Wheel Sizes 18-20

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eglade

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I'm looking for a set of new wheels for my Mark. Has anyone worked out rubbing and backspace issues, widest width that will fit without interference?
I like the look of 20s but don't want the rubberband sidewall. I do a bit of canyon carving and like the idea of a performance 18" with enough sidewall that I won't be flattening wheels on the LA bomb craters. Thank you for your help.
 
Car will run it's best on 16's...

Personally I hate 20's Look like wagon wheels to me and don't belong on a Mark VIII, maybe some ghetto cruiser but not a Mark VIII .. 18's are the max that I would go for size. But that's my opinion...
 
Let me start off i got my 20s (now sold) very cheap and to be honest everyone thought i had 18s!! Do you still have air susp or coil over. I had 20x8.5 on air and coil and never had one issue. And oddly enough the 20s rode nicer then stock. Now 22s yeah never not once ever concidered it. 18s sit nice only if lowered and right desighn
 
Brad (bagged taco) is really good at calculating offset and backspace for our cars with the wheels he has made. He has some new options in 20's and plenty in 18's.

I don't disagree with anyone running 20's or 18's. 17's and 16's are good track wheels so you get some meat between the wheel and the ground, but, everything's sold with at least 18's nowdays, and alot of those vehicles don't even have wheel wells as big as ours.
 
eglade said:
I'm looking for a set of new wheels for my Mark. Has anyone worked out rubbing and backspace issues, widest width that will fit without interference?
I like the look of 20s but don't want the rubberband sidewall. I do a bit of canyon carving and like the idea of a performance 18" with enough sidewall that I won't be flattening wheels on the LA bomb craters. Thank you for your help.
Click to expand...
Also, I converted to coil springs with an 1.5" drop.
 
I'm planning on a drop aswell. I'd go 18's if i were you so it gives you a nicer tire option.

I picked up some 19's of a jaguar that are 19x8.5 with a ridiclous tire size of 225/35/19for 500 with new tires . However i beleive that small of a tire was needed on that wide of a rim for fitment issues. That will probably be the same case you'll encounter. Tire size plays a huge role on rather it'll fit/rub.


This place said they'll fit, This site is your friend

http://www.bigcustomwheels.com/rt_specs.jsp
 
The other consideration that these wheel and tire guys don't tell you about is unsprung weight. Those bigger wheels are a lot heavier. The suspension was not calibrated to swing that must mass at the end of the control arms. So as well as matching the geometry, match weights too. Less unsprung weight rides and handles better on uneven pavement - ask any chassis engineer.

Best regards,
Frank
 
imho, Brad knows these cars better than even the manufactures making the rims (I learned this by listening to them first as to what would fit and when it didn't, well, Brad helped a ton!) He has great knowledge with them and what fits...
 
Frank still makes a good point about the unsprung weight. I don't think it's so much that the car was designed for a certain weight of wheel as it's more just that heavier wheel/tire combos are less controllable by the suspension on any vehicle. However I have a theory that after these cars are lowered (since the suspension stiffens up ALOT) .. .. especially with a good set of struts, -a bit heavier wheel will still control better than a lighter wheel at a factory stance., on the pavement anyways. But these aren't offroad vehicles anyways.
 
20's are now the default stock wheels for high end luxury sports cars, 18's are the smallest I would get. Even sports cars too, the new ZR1 Corvette has 19's on the front and 20's on the back. 18's are old school these days. 20's looks fine on the Mark VIII it's just a matter of picking the right rim. Chromed out ghetto 20's look bad on any car.
 
98LSC32V said:
20's looks fine on the Mark VIII it's just a matter of picking the right rim.
Click to expand...
:bsflag: Body style and silhouette dictate what kind of tire/rim combo will look good on any car.

In the case of the Mark VIII, I have yet to see a Mark look 'fine' with 20's on it. All I see is wagon wheel syndrome and the fact that you are basically forced to run around on rubber bands should also come into play, looks or not. imho
 
Picture038-1.jpg


End of discussion :eek:
 
98LSC32V said:
Picture038-1.jpg


End of discussion :eek:
Click to expand...

Only thing I don't like about that setup is that they went with a 19X9.5 in the front instead of a 8.5 width and ended up having to use spacers. What I don't like besides the spacers is that its too much lip for the font IMO. Other than that it turned out nice.

