suspension rubbing

[nbrand]

Alright so my brother-in-law purchased a 88 300zx turbo yesterday. I am new to the nissan thing but I can learn quickly.

So I have found that a previous owner put wheel spacers on the front wheels, and with out these spacers the rim rubs the strut. We were told that it had factory rims on it. Also the spacers do not leave a safe amount of threads showing for the lugnut, in my opinion.

I was wondering what the correct rim and tire size should be. Has anybody else seen this, and is it possibly a worn suspension component issue. Also the front struts are disconnected from the compressor, will this cause an issue suspension travel/performance?

[SoCal-S13]

pictures would help.

and f*** spacers. use hubcentric wheel adapters. much better

[nbrand]

I will try to get pictures tomarrow of the marks on the struts. i will also check the ball joints for play. And I didnt put the spacers on, I would have fixxed it instead of bandading it. lol

thanks for the help

[nbrand]

Near the top with the rust is where its rubbing. Its hard to see without the wheels off, but I'm not taking the wheel of without being in the shop. Also it started raining so I didnt check for any play.

Thats the wheel. We were told its stock.

So if everything is factory then there should be no need for the spacer, and the only thing that I can think that would cause that is a worn component causing the suspension to sit incorrectly.

[Ace2cool]

Those aren't factory Z31 wheels. Those are factory 1990+ 300ZX (Z32) wheels. Completely different offset. The Z31 Has a much, MUCH lower offset than the Z32. What's happening right now is your wheels are sitting too far in and are rubbing.

Factory specs for your year:
87-89 non-turbo: 15x6.5 +20mm
87-89 Turbo: 16x7.0 +30mm

The Z32 had a much higher offset:
Front: 16” x 7.5” 45mm Offset
Rear: 16” x 8.5” 35mm Offset (twin turbo only- N/A had 7.5+45 all around.)

[nbrand]

So I would need a 30mm offset to correct this?

[Ace2cool]

More like 20mm. 22, to be exact. The backspacing for the stock wheel is 132mm, which means the backside of the wheel hangs past the face of the hub 132mm.

The backspacing of the Z32 wheel is 154mm, so the difference is 22mm, if you just wanna go back to stock backspacing. no need to worry about tire sizes, because both ran a 225/50/16 stock.

[Ace2cool]

Oh, and if you're planning on just getting sandwich style spacers, then extended lugs are a must. Otherwise, get some decent bolt-on spacers. However, if you plan on any hard driving, I'd get rid of those wheels and get some properly sized wheels for the car. Spacers + hard driving = premature wheel bearing failure.

[nbrand]

Someone put what I believe you are call sandwich style spacers on it and did not put extended lugs on.
I will advise my brother-in-law to get some different rims and see what he says.
Thank you for your help!!!

[Ace2cool]

No problem! That's what we're here for!