New 14 inch Rims

**Timetripper** · 08-17-2008, 11:26 PM

Mr. Bargin Hunter strikes again.
I found a set of Kia Spectra 14 x 5.5 rims a hours drive away.
Got them for $100.00 including center caps and lug nuts.
I am going to get the center bore tweaked as it's slightly to small
and probably going with the 155/65/R14 Nokian WRG2 tires for it

**Subaru** · 08-17-2008, 11:32 PM

You will have the snazziest mini truck in BC

nice find

**Mighty Milt** · 08-18-2008, 07:09 AM

SCORE!! i'm jealous

**BLES** · 08-18-2008, 11:17 PM

Nice! I'm jealous, too!
BLES

**jtpc** · 08-19-2008, 08:38 AM

Those should fit nicely. And you got a great price (assuming they are not bent).
So good job!

**Timetripper** · 08-29-2008, 08:01 PM

Well I finally made up my mind and bought some Kumho KW19 165/65/R14 tires
to go on the rims. I had a local machine shop enlarge the center bores of the rims
to 59.1 mm as per my reading that Nissan Sentra rims fit and that is the center bore of those.
The actual hub size of the 91 Sambar is 59.0 mm so this makes for a snug fit.
Cost of the the machining was $75.00 plus tax, so for under $200.00 I have rims that work and look good IMO.
The offset of these rims is 45mm for anybody that is wondering.

My evaluation of the 14" rim/ tire combo after a few hours driving time:

My truck had 12" Yokohama 6 ply LT's on it from Japan, these are equal to a 82 series
and I was curious as to how stiff it would ride with the 65 series.
It actually rides better than stock. The 45mm offset worked out very well in my case
it tucks the tire almost completely under the front but leaves just enough room between
the inside of the tire and the coil spring. The stock Sambar wheel studs are minimal in length
and I had just enough to work with as the alloy rim itself is thicker than the steel rim at the mounting flange.
No clearance or rubbing issues at this time front or rear.

The stock Yokahama's were pretty slippy on rainy roads and I really had to be carefull when acelerating from a stop.
That problem is now fixed

the only unknown is how they will wear considering they are true snow tires and have
softer rubber to stay flexible at low temps.

Being that the S/C is such a fire breathing beast

the larger O.D. of the 14" is not noticeable
still seems to start fine in 2nd gear as I had been doing with the stock 12"'s.

See pics below for tire tread/ vehicle fitment

p.s. Milt - I'm thinking that I now have a Kiaru Spectrabar

**Colin** · 08-29-2008, 08:21 PM

Nice! Welcome to the Sambars-on-14s Club. You're member #3, behind myself and nateisanas.

**Timetripper** · 08-29-2008, 08:25 PM

Somebody from Canukville had to join the club

**jtpc** · 08-29-2008, 08:47 PM

Great photos. I'm impressed you were able to fit the 165/65 on a stock sambar. Mine are 195/65 and that was as large as I could go even with the 4" body lift. I went with Dunlop SP60s, which are supposed to be good in snow. Treadwear is 600, so I'm happy.
Anyways, your photos are looking good!
So good job. Looks great!

**Mighty Milt** · 08-29-2008, 08:51 PM

tripper,

those look awesome on there. i spent last friday on junk yard row going from yard to yard checking for ANYTHING aluminum that was 4x100 and struck out completely. i just bent one of my front rims and have to make a move fast... hopefully i'm be "in the 14" club" soon enough.

**Acerguy** · 08-29-2008, 09:27 PM

Originally Posted by Mighty Milt

tripper,

those look awesome on there. i spent last friday on junk yard row going from yard to yard checking for ANYTHING aluminum that was 4x100 and struck out completely. i just bent one of my front rims and have to make a move fast... hopefully i'm be "in the 14" club" soon enough.

Really Milt? Man, there are soooo many cars out there with 4x100 although i suppose it may have been the 14" thing that was the trick come to think of it. I've got a couple of sets of 4x100 BBS rims from my vee dub but they're 15" and 16"...

**Mighty Milt** · 08-29-2008, 09:48 PM

yeah, ace, it was the 14" wildcard. in a day where dubs are the mainstay i thought 14's would be a dime a dozen, but they were all 15"+

i've been into vdubs for almsot 20 years and have run every aspect of that venue from drag racing, to off road class 9 and 16. i remember running an endmill and an indexing head to redrill everyones 4x100 to 5x100? to run the porshe alloys on the late model vdubs.

it just sucks that i haven't got access to the machine shop i once ran to make what i need, i'm back amongst the commoners and trolling craigslist and the bone yards for what i want to bolt on.

**Colin** · 08-30-2008, 09:26 AM

91-96 Escorts have 14" alloys. They're not the prettiest wheels, but they meet your criteria. See the link I posted above for pics. Nate has Escort wheels on his truck.

jtpc - I'm using 175/65-14s on my Sambar with no clearance issues at all. Stock ride height.

**Mighty Milt** · 08-30-2008, 12:13 PM

took a trip to firestone just to have my bent rim swapped out for the straighter spare. had a straight rim with a crappy tire and a bent rim with a good tire, so i had to go to the tire store.

i went early enough that they weren't busy and the guy running the place had a honda that he pulled the wheel off of to check for clearance on my truck. 195 65 14. it looked great and fit well, just worried about how big it was for overdrive purposes.

the center bore was not a tight fit but was only a tiny bit bigger. he told me that with proper honda lugnuts they fit the rim better and indexing woudln't be a problem.

what's the bolt pattern on the escort rims? is that 4x100? i thought it was bigger?