With respect to the original question. It all boils down to personal preference as you can see by all of the replies you got. In my own humble opinion, 18" wheels are a great choice simply because of the tire size and spec options that are available. Fewer options in 17's if you want a stock height tire along with a wide range of choices. 19's and above can still be more expensive, although its better now than it was in recent past.

Offset/backspace is simple. Just take into consideration the width of the wheel along with the offset. Also when you get into the 19"+ wheel sizes your offset allowances increase with respect to inner clearances in the front and rear. I have made some very specific posts here that would be very usefull. Use the search function to find those if you are interested...

Cheers,


Brad
 





Those are all the other pics i have of that car with those wheels, heres another favorite of mine.



 
I have 20inch black bullet wheels on my gen2 the rears are 10 inch wide and the offset is 44mm if i can remember, the rear wheels have a nice 3.5 inch lip .I went with a 275 tire because I heard that was the widest you can go on a mark,but with this offset and wheel width there is plenty of room probably could have gotten away with a 295 or maybe squeezed a 305.
 
baggedtaco said:
Only thing I don't like about that setup is that they went with a 19X9.5 in the front instead of a 8.5 width and ended up having to use spacers. What I don't like besides the spacers is that its too much lip for the font IMO. Other than that it turned out nice.

With respect to the original question. It all boils down to personal preference as you can see by all of the replies you got. In my own humble opinion, 18" wheels are a great choice simply because of the tire size and spec options that are available. Fewer options in 17's if you want a stock height tire along with a wide range of choices. 19's and above can still be more expensive, although its better now than it was in recent past.

Offset/backspace is simple. Just take into consideration the width of the wheel along with the offset. Also when you get into the 19"+ wheel sizes your offset allowances increase with respect to inner clearances in the front and rear. I have made some very specific posts here that would be very usefull. Use the search function to find those if you are interested...

Cheers,


Brad
Click to expand...

spacers?? no spacers installed,the wheels are inside the fenders about 1/8 inch in the rear and 1/2 inch in the front when lowered,would like to bring the front wheels out about 1/4 inch but not going to happen,the rears are 20x10 40mm offset's and the fronts are 19x9.5 44 mm offset.

lee
 
blue_t said:
spacers?? no spacers installed,the wheels are inside the fenders about 1/8 inch in the rear and 1/2 inch in the front when lowered,would like to bring the front wheels out about 1/4 inch but not going to happen,the rears are 20x10 40mm offset's and the fronts are 19x9.5 44 mm offset.

lee
Click to expand...

My bad Lee...I read somewhere that spacers had to be used...heh...Or maybe it was a differant setup. I could easily have been confused. Regardless its a nice setup & I liked it so much I became a RUFF RACING Dealer. What I am wanting to know as well is if you are on 5-4.50 hubs because its been passed on to me that they don't produce blanks in that exposed lug 280 wheel and of the likes. So please feel free to let the car outta the bag on that if you would.

Hope you didn't take my opinion personal. Its just my own preference and recently my comments are being taken personal.:)

Cheers,


Brad
 
baggedtaco said:
My bad Lee...I read somewhere that spacers had to be used...heh...Or maybe it was a differant setup. I could easily have been confused. Regardless its a nice setup & I liked it so much I became a RUFF RACING Dealer. What I am wanting to know as well is if you are on 5-4.50 hubs because its been passed on to me that they don't produce blanks in that exposed lug 280 wheel and of the likes. So please feel free to let the car outta the bag on that if you would.

Hope you didn't take my opinion personal. Its just my own preference and recently my comments are being taken personal.:)

Cheers,


Brad
Click to expand...

No offense taken,you were probably thinking about the other wheels i had the ziniks they set too far into the fenders wells and needed to come out 1 inch in the front and 1/2 in the rear,the spacers created a vibration i didnt like.
i was way wrong on the front wheels they are 19x8.5 35mm offset,they had to special order the fronts but had the rears in stock.the bolt pattern is 5x4.5 here are some more pics.

Picture034.jpg


Picture049.jpg


Picture050.jpg
 
How hard was it to make that front bumper with the grand am part molded on? It looks flawless and right at home.
 
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