Ernesto13B

iTrader: (4)

Ok, well I finally ended up going with some rims... The ones I selected, are the 18'' Volk Racing CV Pro's. They are staggered 18x8.5'' and 18x9.5''. I never thought I would buy rims, but $750 for all 4 Volk's forged I think is a pretty good deal. I'm also gonna have the face painted gloss black and have the lip refinished.

The tire sizes I wanna go with, are 235/40/18 and 265/35/18. I HATE how my front lip scrapes on certain driveways, and I realized that a 235/40/18 up front will raise the front lip half an inch higher off the ground, possibly eliminating that problem. The taller tire MAY rub the inner plastic fender liner on hard bumps... it shouldn't but if it does, i'll cut it and relocate the wiring harness because I will make it work.

Thank's Mahjik for that link to rbwheels.com
Heres a pic

This is my inspiration

Ernesto13B

iTrader: (4)

Wheels just came in today, but before I buy tires, I'm gonna do a full vacuum hose job, because a hose broke.

anyway here the pics, they actually powder coated the middle gloss black

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Give the lips a good polish before you mount them...

Ernesto13B

iTrader: (4)

Ok I haven't had these installed yet, because i'm also saving for the vacuum hose job at the same time. I have all the major parts, all I need now to buy now, is several small things, hoses, gaskets, engine paint, viton check valves, etc.

I'll be using my tax return to buy the tires so i'm waiting for that, but for now i'm buying valve stems, lug nuts, and hub centric rings.

Few questions, will these lug nuts for work the FD?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...#ht_2197wt_763

I'm not the expert on rims, could someone please explain to me how I figure out which hub centric ring will be the perfect size for me?

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Yes, Muteki 12 x 1.5 lugs are what you need. As far as hub centric rings, the FD centerbore is 67.1mm.

Ernesto13B

iTrader: (4)

Ok I got a BIG BIG problem. I just got my hub centering rings today, and pulled my car into the garage to test fit the wheels and..... they DONT FIT?????? The wheels are 18X8.5 +35 front and 18X9.5 +46 rear and the bolt pattern is 114.3x5, isnt that what I should have???

The studs dont line up with the holes on the wheels, wtf???? Did I do something wrong, is the FD's bolt pattern NOT 114.3x5?????

Ernesto13B

iTrader: (4)

ANYBODY?? I know rbwheels.com doesnt do refunds, but im really thinking I might have to convince them argue with them to refund me. I mean I DID do my research and I bought the same bolt pattern my car takes, so how does it not fit? I dont think thats my fault, because I did everything right. What the hell am I gonna do with rims that dont fit my car???? The rims have the same exact bolt pattern 5x114.3 (It has a sticker on the rim showing this) and I do have an FD and as far as I know all FD's have the same bolt pattern right???? This is the kinda thing that would only happen to me.

I dont even know if I can sell these rims, because idk who to sell it to, if the 5x114.3 doesn't even fit cars that use that bolt pattern. How does this happen? Somebody please give me some advice on what I should do, because im gonna loose my mind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ernesto13B

iTrader: (4)

Ok well after looking online at various websites, I finally determined how to measure the bolt pattern of a 5 lug wheel.

http://adaptitusa.com/boltpatternguide.aspx

When I measured this several times I got the same number 4 1/16'' exact distance. This number converted into decimals= 4.062, then converted into mm= 103.17mm.

I never heard of a 5x103.17, I dont think it exsists, but I DID find on google a rare bolt pattern of 5x104 which does exist, so it may be a 5x104.

The problem is that on the rims, the manufacture sticker DOES say 114.3 which is actually incorrect. Idk how this is even possible but the fact is... The rims DO STATE 5x114.3 on the manufacture sticker, AND also when I purchased them from the website, they stated 5x114.3.

