Suspension/Wheels/Tires/Brakes

Newbie Qs about wheels.....

Old Jun 15, 2003 | 11:23 PM
  #1  
luckee2bhere's Avatar
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Newbie Qs about wheels.....

I have a '98 Maxima. I like the chrome 16 x 8 wheels that came on some of the 3rd gen. RX-7s. I have no idea if they will fit my car. Mine is 5 lug too.
I took this off a Maxima site:

"Wheels that generally fit on a Maxima have to be 5/114.3 with between a 35-40mm offset. Generally a 8inch wide wheel is recommended, but anywhere from 6-8.5 inch width wheels can be used. Wheels with a greater offset than 40 may look tucked in and possibly rub on the suspension arms or inner wheel well with wide wheels. Spacers and longer lugs can be used in that situation. "
Honestly I dont know what 5/114.3 with 35-40mm offset relates to????????

The wheels are like 15lbs right? I got like 23lb 17inchers right now and I think I could take about a tenth off my 1/4 time just by adding these wheels. People sell these often on the forums?
and what the heck is FD?

THANKS.

Last edited by luckee2bhere; Jun 15, 2003 at 11:26 PM.
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Old Jun 16, 2003 | 12:11 AM
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FD = 3rd generation RX-7 (93-95 U.S. model years). The VIN starts with FD3S and the 2nd generation starts with FC3S, so those two generations are often called "FD" and "FC", respectively.

There are at least two castings of the FD wheels that look the same from the "outside". I weighed a bunch of one type (flatter, less webbed style) that weighed 15.8 lbs each. I think the other casting is lighter, perhaps 14.5 lbs or so. There have been a number of reports of wheels cracking, which is what I think may have prompted Mazda to change the casting. You might want the beefier wheels to avoid cracking, even though they are a little heavier. All of them are "squeeze-cast", which makes them stronger than they would be using other casting methods, and is also why they were able to make them so light. Chrome will add weight, but I am not sure how much. It might be as little as a few ounces or as much as a few pounds -- I just don't know for sure.

The bolt pattern sounds like it is the same as your Maxima - 5 (holes) on 114.3 mm (bolt circle diameter). That is the same as 5 on 4.5" if you see it specified in inches elsewhere. The offset is the difference between the wheel center plane and the wheel pad surface (the part that mounts against the hub). FD wheels are 50mm, which means the wheel pad is 50mm toward the outside of the wheel when compared against an imaginary plane that is parallel to the wheel pad but in the center of the wheel.

If 35-40mm is the ideal for the Maxima, the 50mm FD wheels will be more "tucked in" than a 16x8" wheel with 35-40mm of offset. You can use wheel spacers to space them out for your application.

Another factor to consider is the center bore diameter. The center bore on the FD wheels is 67.1mm, which is likely to be large enough or larger than you need. That means they will fit without modification, but they might not be hub-centric if the Maxima has a smaller center bore. The wheels use tapered lug nuts, so it isn't that big of a deal if the wheel bore is too big. The tapered lug nuts will center the wheel (they will be "lug-centric"). You'll just have to get all the lug nuts installed and tighten them progressively to make sure the wheel centers properly (easy to do).

-Max
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Old Jun 16, 2003 | 12:34 AM
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wow. my fault for putting this in wrong forum.

wow again for the information man. thats alot of good stuff. thanks. so it sounds like they will fit and they might be a good possibility for me....

anybody know how to photoshop the wheels onto my car?????...i got a bunch of pics of my car on my website. id like to see what they are going to look like...

and how much $$$$ could i find these for???
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Old Jun 17, 2003 | 12:25 AM
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try this link fellas. i think itll work.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....80#post2115980

I LIKE IT ALOT!!! let me know what you think...

and if you know how much they weigh...
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