Accord Questions

"Rhino" wrote in news:igj3in$9ri$ snipped-for-privacy@speranza.aioe.org:

They're "wheels", not "rims". Wheels HAVE rims, which is how the tire stays put.

Chances are good that the overall wheel diameters and width are different between the '92 and '01. What's the tire size indicated on both sets?

The problem is primarily twofold:

1) the wheels themselves are probably a smaller diameter, which means there would likely be insufficient room for the '01's brakes inside the wheel. 2) the "offset" is probably different between the two. "Offset" is the shift of the centerline between the two wheel rims relative to the hub surface. Wrong offsets put unusual stress on your wheel bearings and your steering system, leading to accelerated failure of both.

Basically, you need to measure three things:

1) overall wheel diameter (edge to edge) and width (rim to rim). The wheel will have a notation somewhere on it, like "6JJ", or "5½JJ". This tells you the width between the rims in inches. The diameter can be told from the tire size. 2) Find or make a straightedge that goes from one edge to the other of the outer rim, and measure the distance from the straightedge to the hub surface. Remove one of the wheel nuts so you can stick a straightened coat-hanger wire or such all the way through to the hub surface (as your measuring gauge). 3) the distance between opposite wheel bolts.

If ANY of the three are different, it's unwise (or impossible in the case of the bolt pattern) to use the old wheels on the new car if you're interested in maximum reliability and durability.

Chances are excellent that not a single easily-salvageable part will be reusable from the '92 to the '01.

They are exactly the same. Check for yourself.

Clete wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

That page does not give diameter, rim width, or offset, only the dimensions relating to the hub area.

From that page, you'd conclude that the wheels for the Civic and Integra are the same, but they are not: The offset is different between the two.

I think he will be fine

Clete wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Not so sure.

I see the '90-'96 is 14x6, and 98+ is 15x6. It's unlikely his '01's brakes will fit inside a 14" wheel.

OP would be wisest to measure as I originally suggested.

The 92 EX which the OP had is 15x6.

Clete wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Yep, you're right. I missed that. But unless the OP knows for certain that the wheels are original to the car, he'd be wise to at least double-check the diameter and width.

Hell, all he has to do is bundle up and jack up both cars and switch a wheel to see if it fits...

Or are you Canadians too woosie for that?

JT

Grumpy AuContraire wrote in news:T46dnZcWh-YgmLPQnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

And work in the wet, messy, cold snow while the car drips all over you and your tools. Ugh.

It's a major pain unless you have a garage, that's for sure.

I avoid any sort of work in the winter except for oil changes. Everything gets done before the weather turns cold (it's a balmy 15F as I type). Winter weather is the big reason I do so much preventive maintenance when the weather is good. That way I'm reasonably assured that nothing will go wrong while the weather is unpleasant.

Actually, I'm well aware of the difference between wheels, rims and tires: the tires are those black rubber things, the rims are the metal parts that the tires are mounted on and the wheel is the combination of the tire and the rim. ;-)

I wasn't worried about the tires because I already know that they aren't going to be a problem. However, I was cautioned that the rims might not be compatible between the two cars. That's why my question was focused on the rims.

According to the door panels for the two cars, the '92 is supposed to have P195/60R15 87H tires and the '01 is supposed to have P195/65R15 89H tires. My mechanic said that the differences between 60R and 65R are not significant nor are the differences between 87H and 89H. If he's wrong about that, please say so. I know that the '15' for each tire description indicates that they are 15" rims.

Can you possibly point me to a picture online that shows me exactly where I'm supposed to measure. I'm not clear from this description what I am measuring.

Again, I'm not quite clear where exactly I am measuring. A picture that shows the start and end points of what I am going to measure would be very helpful here.

I should be able to manage that measurement ;-)

They both have a four bolt pattern. I asked the mechanic if the bolt hotes on the two sets of rims might be at different distances from the center of the rim but he said no. Again, if he is mistaken, that would be useful to know. For the moment, I'll assume that the bolt holes are exact same distance from the rim centers of both sets of rims and that the bolt holes themselves are the exact same diameter.

I'm prepared for that. It would be a bonus if the wheels and the battery were mutually compatible between the cars but I'm not holding my breath. I'm going out to measure the batteries now to get their height, width, and depth to see if they are both the same. I know they're both 12 Volt but that doesn't make them interchangeable if the batteries have different physical dimensions.

I don't expect it's worth the bother to salvage fuses or water pumps or whatever from the older car because the parts on the old car are generally old and worn out anyway; fuses and other small parts are presumably too inexpensive to bother with.

I assume that is a grin ;-)

I can't speak for all Canadians but this Canadian is not too eager to mess with bumper jacks in snowy parking lots in frigid temperatures. It's -10 (Celsius) with the wind chill as I write this, which is 14 F and this is the warmest it's been in weeks ;-) That's why I'm trying to "work smarter, not harder" by posting this to the newsgroup ;-)

Bravo! We have a winner here.

