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16" TTII wheels

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Old Jun 15, 2005 | 08:55 PM
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Default 16" TTII wheels

Okay... I'm thinking about joining the crowd and getting TTII rims.
Is anyone running 16" TTII rims? I like to see a little more rubber on the sides. This is for a '69 bb with vansteel offset trailing arms. I asked vansteel what is the widest wheel that would fit with their offset trailing arms and he said 9" wide with 6" backspace, however I'm not seeing that size offered in TTIIs. They jump from 8" to 9.5". Can I sneak a 9.5" in or will it rub?

Last edited by Engraver; Jun 15, 2005 at 08:58 PM.
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Old Jun 15, 2005 | 09:03 PM
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You will run into spirng problems. I had 5 inch backspacing and the spring needed shortening. If it is steel it is easy to do at home. The trailing arms are not the problem with excess backspacing. The problem is the frame right around the trialing arm pocket. If it hits there a little grinding quickly opens up some clearance. I am running 10 inch with help in this area and it fits nicely inside the wheel well.
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Old Jun 15, 2005 | 09:04 PM
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Forgot actually sometimes a bigger rim fits better then the smaller size. I personally would go to at least 17 inches. I went all the way to 18 inch and it offers alot of extra clearance.
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Old Jun 15, 2005 | 09:49 PM
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I would go with 17", you'll have a better selection of tires. Rod
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Old Jun 15, 2005 | 10:46 PM
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Originally Posted by norvalwilhelm
You will run into spirng problems. I had 5 inch backspacing and the spring needed shortening. If it is steel it is easy to do at home. The trailing arms are not the problem with excess backspacing. The problem is the frame right around the trialing arm pocket. If it hits there a little grinding quickly opens up some clearance. I am running 10 inch with help in this area and it fits nicely inside the wheel well.
Norval, I'm using Vansteel's 360lb composite spring. Help me understand backspacing. Is it the distance from the mounting surface of the wheel to the outer most plane if you were to run a straight edge across the backside of the rim? So that a 5" backspace wheel would be setting 1" further out than a 6" backspace wheel that had the same width... Correct?

Last edited by Engraver; Jun 15, 2005 at 10:49 PM.
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Old Jun 16, 2005 | 05:50 AM
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Default I have 16's and can't decide on a tire!

I have a set of TT D's and still can't decide on which tire to run. They all leave too much gap in the fender well. Plus I don't want an "asian" brand, aka Kumho etc. Any advice?

carbster09
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Old Jun 16, 2005 | 07:32 AM
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Originally Posted by Engraver
Help me understand backspacing
Wheel Technical Info

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Old Jun 16, 2005 | 08:46 AM
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I'm running 16x8's with goodyear Eagle HP-ultra-plus tires. I'd say thats a HP tire.
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Old Jun 16, 2005 | 08:52 AM
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Originally Posted by Red73
I would go with 17", you'll have a better selection of tires. Rod
From what I have seen 18" give you the widest selection of tyres.
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Old Jun 16, 2005 | 09:33 AM
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[QUOTE=Engraver]Norval, I'm using Vansteel's 360lb composite spring. Help me understand backspacing. Is it the distance from the mounting surface of the wheel to the outer most plane if you were to run a straight edge across the backside of the rim? So that a 5" backspace wheel would be setting 1" further out than a 6" backspace wheel that had the same width... Correct?[/QUOTE

That's right. YOu place a straight edge across the back of the rim lip and measure down to the mounting surface. Even with 5 inch backspacing I found the spring getting very close to the tire sidewall.
You will find that by going to the 17 inch rim sometimes the spring falls inside the rim and is not a problem.
With a little work the 6 inch backspacing should work, by work I mean offset trailing arms which you have and a little grinding around the trailing arm pocket.
If you do run into problems you can fine tune with wheel spacers, not adaptors, spacers. I don't feel a 3/8th spacer would hurt anything and it gives you some tuning room.]
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Old Jun 16, 2005 | 10:58 AM
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Originally Posted by Red73
I would go with 17", you'll have a better selection of tires. Rod

agreed--it's got the best selection of not-that-expensive tires, too.
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Old Jun 16, 2005 | 02:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Jughead
I'm running 16x8's with goodyear Eagle HP-ultra-plus tires. I'd say thats a HP tire.

Hey..Jughead, What backspace do you have on the 16x8's. Also what tire size and any rubbing in the front?
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Old Jun 16, 2005 | 04:02 PM
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Norval, With your 10" wheel and 5" backspace how close is the wheel from being outside of the fender?


PS... talked to Vansteel again today. He thought a 9 1/2" with 5" should clear. Also he mentioned that if my new spring I received from them was hitting or too close, I could send it back and he would replace it with a shorter one. Vansteel is sure super to deal with!!!
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Old Jun 16, 2005 | 04:50 PM
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Originally Posted by Engraver
Norval, With your 10" wheel and 5" backspace how close is the wheel from being outside of the fender?


PS... talked to Vansteel again today. He thought a 9 1/2" with 5" should clear. Also he mentioned that if my new spring I received from them was hitting or too close, I could send it back and he would replace it with a shorter one. Vansteel is sure super to deal with!!!
My 10 inch wheels are not 5 inch backspaced. I had 5 inch backspacing at one time and ran into the spring problem. My present 10 inch rims have 6 1/2 inches of backspacing but I run coilovers and have frame modifications. I tried test fitting a 10 inch rim with 5 inch backspacing and it really stuck out the side.
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Old Jun 16, 2005 | 04:51 PM
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This is from an earlier post

These are shots of my new back tires and rims. They are 10 inch wide with 6 ½ backspacing and 18 inch with 285 x 40 pirelli tires



This is a shot of how it fits inside the fender well. With proper backspacing and a little work it is centered in the well and easily fits.
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Old Jun 16, 2005 | 05:11 PM
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Originally Posted by Engraver
Hey..Jughead, What backspace do you have on the 16x8's. Also what tire size and any rubbing in the front?

I'm using 4" BS with 255-50-16's

I did have a little rubbing on the frame when I initailly installed them, but that was short lived and only on very, very tight turns.
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Old Jun 16, 2005 | 07:39 PM
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I'm running the same setup as Len....16X8 w/4-inch backspace, and 255/50-16's. I've run my car pretty hard through they canyons here (Mullholland, Decker, etc.), and I haven't encountered any tire rubbing, although I heard someone else had some very slight rubbing like Len....maybe I've just been lucky!! I'm not sure how wide you can go with the offset trailing arms.....maybe the supplier could make some suggestions??

I have to agree that there is a greater selection of 17-inch performance tires, than 16-inch. When I got the 16's, the number of choices were about the same, but the 17-inch rubber was much more expensive.
Mark

Last edited by Mark70; Jun 16, 2005 at 07:49 PM.
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Old Jun 16, 2005 | 09:51 PM
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Thanks everyone and Norval for the pics... This all helps!
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Old Jun 21, 2005 | 01:21 PM
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What was the stock tire height on a '69? Was it 26" or closer to 27" high?
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Old Jun 21, 2005 | 03:39 PM
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Original where F70-15's ...which works ot to be about 27"
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