gpallem

Today, I received a set of 17 inch Fikse wheels that I had purchased. They are beautiful and really do a world of good for the car's look over the Design-90's--this is subjective of course
.
As for the ride quality, the 17 inch rims really tighten up the road handling and feel. Super.

Now just two questions:

1) If anything rubs (these are 7.5 front and 9.5 rear with correct off-sets), is such rubbing really noticeable (noise, vibration, etc.) or can it be somewhat sneaky. I do not suspect any problems, but am cautious.

2) The new rear brake discs I purchased (Zimms) and had installed are really overall-red-rusty looking on the *hub* part after only 1,000 miles. This is pretty narly with the wide open spoke design and quite a contrast with the gorgeous aluminum of the Fikses. Any suggestions on how to get rid of this short of replacing? Any remedies?

Thanks in advance for any insight!
Geert 90 C-2 Cabrio

BrokeAss

congrats on the new wheels - how about posting a photo?

Drew_K

The best way to check for rubbing is to take the wheels off and take a look. It will be very obvious if you're getting any rubbing. In the front, check the inner wheel well; in the rear, check the trailing arms and the oil line that runs in the passenger side wheel well.

Fronts should be fine with 205's. 225's will probably rub a little at full lock. Rears will be fine with 255's. Anything wider may cause issues. Also keep in mind that a 255 wide Kumho won't be the exact width as a 255 Bridgestone, etc. Tire widths vary by manufacturer, so while MY 225's don't rub in front, yours might.

Jeff Curtis

Yup, drive around a bit, take the wheels off, especially the fronts, to see if they are rubbing just aft of the spindle/rotor.

THEN, box the Fikses up, affix correct label and send to ME!

Drew is right ON by stating that different tire manufacturers widths may vary, when comparing 215/225/255 widths.

Check www.tirerack.com and look up each tire spec that you're considering, VERY comprehensive, VERY informative.

This is how I figured out that a Bridgestone RE 730 Potenza 215/17" is the same width as most 205 sized 17" tires.

As for the Zimmerman brake rotors rusting on the "hat" section...very common, screws up your wheels after washing your car and taking it for a "spin cycle"...get high-heat BRUSH on paint and cure that pain in the butt.

Don't forget to wire wheel the hat surface first! ...get all that nasty rust off and your paint will last a good while.

TIP: Don't use RED paint, as the "Ricers" would!

gpallem

Thanks Jeff!

I will get some of the brush on paint and do it this week-end. I suspect/think that the front rotors which do not have this rusty hub problem are galvanized there. At least that seems to be the color/surface on them. Since red is out, I guess I will go with yellow.

As for the Fikses; they looked great yesterday as I was doing late night errand/grocery shop running--any old excuse to get out there, right? The look is classic, jewel-like, yet serious and racey (all that with a hint of black berry, citrus and vanilla)...don't expect any boxes any time soon, Jeff!

Geert

Kahdmus

Geert, any chance of a photo?

Thanks,

Kahd :-)

gpallem

Sofar I have driven about 50 miles with the Fikses. No noticeable rubbing to report to date. I will pull the wheels over the week-end and check to make sure. The sizes of the rims are 7.5 x 17 and 9.5 X 17.
The wheels do make the car drive quite a bit tighter (now pointing out the rear shock being too soft ?!) and--as you will imagine--make a dramatic difference in appearance. People stare at the wheels at red lights...interesting. I will try to post a picture by week-end's end.

Does anyone know what happens if you put a spacer (and which size) in the back to fill the wheel wells out? In other words, the fronts are pretty much all the way out. The rears have about 15 mm to go. If you do this, do you mess up the overall geometry being that the front track is wider than the rear on the 964?

Geert

joey bagadonuts

To determine the impact on geometry, you would need to know the Fikse's offsets. Stock offset for the 964 is the same front and rear, i.e. 55mm f / 55mm r. That's probably the relationship you should shoot for.

In case you don't have the specs handy or need to determine the offsets, the first step is to measure the backspace:

Backspace = distance from wheel inside edge to the mounting surface (area where the wheel meets the hub). Now, subtract half the wheel width from the backspace and convert to metric.

So, if your backspace is 8" on a 10" rim, the offset is 8" - 5" (half the width) or 3". Convert to metric by multiplying by 25.4. Result: 76.2mm

When you add spacers, you reduce the offset. Add a 20mm spacer to this example and your effective offset becomes 56.2mm.