i have an 84 gsl with the respeed coilover conversion front and rear. i know alot of guys are running 4" backspace and the stock rim is 4.3" backspace.

has anyone run a 5" backspace on the rear and 4.5" on the front?

Thanks

 

What width are the rims you are wanting. back spacing is measured in conjunction with rim width.

 

That is incorrect, backspacing remains constant with whatever the rim width is, offset does not. I am running 4.5" backspacing front and rear. If I was doing it again I would try a 4" backspacing in the rear and run a slightly larger rim, but in the front 4.5" is perfect.

On my car I am running 17x10's in the front 17x12's in the rear (widebody car). I would try to goto a 13" wide rim in the rear with a 4" backspacing.

 

Best bet is to install some wheels and take measurements of available gap.

Remember, you need to leave room on the backside of the tire for suspension movement. Under roll the top of the wheel/tire gets closer to the chassis.

-billy

 

yeah unfortunately the car culture in my town consists of jacked up trucks. low cars that are done properly are very rare. so for testing wheels i don't have that option. however i did make a rim template on autocad that had the correct backspacing and it should be good at 4.5" all around. i plan on running 15x8 4.5" bkspc all around. i am renting a fender roller aswell and will have to work my rear fenders a bunch.

thanks for the replies.

 

Good plan on getting the fender roller. No one rents them in the Ann Arbor area, so I had to use a heat gun and a body hammer to "roll" my front fender lips. It turned out better than expected, with no paint cracking (well, no more than what happened when my tires were eaten by my fenders).

G'luck. Don't forget to post pictures when you finish.

 

yeah i will post pictures for sure. its going to be a really tight fit. thanks again. i'm going to order my wheels on monday most likely.

 

4-1/2" works, all around, 5" will fit in the rear, but not the front as I guess you already guessed that.

 

here are some pictures of my car finished

 

what kind of wheels are they. can you post the specs f/r? thanks. your car looks freakin sweet!!!

 

They look like diamond racing wheels?

 

they are diamond racing wheels. 15x8 with a 4.5" backspace all around.

 

what size tires do you have on? How much did you end up rolling your fenders?

 

Hot kit and Kaboodle, does this mean I don't need flares? That makes my wallet happy, DMclean please do spill the beans, any rubbing issues? Rolled?

 

proseries? i like

 

so nice! i wanna see more

 

hey guys thanks for all the positive comments. here are all the details on my suspension and wheels.

respeed race coilovers on the front, spring perch welded at 6" from top of the strut tube.
respeed camber plates
technotoytuning roll center adjusters to correct the front suspension.
375 spring rate on the front, 200 on the rear
respeed coils for the rear and i took the height adjusters out so its just the springs
15x8" diamond racing wheels with a 4.5" backspace (or for those who like the offset measurement its 0 offset)
i have 175/55r15 tires all around and no rubbing what so ever.
i rolled my fenders with a baseball bat and a heat gun and had no issues.

when i get some more pics i'll post them..

also i know there is going to be alot of hate on my stretched tires but i make sure that my tire pressure is constant and i do not race my car either.

 

also i will warn anyone that wants 15x8 with the same backspace and you don't like stretched tires, you may have issues with tire rub.

here is a picture of how my rear wheels fit...

 

Thanks for the pictures and info, I'm looking into these exact wheels but with 235 or 245 series tires, looks like I'll need to flare to get them safely under, how do you like the 375 springs? I have 350 fronts on the way for my V8, now I'm scared that they may be too soft, but I was worried about too much stiffness causing skip in the canyons, as the roads can get choppy. Glad to see someone else using DR wheels! Sweet ride.

 

the 375's are very stiff. you are most likely going to have a better ride quality than me. but you can get a bigger sway bar in the front to correct some of that

 

May I ask why you would reduce backspacing if you were to buy wider wheels?


I personally run 245/45/17 on the back of my GSL-SE with +40 offset wheels.
That means there is approximately 162 mm of tire inboard of the hub.

162mm is nearly 6.4".

From that experience, I wouldnt hesitate to try 6" backspacing in the rear...

If 4.5-5" rear wheel backspacing is the norm, what the hell am I overlooking?



Also, just for reference, I have 215/40/17s up front on a +38 wheel.

Thats about 145mm inboard of the hub, or 5.7" backspacing up front.

What gives? You guys dont like to fill up the wheelwells or what? or are my calculations just retarded?

 

GSL-SE has different backspacing than GSL and lower. GSL-SE's are able to run more of a front wheel drive offset/backspace and GSL guys can't.

 

Im prety sure theres only about 20mm difference between -SE and non -SE as Ive had a few sets of wide 4x110 wheels on my other FBs too.

Even then, 5.5" backspacing in the back and 5" in the front sounds reasonable on the 4x110 suspension, no?

 

i looked into 5" on the front with a 15" wheel it comes too close the the spring in my case with the respeed coilovers. and i think 5" would be the absolute max on the rear from what i saw. i just ended up going with 4.5 all around on my gsl

 

im running the same wheels. but with 185/60s in front and 205/60s in the rear