I've measured the distance between the centers of the opposing bolts that hold the wheels on both cars and both sets seem to be exactly 4.5 inches, measured with a decent steel ruler.

I've looked for information about the rims and found 15 x 51/2 JJ on the old car very easily. I had to do a *lot* of hunting on the rims of the '01 but finally found a designation on one of the new rims that possibly says 15 X 6 JJ. Unfortunately, all of the new rims have so much crud/corrosion on them that I can't read that latter number with any certainty on ANY of the 4 rims. It might be "15 X 6 JJ", "15 x 8 JJ", or even "15 x B JJ" or "15 X G JJ". I'm guessing that some sort of solvent or cleanser would clean up the metal enough so that it would be easier to read but I have no idea what product would be best to accomplish that. (I tried water and a kitchen sponge but that didn't accomplish anything.) Does it matter? Or does the fact that the second number is *not* 5 1/2 mean that the rims are sufficiently different that they are not switchable from one car to the other? I'm guessing that the first number in the designation is the wheel diameter and the second is the width of the rim but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Considering all the incremental improvements made to the Accord between '92 and '01, I'm surprised that they moved the rim designation from the visible side of the rim in '92 to the back side in '01; the back side was far dirtier than the visible side making it MUCH harder to read the stuff stamped on the '01 rims. By the way, both sets of rims had "Honda" or "Honda Motor Company" stamped on them so they appear to be original equipment, not after-market.

-- Rhino

"Cameo" wrote in news:igqbal$v1c$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal- september.org:

Not quite.

Tire: the black rubber part Wheel: the assembly of both wheel rim and wheel center, steel wheels being comprised of those two parts Wheel Rim: the part of the wheel that the tire is mounted on Wheel Center: the part that the rim is welded to, and which has the holes for hub and wheel bolts.

Aluminum and magnesium wheels are normally one-piece, with rim and center in a single casting. There have been hybrids over the years, a notable one being BBS's 3-piece wheels from the '80s. Those had a cast center and a rolled 2-piece rim. They were held together with about a hundred little bolts and lots of adhesive.

So what's the complete wheel/tire assembly called? Properly it's just that: the "wheel/tire assembly". It's also referred to by Honda as the "road wheel".

"Rhino" wrote in news:igq6h6$6gm$ snipped-for-privacy@speranza.aioe.org:

The 195/65s have about a 3% greater circumference than the 195/60s.

Putting the '92's tires on the '01 will result in a speedometer error of

3% slow, so an indicated 60mph will actually be 62.

They're 15" wheels, yes.

Don't worry about it now. With the links Clete posted, I'm guessing the offsets are likely the same between the two sets of wheels. In short, it's quite likely they're fully interchangeable.

I'm assuming you've indeed got actual Honda wheels on both cars, not the very-similar-looking Canadian Tire wheels.

Skip the battery.

The wheels and tires are definitely interchangeable.

Skip the water pump as well, even if it might fit. New OEM is about $100, and used OEM is a VERY bad idea.

Hondas never blow fuses unless somebody's monkeyed with the wiring. I am running all-original fuses on my 20-year-old, 358,000 miles Integra. And yeah, fuses are too cheap to want to salvage.

What you /might/ want to do, now that I think of it, is to pull the dashboard apart and salvage all those teeny-tiny light bulbs that illuminate the instruments, shift quadrant and other things. You can get them at the wrecker's easily enough, but they're awfully expensive from the dealer. If they fit the '01, you've saved a trip to the wrecker's. If they don't fit, they're small enough to toss in the trash without a second thought.

Or better yet, try selling the heap to the wreckers for its scrap value. You might clear $100, more than enough for light bulbs /and/ a case of beer.

"Rhino" wrote in news:igqfgg$r4p$ snipped-for-privacy@speranza.aioe.org:

Take a measuring tape across the tread. It will be close enough to the rim width that you should be able to rule out the 8" guess.

The designation will be a diameter in inches, then a width in inches, then a rim profile.

Rim diameter (also overall wheel diameter): 15" Rim Width : 6" Rim-shape designation : JJ

Summary: 15x6JJ

They should be interchangeable. The tires are the same width between new and old (195), so Honda evidently just spread the beads apart a bit further with the new car. Since the new car's tires are taller (65- section versus the old car's 60-section), that would allow the 1/2" spread.

That's correct.

Good news for you. OEM is always best.

Funny, but mine don't say "Honda" anywhere on them. All I can find is a logo next to the size designation that looks like a letter "Y" inside a diamond shape.

Tegger wrote in news:Xns9E6DBA7BDA6C2tegger@208.90.168.18:

That's BACKWARDS, sorry!

Correct: Putting the '92's tires on the '01 will result in a speedometer error of 3% FAST, so an indicated 60mph will actually be 58.

Sorry Tegger, I meant it as a joke and thought I could dispense with the smiley.

"Cameo" wrote in news:igrmkm$g5v$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal- september.org:

That's why I'm bald: too many jokes going over my head...