When in fact they are NOT a 5x114.3, they are actually a 5x104, so im gonna have to contact rbwheels for a refund, because (1 the rims were NEVER installed ( because they don't fit) and (2 thats false advertising to say that they are 114.3 when in actuality, they are not. I hope this doesn't become a problem I know they sell the rims as is, and no refunds, but if they are a good reputable company, they will refund me the full amount, because thats not my fault that the rims state 114.3, but are actually 104. Who would ever imagine that the manufacture sticker would be wrong and they would be a different size? What are the chances of that happening? This is a nightmare

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Contact RBWheels. If they did sell you something that was not as advertised, I'm sure they will provide a refund. I doubt they test fit every set of wheels, so they were most likely going off what the sticker said as well (which apparently is incorrect).

Ernesto13B

iTrader: (4)

One thing I also noticed is that the wheels came with some spacers/adapters. Those spacers have 10 holes in them. 5 of the holes mount directly to MY vehicles hub, and the other 5 holes mount directly the rims, therefore these "adapters" convert whatever the hell bolt pattern the rims are to a standard 114.3. Although what I dont understand, is why the rims say 114.3 on the sticker, but then they dont fit? Something strange is going on here.

I would like 1 of 2 things to happen.... If possible, i'd like Rbwheels to redrill the wheels to the correct 114.3 bolt pattern like it shows on the sticker and then repowder coat for free, or if thats not possible then I just want a full refund for everything. I'll give them a call tommorow

Heres some pictures of the stickers so you guys don't think i'm crazy...

Ernesto13B

iTrader: (4)

Ok good news, I contacted RBwheels.com and they stated that the spacers that came with the wheels are actually a factory spacer from volk racing and WITH the spacer included, it makes the offset of the wheels what they are. Meaning without the spacers the wheels will actually stick much further inward.

Why did Volk racing make things so complicating I dont know, but the rims ARE old as you can see, so they may have done things differently back in 1991. Were back in business, im gonna need to buy new studs for the spacers, and figure out where the hub centric ring goes and all that. This is freakin complicating as hell, but at least I know the spacers came with the wheels when they were manufactured so I dont have a problem with that

Ernesto13B

iTrader: (4)

I hate to take their word for it so I just HAD to find out for myself if he was actually telling me the truth about the rims, so I did my own research well I mean its my day off lol

The 18x9.5'' +46 wheel needs the .50'' spacer already included to make the wheel a +46 offset.

The overall diameter of that wheel is 10.38'', which makes the centerline (center of the rim) 5.19''. The backspace of the wheel is 7'' WITH the .50''spacer installed. So according to that website to get the offset, we subtract the centerline (5.19'') from the backspace (7'') and we get 1.81'' and that is the offset.

Now the offset is +46mm so to convert that into inches we divide 46mm by 25.4, and voila it equals exactly 1.81'' which means that the wheel did in fact come with spacers from the factory.

In fact if I didn't use the .50'' spacer for the 18x9.5'' wheel, then the actual offset of the wheel before the spacer is +59 which would stick too far inward. I've never heard of a wheel that uses a spacer from the factory to create a desirable offset, but then again they are old, this is probably how they used to do it. I just didnt wanna believe until I found out for myself.

Ernesto13B

iTrader: (4)

Update... Finally got my wheel locks, and bought some new studs and lug nuts for the spacers so I decided to test fit the wheels today, heres some pics...

Ernesto13B

iTrader: (4)

Ok I bought some studs from autozone and then realized they are too short even though they work, so I decided to return them, and order the ARP extended studs because of their longer length and strength . I found some sizes I believe will work and will be safe, but it seems to be that the rear studs fit in the spacers too easily. I can press them in firmly by hand ( with the help of a light hammer), but I can wiggle them out by hand which I don't feel comfortable with. Shouldn't it be harder to install/remove then that?? I was reading about ppl using Loctite on the stud during installation to prevent it from backing out of the hub or moving around after installation.

The stud should NOT be easy to install and should not be easy to remove either. Should I go with Loctitie Red or Blue to install the studs into the spacers?

Ernesto13B

iTrader: (4)

Ok I got the ARP studs today and realized those install WAY to easily, so im gonna have to return them. The stupid mistake I made was throwing away the studs that came with the spacers, because they were rusted, I should have at least saved them so I know the measurements were!!

These look like unconventional wheel studs, they dont appear to have any "Knurl" like most wheel studs do. There are also no splines in the spacers, meaning the studs are easy to turn by hand which is bad.

