311 Wheel Tech Section

INTRODUCTION

There is always an ongoing debate as to what rims fit on a roadster. Not everyone can afford Panasports. With proper fitment there are many styles that will fit with the right rim/tire combo. There are other variations that can affect fitment of wheels to your roadster. Tire/rim size, rim offset/backspace, condition of your suspension(stock or competition), and body alignment, along with using wheel spacers are but a few that come to mind.

Stock rims are 4-1/2" wide and weigh 16.85 with a vlave stem minus a tire. Actual width is 5-3/4" wide from edge to edge. The backspace is around 3-1/2". This is equal to a positive 15.875 MM. As long as the tire size remains close to stock a +16 MM would be a great fit. But who wants skinny tires on their performance minded sports car? When you start changing tire size and rim size backspace is a better measurement to use than offset. If you are stuck in the offset frame of mind--the optimal offset for the many of the aftermarket rims seems to be between +12 to +15 MM offset.

For just about 100% fit you are always safe to get some early Z rims 14 x 6 or even 15 x 7 with a zero offset. The bolt pattern is 4 bolt x 4.5". The roadster studs are 7/16ths which makes mag lugs readily available at many of the chain type automotive parts stores. Most of the time you need to get the short shank 7/16ths mag lugs. They work fine on many of the Z rim I have tried on a roadster. Some rims appear to require replacement of wheels studs along with spacers. Or you may find several options. An example of this is the Minilites I recently picked up for the race car. I replaced the stock lugs with 12mm lugs from a 240Z. I then went to U-Pull-It and picked up stock lugs nuts from 280ZX and Maxima. They work great. I hear they are very pricy to purchase from the dealer. Brian Hollands ordered the correct 7/16ths x .75 lugs directly from Minilite in England. His way was easier.

The main concern is to get a rim with the correct backspace and opening for the hub to fit through on the front. The roadsters have a big front hub as compared to most other cars. I am personally running some 14 x 6 American Racing Libres with 185/60 Dunlop tires on my street machine. A great combination for me and my style of driving.

Needless to say many of these rims are only avaliable used except for the Panasports. Wrecking yards can produce a gold mine. Ebay, though many people do not like it can be a good source as well. Prices will vary from $150.00 to $600.00 depending on condition and popularity. I paid more for my Libra's than I wanted too but they were in excellent shape and came with brand new center caps.

Brian's Findings

Brian Hollands did some research and with input from various list members was able to come up with the following information on wheels for our roadsters. I added information on some of the rims I am familiar with as well. Notes: Backspace=BS and Offset=OS

