)

The rears fit with absolutely no problem - plenty of clearance both inboard and outboard and my car is considerably lower than your car (yours looks like an SUV in the pictures you posted ). On the fronts I rolled the fenders. They don't rub on the fenders but they do rub on the body near full steering wheel lock.

Are you sure about the +15 offset on the rears? Seems like the difference between our rear wheel offsets (3.6 mm) wouldn't be enough to create a problem.

Have you actually experienced any rubbing with the rears or are you just looking at how much they stick out? I believe our cars gain negative camber when the rear suspension compresses, which would help to prevent any rubbing on the top of the fender.

FWIW, my front/rear camber settings are -1.5/-2.0. These are good for track and still very reasonable for street - will not wear your tires funny as long as you run close to zero toe. I'm running 22/29 mm torsion bars.

I plan to move to 245-45-17 and 275-40-17 on the same wheels for my next set of tires. My only concern is the fronts, on the outside...

Cheers,

Jeff

SeattlePorsche

Interesting thread. I am a little depressed because my car is still in the body shop. After reading all of this, I realized I have no idea what size my tires are on my 81SC. I need to get my car back so I can get back in action with you guys.

My87Targa

i always thought that you dont have to worry about that due to the fact that you use wheel weights to ballence the rims. or thats what i always do when i mount tires. and they have no problem ballencing out to zero.

84_Carrera

Ice... many tire manufacturers post the weight of the tire on their spec sheets, Bridgestone does for the RE050A PP...

http://www.bridgestonetire.com/tires...productid=1113

The 205/50-17 weighs 23lb; the 255/40-17 weighs 27lb per the spec sheet.

altonj

Those wheels should fit fine with those offests. I like a little more offset in the front (27-31mm) but they should still fit. Have you measued them yourself to verify you go what you paid for. Measuring the actual offset is very easy.

Cheers

911 Rod

ICE
Are you sure they will hit? Try jacking up the other side of the car.
The camber of the wheel increases when the suspension is compressed. (no?)
Dialing in more camber should help. 1 degree front and 1.5 back.

theiceman

Hi Rod

They actually stick out a little further than my last ones.. I had one on each side so I could check . I have the chewed up old tire to prove it . I think I will dial in more camber next. I am not sweating it too much for now , just driving conseratively.

PS I changed the title to be a little more fair to tire rack , the wheels are fine , I am just dissapointed with the fitment as it did not solve my problem ... but the look is growing on me and I might see if I can fix it with more camber as rod suggested. PS i have atached a new pic.

911 Rod

Looks great ICE.
As long as your shocks / torsion bars / sway bars work well you should be good.
Maybe a little chalk on the wheel wells to see where the tires are rubbing.
If you want to get together and try a fender rolling on both of our cars I think it would be good preventative medicine.
Rod

Naitove

What year is your car?