According to the areas I circled... It appears the old studs had a flat part on the mounting surface, so that way they won't turn while installing or removing the lug nuts. Here's a picture. Does anybody know what kind of wheel studs these would be, or how I would get them???

Mr.POM

nice!!!

Ernesto13B

iTrader: (4)

UPDATE:

I returned the ARP studs a few days ago and am waiting for a refund. I then bought the Ichiban hub centric spacers and they arrived today but they don't fit either, because the bolt pattern is incorrect (my fault) The shipper said they don't accept returns, but I convinced them to return it after begging The guys were nice about it though. So those will ship back out for a refund tomorrow as well.

After RE-measuring the rims and the bolt pattern again, I found out that it's actually 5x100 which makes a lot more sense. The custom Volk Racing adapters I have, are 5x114.3 to 5x100 conversion. I'm gonna have to have the after market adapters custom made, but I found a few company's that do it for a reasonable price built with billet aluminum.

Just ordered the tires today Bridgestone Potenza RE760 sport 235/40/18 and 275/35/18. Last thing i'm waiting on is to order some custom made wheel adapters to fit everything properly.

Ernesto13B

iTrader: (4)

Ok well so far tires have arrived and are waiting to be installed, the custom made wheel adapters should ship out tommorow. Today, I decided to have the fenders rolled in preparation for the rims, but another problem. When they were removing the OEM wheel locks, the locking key broke on the first lug nut!!!! at least the lug nuts are still good. I have to order another Mcgard oem locking key to get the stock wheels off now.

Those locking keys lasted 18 years not bad but why did they decided to break now?!?! This is my first time dealing with locking keys breaking, what I decided to do is special order 2 spare locking keys for the new rims. Each wheel has 2 locking keys, so im gonna order 2 extra locking keys one of each, I don't ever wanna have to go through this again!

I just noticed I got a LOT of wallbashes haha

NoPis10

iTrader: (29)

WOW..
The **** you went thru JUST to get wheels for your 7...
I would have just returned the Volks and bought something else that fit with no fabrication...

L8R

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Just go buy some cheap sockets to hammer onto the OEM locking nuts.

Ernesto13B

iTrader: (4)

Just got the custom made wheel adapters in the mail today and installed the rims. I think they look great

Heres a sneak peak but these pics do no justice, i'll take some better pics when I wash the car on my day off.
Everything rides smooth no vibrations so far, no rubbing on the fenders, but the rears, are VERY close as you can see. The front tires do rub the inner plastic fender liner, so im gonna have to cut those off and relocate the wiring harness. Even though nothing rubs, I'm gonna have all 4 fenders rolled anyway.

Ernesto13B

iTrader: (4)

Here's a better pic, just had the fenders rolled today. I still need to wash the car and rims before I get some good pics up, everything is still dirty :-/

Ernesto13B

iTrader: (4)

Fender rolling is done, paint cracked very slightly under the fender lips, but on the outside it looks fine and that's all that matters to me. Relocating the wiring harness didn't really work out, because I realized that its a LOT more work then I thought, and it's not worth it. I turned the Tokico shocks in the front to 4/5 stiffness, and I also cut some of the loose plastic inner fender liner hanging under the tires.

It seems that on all FD's, the headlight wiring harness runs directly underneath the plastic fender liner, which is why so many ppl have healight issue after buying bigger aftermarket rims, because the tire cuts into the wiring harness. Mine has not cut into the harness yet, but you can already see the harness due to the plastic liner being shaved off by the tires. I ended up using some zip ties and wrapped them around the headlight harness on both sides, and tied them to an area of the frame that was nearby, raising the headlight harness about 1/4-1/2'' higher. I realized that the way I did it, the harness is actually about 1/8'' higher then the frame, so even if the car were to bottom out, the tire would hit the frame before it hits the wiring harness.

I put this theory to the test and test drove the car over the same bump in the road where I used to scrape and.... nothing. I had to remove the front lip temporarily because to get an alignment, my front bumper is too low so i'll do that tommorow, then put it back on, and the friday I can wash the car finally and take some real pics!

Ernesto13B

iTrader: (4)

Here's some more pics I took after it finished raining