Wheel	Application	Offset/Backspacing	Weight	Tire Size	Comments
15x6	'82-'83 Datsun 280ZX Turbo	BS= 101mm or 3.98"--OS= +12mm	14 lbs.	195/50-15--205/50-15	Often called a Swastika wheel this is a fairly light wheel. As it is a Z car application, the oddball short shank 0.73" diameter lug nuts are a must. Remember Z lugs are 12mm so if you are using these you will need to change the roadster studs to match or find a 7/16th-20 lug with the correct shank. Daryl Smith is running this wheel with 185/65-15 Faulkens on a completely stock bodied '66 1600 and reports no rubbing except under hard cornering which he believes to be due to the cars body being slightly offset to one side.
14x5.5	American Racing Libra	BS= 3.75"--OS= +13mm	13.5 Lbs	Anzenis Falken 195/60-14--Dunlop 185/60-14	The classic roadster wheel--These(and the similar LeMans) were used on the BRE cars. Beware there are lots of imitation copies. Real AR's have "American Racing" cast into the back side of the rim. Jim Crawse is running the 195 series Anzenis Falken's with stock springs cut one coil. He indicated that the right front rubbed at the outside edge duirng close to full lock. This was fixed by adding a 1/2" thick rubber spring seat on the RH side. This problem may have been peculiar to this car. Also note that the rear fender lips were mostly cut away. Rollig these lips would most likely provide adequate clearnace. Steve Allen is running these with 185/60-14 Dunlops with zero problems. Robbie Harrison also runs these with competiton springs.
15x6	Libra Look Alikes	BS= 3.25"--OS= 0	18 lbs.	175/70-14--185/70-14--185/60-14	These are copies of the AR Libra. They are fairly common and can usually be purchased for less than $200. Beware as these are usually much heavier than the real Libra's and typically are zero offset. They should fit fine with 185 series tire. Anything else is higly questionalbe. Truthfully, you should probably not put more than a 185 on a 5.5" wheel anyway. Quality of these wheels is inferior to real Libra but they should be fine on a street car.
14x6	Shelby 5 Slot	BS= 3.5"--OS= +1/8"-Check as many are Z fitment with zero offset	? lbs.	185/70-14	These were pretty popular add-on for the early Z cars as well as other cars of the period. Really pay attention to the offset because there are many variations. Russ Southwell reports they fit his '69 2000 with no problem but do rub a little on his '70 1600. Rubbing is attributed to PO's mods to fenders. Mitch Plank is runnig a set of Ansen Slots that measure the same as the Shelby's. He is running 155SR14's and reports no problems even with 1/4" spacers on the front wheels.
15x6	Hayashi Racing Street Fin	OS= +10mm	Very Light	185/60-14--Yoko AVS Intermediate	Jimmy Claypool is running these. Victor Laury is also running them. Jimmy reports no problems with rubbing and they clear the Volvo caliper conversion with no problem.
14x6	'81-'83 Datsun 280ZX Nissan PN 40300-P8185 or 40300-P8186	BS= 101mm or 3.98"--OS= +12mm	13 lbs.	195/60-14	Greg Burrow's runs these with no problems to report. The offset may be closer to +15.
14x6	Ultra Wheels(like Centerlines)	OS= zero	? lbs.	195/60-14-Akuret	Adam Bradley is running these and reports no rubbing problems. The tire shop had to use lip weights as the stick-on type interfered with the calipers. Competiton front end with stock rear springs along with KYB Gasadjsut shocks.
14x6	Cragar Truespoke	BS= 3.75"/3.0" OS= +6mm/12mm	? lbs.	185/60-14	Richard Brown is running these. The wheels have a3/4" spacer built into them. Without the spacer the backspacing is 3.75" and the offset is +6mm. With the spacer the backspacing is 3" and the offset is -12mm. Richard was getting some rubbing with the spacer in place. He will attempt to remove 1/4" from the spacer by machining which will give a backspace of 3.25" and an offset of +6mm.
14x6	Keystone TurboMaster	OS= zero	? lbs.	185/70-14	Brian Hollands has run these with Dunlop SP4 and SP20 tires. No problems with the front but there was some rubbing at the rear. This was corrected by rolling the rear fender lips. That gains about 1/4" of clearance. No rubbing unless you overload the car.
14x6.5	Minilite	BS= 4.25" OS= +13mm	12 lbs.	R3S03 P195/55ZR-14 Hoosier Racing Radials	Steve Allen runs these on the Skid Mark 66 race car. Competiton springs front and rear. KYB GR2 shocks. No rubbing even with hard cornering. Had to change out studs front and rear for 12mm(240Z). Use 280ZX or Maxima stock lugs. Brian purchased the correct 7/16's x .75 shank lugs directly from Minilite in England. No need to change the studs. DOOOOH!
14x6	Western Style	BS= ?" OS= ?	? lbs.	185/70-14	These are a Z rim. I need to measure and weigh for more information.
14x6	Eight Slot	BS= ?" OS= ?	? lbs.	195/70-14	These are a Z rim. I had them on my 67.5 stroker for quite some time. I had a little rub under hard cornering and bumpy roads. I need to measure and weigh for more information.
14x6.5	Turbines	BS= 3.0" OS= 4mm	? lbs.	185/70-14-Anzenis Falkens	Steve Allen ran these on the race car as well. No rubbing. Front wheels stick out past fender lip due to backspacing. The turbines are the rims I picked up from Mike Young. They are the first Z style rims that I have had to use long shank lug nuts on. They are pretty thick where they bolt to the hubs.
14x6	Panasports FS14 240Z	OS= +15mm	13 lbs.	195/60-14-205/60-14	Very popular new style rim. Available from most of the vendors. Come in other sizes i.e. 14x7, 15x6 and 15x7. Require tapered lugs.
14x6	Iron Cross-'79-'80 280ZX	BS= 102mm 0r 4" OS= +13mm	18 lbs.	195/60-14-205/60-14	Referred to as Iron Cross Rims. Heavy single piece cast. Must use Nissan lugs. Dave Mehl has these on his roadster.
14x6.5	Pretty Hayashi “Street II”	BS= ?mm 0r 4" OS= +9mm	13.5 lbs.	195/55-14 Hoosier's fit nicely	Pretty rare, I think it’s a JDM wheel. Fit’s like a glove.
14x6.5	Riken Mesh	BS= ?mm 0r 4" OS= +10mm	13.5 lbs.	??	Fit very nicely.

GENERAL NOTES WHEEL/TIRE INFO

Chris Robertson measured many wheels and came up with the following (all of which I agree with); Max backspace: 112mm or 4.41" (tire will slightly rub rear inner fenderwell during very hard cornering, clears front A-arms just fine) Max frontspace: 82.55mm or 3.25" (close, but no rub...may be able to increase this amount) 3.5" front spacing will work if the rear fender lips are rolled up - BPH If you do the math, the above indicates that the max size wheel that should fit under stock fenders would be a 6.5 inch wide wheel with a +12 to +15mm offset. With rolled up fender lips, a 7 inch wide (7.9" overall width) and a +12mm offset should be the max. Of course, part of the equation is how far the tire sidewall protrudes beyond the wheel.

Graeme Suckling adds the following which addresses the clearance at the front wheels a little better... Depending on the rim diameter the front can take a rim width of 6" and an offset of (up to) 35-37mm. This translates to a backspace number of ~110mm (4.33" or 43/8"). The problem, as I saw it, was that a 14" rim inner circumference rubbed on the upper "A" arm at full lock with any offset greater than 37mm. Moving up to a 15" rim the above problem was not evident, but at full lock there would still be a likelyhood of the tire rubbing on the sway bar.

There is an excellent resource for tires and wheels written by a Dimer, Kurt Hafer. Click here to go there now.

If you have wheel information you would like to see added here-please email Steve at 67datroad@311s.org