<VV> Rampside Wide Wheels

Wed Jan 7 21:29:36 EST 2015

Hi Bruce,

I  do have some experience there.  If you search the forum you will find a previous post I sent (and considerable discussion about this) that addressed the measuring and fit of my wheels on FCs.  I think from what you say that you will have an issue with the tire catching the fender on the back.  You could do the 8" wheel with more positive offset as that would push the bulk of the wheel inboard as my 7" wheels just barely fit with zero offset (the mating surface is centred on the width of the wheel).  As for the front, I would not want that much tire on the steering axle anyway, I would 'steer away from that' (sorry, I had to), but you will choose.  Driveability would be sacrificed IMHO.

Check the wheels you are looking at.  Remember that the width of a wheel is measured from the insides of the bead sealing area.  My 7" wheels measure almost 8" outside dimension but are actually 7" wheels.  They measure the width to which the bead will seat.  Of course, I also have 17" rims which gives me clearance on the tie rod ends so I cannot comment on that clearance issue.  The only problem I have with the fronts is where I have lowered my truck and coped the wheel wells for my bucket seats.  When I hit a big bump, the lumps I made protrude into the inner wheel area hits the tread area of the tire.  For the most part I am okay, I just can't put on a lot of weight.

I have pasted the body of a previous post below my signature.  It addressed Jimmy who asked if he could put 8" wheels, neutral offset onto his Rampside.  Perhaps Jimmy can pipe in with his experience on this?  I never did hear how he made out with that.

Here is a link to that post.

http://www.vv.corvair.org/pipermail/virtualvairs/2014-April/130433.html

Hopefully some of this is helpful.
Eric Taylor
604-309-2268
Corveric at me.com<mailto:Corveric at me.com>

1961 Corveric
[Corv8ric-med]
Langley, BC Canada

Notes about measuring wheels & offsets:

·        The offset of a wheel is the distance from its hub mounting surface

to the centerline of the wheel. The offset can be one of three types

o    Zero Offset:  The hub mounting surface is even with the centerline of

the wheel.

o    Positive:  The hub mounting surface is toward the front or wheel side

of the wheel. Positive offset wheels are generally found on front wheel

drive cars and newer rear drive cars.

o    Negative:  The hub mounting surface is toward the back or brake side of

the wheels centerline. "Deep dish" wheels are typically a negative offset.

Here are my notes about my wheels & tires:

Corveric tires:  215/45 R17 91V Hankook

Wheels.  7" x 17" Ion 625. Zero offset.  Actual 4" from outside of wheel to

mating surface.  The wheels are actually 7-15/16" outside width.

This leaves 3/4" gap between fender and tire at ride height.  As the

suspension extends, there is less than 1/8" clearance as the tire clears the

fender.

Measure carefully to avoid problems!

There is a lot of space in the front, but the rear just barely clears the

fender.  Any size larger would catch the fender as the suspension is

compressed.  I believe that you WILL NOT fit 8" Wheels on your rears

successfully.  They may fit on while the suspension is hanging, but it will

crush the fender as you lower the truck onto it and it will tear the fender

on the way back.  If you have a negative offset that allows the tire to move

inwards, then the 8" wheel may fit, but it will need to move at least that

½".

-----Original Message-----
From: Joel McGregor [mailto:joel at joelsplace.com]
Sent: January-07-15 2:37 PM
To: VirtualVairs
Subject: Re: <VV> Rampside Wide Wheels

I've got 16x8 IROC wheels on my '63 Greenbrier.  I'm pretty sure 15x8 won't fit on the front.  Mine barely clear the tie rod ends.  The 16x8 wheels on the rear required grinding the lip off of the cross member in a couple of places.  As far as the offset - The IROC wheels have different front and rear offset.  I believe I used rears all the way around but I can check tomorrow if you like.

http://www.tacreationsusa.com/camaro_wheels.htm

This site shows the rears to be 5.25" backspacing while the fronts are 4.75".

Based on all that it doesn't look like there is any chance a 15" with 4" backspacing will fit.

With 245 50s they barely clear the fenders in the rear and appear to be really close in the front also.

Joel McGregor

________________________________________

From: VirtualVairs [virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org] on behalf of Bruce Schug via VirtualVairs [virtualvairs at corvair.org]

Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2015 4:14 PM

To: VirtualVairs

Subject: <VV> Rampside Wide Wheels

A friend is looking into putting some 15" x 8" wheels on a Rampside. The wheels he's looking at have 4" of backspace. My guess is, he needs more backspace. I think that with that much width, the outside of the rim would be too close to the inner wheel opening.

Who has experience with 15 x 8 wheels on a Rampside and what backspace works?

Thanks!

Bruce

Bruce W. Schug

Membership Chair,

CORSA South Carolina

CORSA member since 1980

'67 Monza, "67AC140"

bwschug at att.net<mailto:bwschug at att.net>

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