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Ways to fit 15" wheels up front with no lift?

Discussion in 'Subaru Sambar' started by WELDER, Jan 21, 2010.

  1. WELDER

    WELDER Member

    Hokay, so. With the engine stuff on it's way, and the interior modding being the last thing to do on GOLIATH (the drift Sambar), wheels and tires need to be addressed.

    I want to run 15's up front mostly for wheel/tire choices. I don't want to lift the truck at all, as it will gain a bit of lift from the bigger wheels alone.

    The idea is to make 15's with low-pro's fit (ie. 225/45R13 TOYO Proxes R888's).

    The obvious solution is fender trimming. I have no problems at all removing lots of sheet metal. My real question is, even with the trimming, will the tires rub on anything inboard of the body? I have options of 0 and 35 offset; I'm sure the 35 offset will create the least amount of interference with the coils and body panels.

    Wow, that sort of rambled on for a bit there. What do people install the 2" or 3" lifts to escape from? Is it rubbing on the panels, or the tires hitting the wheel well itself?

    Any help/opinions/knowledge from experience is greatly appreciated.
     
  2. draggbody

    draggbody Member

    i'll assume you meant 225-45-15, dont go so big... use a 195-45-15 and it is about 1" taller than stock, 21.91"... the width is only 40mm more than stock and toyo makes these as well and they are way cheaper...
     
  3. WELDER

    WELDER Member

    Thanks, is that in the Proxes R888 or a different tire?
     
  4. TRAX and HORNS

    TRAX and HORNS Well-Known Member

    My two cents--- I just picked up a Suz DD51T with 14" tires. Glad its a 4 speed h/l because if it was a 5 speed it would have a hard time pulling the the extra wt. of tires and wheels. Even with the juice you are fixing to add to engine the heavier wheels and tires are going to kill H.P. I think I would stay 13" at most.
     
  5. WELDER

    WELDER Member

    Never mind, I found it :D

    Toyo Proxes T1R
     
  6. WELDER

    WELDER Member

    Understandable, but with this info, the size doesn't seem to be very different...

    I know that the new wheel and tire combo will be lighter as well, as I am now running the steel belted radials.

    To run the Toyo Proxes T1R 195/45/R15, being 40mm wider, and the wheels i choose being about an inch wider than stock, is it a good idea to just run the 0 offset wheels, to get them away from the coils?
     
    Bobacuda likes this.
  7. Acerguy

    Acerguy Moderator Staff Member

    Dude, here are a few links to check out. Take some measurements and you can find out EXACTLY what you need. No guessing allowed. :)

    Wheel Offset Calculator
    Wheel and Tire Size Comparator

    If you're looking for reallly lightweight wheel stuff, check out the Miata crowd. They understand minimizing rotational weight AND the Miata is a 4x100 wheel like your Subie.

    The ULTIMATE wheel (IMO but way too wide for a Kei truck)

    Good-win Racing

    Miatanet

    Also, the air cooled VW community uses some unique sized tires. How about a 165/45/15 for instance? :D
     
  8. WELDER

    WELDER Member

    Thanks Ace, some very useful tools there. I'll post up some pics of the wheels I chose once they arrive. I solved the hitting the coil problem...I think. If not, I can have some spacers machined, and cut more sheet metal.
     
  9. Janlone

    Janlone Member

    So what is the exact offset of a 15" wheel will not hit the spring or rub the fender?

    I bought a set of 15" wheels before. 38 offset, 15x7 on 195/50/15 and they don't work. Front wheels are hitting the springs badly. Tried the 5mm spacers as well, no go either. What was my problem?
     
  10. Acerguy

    Acerguy Moderator Staff Member

    What I did when I did up my truck was pull a wheel and using a straight edge and a tape measurer, figure out exacty how far it is from the face of the wheel hub to whatever it's going to hit. If you can measure where the fattest part of the tire you're going to use, see what the distance from the spring (or whatever) is from the plane of the face of the hub at that distance. I even made a template of what the profile of my wheel/tire at the widest part was going to be and put that on the face of the hub and swept around to see what would possibly hit. Worked like a charm, mostly. It would have been perfect except that the offset (or setback) of the wheels that I used was measured from the where the outside of the bead of the tire sits compared to the face of the hub. That is NOT the same as the outside of the lip of the wheel. No problem. I machined off the edge of the rim a little and all was good (check out the link in my sig). Hope this helps.
     
  11. Janlone

    Janlone Member

    I don't really have a set of wheels to try on, whatever I try will be what I will buy. I just want to know from experienced owners who successfully fitted 15" wheels into their vans without lifts or any mods, what the offset and tire size are. Anyone? Thanks.
     
  12. Janlone

    Janlone Member

    After I spent so much time on trial and error, I have some answers and numbers to my own questions that I want to share with everybody. For Sambar trucks i imagine they have more room to work with but for vans, you can fit 15" rims no problem as long as the rim size don't exceed 15x5.5 and that the offset isn't more than 45. Then you gotta slim down the tire size with no more than 165 in width. Anything wider is going to touch the springs. Like I mentioned in my previous post, I tried a set of 15x7 rims, 35 offset, and 195/50/15 tires and they rubbed on the springs badly, even if a put a pair of 5mm spacers in the front. Sure you can choose wider rims with lower offsets but then the wheels are going to stick out of the body and that's just asking for a ticket from the police sooner or later. I currently have a setup with 13x5.5 rims, 45 offset, and 155/65/13 tires and they're working perfectly. The treads just sit right in line with the fenders. I will take some pictures soon. All the numbers are here so no more guessing or calculating. Thanks.
     
  13. Janlone

    Janlone Member

    Got some pictures here. Sorry they're crappy due to bad camera.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  14. Stuff99

    Stuff99 Moderator Staff Member

    love the rims! suits it well!
     

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