Tirerack.com question / inquiry

[Tofubadguy]

I see search by brand & search by Vehicle...

When a Skyline maybe the closest vehicle fitment & it isn't in their drop down list... what do you guys use? I wish they were more set up like the search function at Summit Racing, where you can search starting at lug pattern, offsets, width, diameter, finish, etc...

I guess what I mean is when you're making a real 'project' & it's pieces of this & parts of that, lowered even more, possible sheet metal/body kit alterations... The search by vehicle is pretty inapplicable, & when you search by manufacturer & find something you like, you're thrown right back into a "ok, so what vehicle are these going on?" type of thing. It'd be nice if there was drop down menus for lug pattern & offsets instead, or at least in tandem to... It's Frustrating.

Russell

[simmode1]

It might just be easier if you tell us what platform you've got and what you've done fitment wise.

If you just need info on what fits, you could also try Rimtuck.com.

[Tofubadguy]

Well I've got a 90' 240sx coupe.

I'm going to put the RB26 & transmission with all the front drive gear into the car also. I'm going to move the firewall back a couple of inches to help out with front fan/radiator/piping/intercooler room as well as front drive shaft geometry.

I want to do away with the semi-goofy front skyline upper suspension mounts & replace it with just a plain & simple adjustable strut which will attach to the spindle/bearing carrier like it usually would on nearly all other cars. The spindle/bearing carrier is regular cast steel & will weld beautifully, so I'll make a bolt through mount coming of the top of it for, as I said, just a regular adjustable coilover. Being that the case I can move the pivot center in as much as I want, not sure how much until I start cutting & measuring, but enough to have plenty of clearance for fairly/very wide treads. As long as my bearing center is near the pivot center, (ie. strut top & ball joint lower) I can do whatever I want/need to.

The strut towers will wind up being a little of both I assume. Some of the 240 & some of the Skyline front clip. I know I'm going to graft nearly all of the skyline unibody frame rails into the 240 to get the front axle clearance dips & engine cross member mounting points... well I think anyway.

The rear I plan on doing whatever I need to to give me clearance. It doesn't bother me a bit to do a little "tub" job back there. I'll eventually get some type of posi-family rear to match the 4.11's in the front, axle/axle flange swaps of whatever is needed to jive, or an entire rear swap since I'm gonna wind up with the 5 X 4.5's anyway... As far as suspension links I'll wind up doing whatever measures to give me the geometry & most leeway all around, ie. cut/splice/weld/extend, etc... I hate short arm suspension, it's so violent & ugly!

The 'frame rails' & fender wells in front of the strut towers will all be cut off in exchange for tubing, 1/8" angle & aluminum sheet... So I'm not limited except for staying inside the fender & bumper skins.

In other words room won't be that much of an issue as far as being restricted goes. My original thought was to get a rough idea what was available out there as far as measurements (widths & offsets)/clearance for the wheels that are available and what people are getting them for, finding something I like & I'd like to build to, & then using them as one of my standards/constants to measure off of.

I want to see wheel specs! I can't make wheels,... I can make everything else & however I need it. Know what I mean?

I eventually want to wind up with 18's all the way around with room to spare to go up to 20's if I want to. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 9 or 10's for the back & 8 to 9' in the front, & of course the same over all tire circumferences. As far as fender well sheet metal clearance goes, I'll probably do a combination of sniping the factory lip out & moving it up a few inches combined with widening some on all four corners.

I've been to see the Full Race R14 in downtown Phoenix. I spent a few hours there talking to them & just checking it out. It's cool & all for being one of the few front drive 240's out there, but they were restricted to the idea of making a prototype for a 'bolt on' kit they could sell to the average Joe. It kept them from doing some things I want to do, & since I have no such restrictions....

Russell
Modified by Tofubadguy at 4:50 PM 8/16/2009

[simmode1]

Gonna be honest... I stopped reading after the first paragraph.

Here's some GTR fitments. Hope this helps.http://www.rimtuck.com/thumbna...r+asc

Non-GTR fitments...http://www.rimtuck.com/thumbna...r+asc

[Tofubadguy]

So figuring Tirerack.com is as comparably priced as most others & wanting to support a sponsor of the forum as is suggested in the stickies above... I went there first.

I like both of these a lot, but may have to powder coat them my color.

What 'vehicle' would you guess would be most applicable in my case? One of the newer Z's? Some non Nissan sports car? A Bimmer? I don't have any idea which 'vehicle' uses what... when I have to choose by vehicle. The other posts with the specs + pics still doesn't tell me a whole lot of what I'm after either. I'll try Tireracks "engineers" tomorrow & see if I can baffle them which I assume, knowing the "engineers" I do, is a certainty !

Russell

[simmode1]

I think you're going to have to take measurements when you've got your suspension, hubs and brakes installed. You're changing so many things from what Nissan designed and engineered that its impossible to throw out figures and specs without taking measurements.

[Tofubadguy]

Hey simmode1, thanks for the Rimtuck links firstly. Nice to see some pics of possibly applicable stuff.

As far as finishing the suspension & all first it may limit me too much. I don't need anyone telling me what to use or what measurements the best... I really just want to see all the specs for the rims they carry & I'll decide. I rather have a constant I know I want to use first so I know where my rotor will be in my wheel, rotor will be on the suspension & where the suspension should be on the car.

Like I said, I can't make rims... So when I figure just where & how my sheet metal work/wheel wells are gonna be, I'd like to put the four rims & tires where I want them, then build the suspension from them inward towards the car. It's pretty much how I make everything I do. I start with what I want to see, then move inward & figure out how I want to make it work. Like a puzzle I suppose... Fill in the edges first!

I'd like to support Tirerack, but they're asking for a vehicle, & I'm asking for wheel specs. I'll call them today & ask to be sent specs on what I'm interested in.

Thanks again for the links man.

Russell

[simmode1]

Ok... so you want to know what is a good wheel size and then you'll make your setup fit the wheels?

If so... I think the next best question to ask you is: how much rubber you want to run? And whether or not you want to keep your stock fenders...

The answers to these questions will determine the wheel specs that you need.

[Tofubadguy]

Well after some cardboard silhouettes, lots of measuring & finally deciding where I wanted the wheel face to sit in the wheel well, back spacing... & where my spindle/steer pivot was going to be I did finally settle on the TR Motorsport MT1 wheels from Tire Rack.

8.5" for the front and 10" for the rear, 18's.

Hankook 245/40 & 285/35's respectively. Same circumference & very nice!

Now all I need is to start working normal hours again at work so I can restart on my project...

Russell