Question about wheels and offsets

Back to another Subaru I have. The wheels rub against the calipers in the front. Hey, they fit, they're the right diameter, what gives?!

They're also rusty, so I am trying to replace them. In the course of looking for used wheels for an '89 Suby GL hacthback (NOT the Brat-looking hatch, the Loyale looking hatch) I have run across 5 sets of wheels! The Brat-looking hatch has one that it shares with the Brat looking wagon, the Loyale has another, the Legacy has another, and the GL hatch has another.

I think what happened was that someone didn't know the difference and put a set of 2WD offset wheels (Yeah, it appears to make a difference) on an AWD GL Hatch. These wheels are HARD to find; it looks like I can put Brat

8-spokes on it according to the Subaru parts book for 1989.

Aside from this, and finding the proper wheels, is there another way to get the proper offset? I was thinking of wheel spacers; I only need 2-5mm space (I think the difference is 48mm for the 2WD wheel and 50mm for the AWD wheel). It has that wonky 4x140 bolt pattern.

Is there a safe way to 'shim' the wheels to get a few more mm of offset?

Reply to
Hachiroku
Loading thread data ...

I think what you have is an early set of Subaru wheels. Recall reading about how the very early wheels (pre 1985) would not fit the later years for the reason you described. Any wheel from 85 to 94 should fit perfectly. Forget about shimming the wheels.

-- Message posted using

formatting link
information at
formatting link

Reply to
johninKY

Like john said, using spacers could very well stress the wheel bearing AND create an unsafe lug nut fitment. maybe other bad stuff too.

There MAY be some Peugeot wheels that will fit???

The guys over at

formatting link
seems to have a lot of experience keeping older soobs on the road. You might find someone with advice or even wheels for sale too.

Carl

Reply to
Carl 1 Lucky Texan

Peugeot rims are generally only used to go from 13" to 14" and although 504 rims do fit I don't think the offset is spot on anyway, and you have to find the special lug nut washers so you can actually secure them properly. Other Peugeot rims do fit but often more hassle than it's worth. If you were keen enough to go for 15" for example you have to be sure you do get 15" rims and not TRX metric rims as was common on Pugs (very limited choice in tyres and VERY expensive).

Speedline do (or used to) make a 14" rim for them, and there is a company here in Australia that makes a 14" rim with the correct offset.

formatting link
James

Reply to
James

Reply to
Mike Walsh

Do not shim the wheels, as all sorts of problems, from balancing, wheel bearing wear, handling, etc.

You can try looking up different replacement wheels for various Subaru models at tirerack.com to see which ones have the same fit. They may also have specs on offset, bolt pattern, etc.

Reply to
Ray O

For only 5mm or 1/4" I wouldn't worry about upsetting the wheel bearings that much with the offset change - that would come into play if you grossly changed it so the loads were overhung an inch or two.

The thing to worry more about is shearing off wheel studs or not having enough threads to properly engage the lug nuts, then they strip the last few threads and come off - you might need to change to longer studs to make sure there are enough threads.

If you can't find pre-made spacers, I'd have a machine shop (or a specialty CNC abrasive water-jet cutting shop) cut them out of 1/4" steel plate. (The plates can be sent out to be "Blanchard Ground" flat and parallel if you really think it will make a difference, but you need to go up in thickness to allow for the grinding.)

-->--

Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

But is this going to cost more than $50?

Reply to
Hachiroku

These are those weird Suby wheels with the 4x140 bolt pattern. They stopped this configuration in '90-92 and they're hard to find!

There is a method of 'adapting' a 5x100 hub onto the car, but it's going to cost 2x what the car cost! (and 3x what it's worth!)

Maybe if it looked like *THIS* I'd do it!

formatting link

Reply to
Hachiroku

Yup, that ride appears to be in good condition! All sorts of stuff came up when I googled "Subaru wheel spacers" but most of it is over $150. Of course, you can get a pneumatic die grinder to go with your new compressor and grind the caliper - just kidding!

Reply to
Ray O

Hi, Zero $ for something like that, LOL! My son-in-law owns s big CNC shop! Looking at OP id. 86 in Japanese, does it mean his car is 1986 model? I never owned a car/truck more than 10 years old. Shouldn't car that old be sent to junk yard? Let the economy roll. Or why not just get a new set of proper rims anf forget about it. It's kinda safety issue.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

I'm just gonna assume that that was meant in a joking manner... my car is an '88, my pickup is a '93, and my second car is a '55! Save the environment, drive an old car!

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

Hmmm, Old car like those pollute a lot! Newer cars are greener and safer! We always drive AWD with all the bells and whistles for safety first. I look after them alway in original condition. I do most work on them. I no longer have any truck since I sold my 5th wheel camping trailer. I built a cabin instead. Currently 4 cars in the family. Subaru, Honda, Suzuki. All farly new.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Hachiroku=AE86:

formatting link
formatting link
And my favorite:

formatting link

1985 Corolla GT-S Twin-Cam, owned since April of 1985, still running but rusty.

Good catch on the 8-6, though...

Reply to
Hachiroku

Oh, BTW, I have the Hachiroku, the '89 Suby GL, an '89 Mazda 626 I paid $150 that runs GREAT and looks very good, a '97 Suby Legacy L AWD wagon with a BHG, an '88 Supra in Good-VG condition that spends winters in a heated garage, and an '05 Scion tC that is spending the winter under a car cover...

Reply to
Hachiroku

The '85 Corolla GT-S turns almost the same numbers on the Environmental tester as it did when it was new. There's a lot to be said for maintenance. It has 260,000 miles on it...

Reply to
Hachiroku

That's actually an option. My memory might (hell probably is!) be wrong but IIRC, this wasn't an uncommon thing to do on american hotrods years ago. The one that comes to mind is converting eary Mustangs to disk brakes while keeping the factory styled-steel rims. They'd take off almost a quarter inch.

Reply to
nobody >

No, older cars /in bad mechanical condition/ pollute a lot. If you keep them in good shape and fix the little things as they break, you can keep a car or truck on the road practically forever, and your per-mile costs of driving can go way down.

Some people do not choose to pay a lot more just to drive a new car every three or four years. They work to live, not live to work.

Buy a new car and you take a huge hit for depreciation, tags and title, the pension and benefits cost at the manufacturer and dealer, a portion of the car salesman's new ski boat, etc. etc. etc.

And your monthly costs for insurance are much higher, as any car with an airbag system costs more to insure - When you run the numbers, after the car is over about 3 to 4 years old if you get in an accident that deploys the airbags it's cheaper to total the car than fix it.

Before you spend a dime on the bodywork and paint, just replacing the airbags and all the sensors and actuators after an accident is going to run you $3,000 bare minimum. If it has explosive primed seatbelt tensioners and side curtain airbags and all the toys, that could easily pass $5,000 when you factor in new seats and the trim panels that are destroyed during side curtain deployment.

Oh, and you usually break the windshield and/or other window glass when the airbags blow and the air pressure inside the car spikes, there's another $600 - $1,500 in glass replacement costs.

Having a new car with airbags will certainly decrease the injuries from an equivalent accident - but somebody has to pay for the greatly increased insurance costs, and that somebody is you, the car owner.

-->--

Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

Hmmm, Knock on the wood. I've been driving over half a century. No accident, never got stranded on the road, yet. Just a few parking tickets. I replace my car when there is a sign of oil leak on the garage floor. That is more or less 10 years driving time. In my working days I drove company provided car of my choice which I looked after as if it were mine.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Hi, If you ever X-ray a car like that, you'll see sign of metal fatigue, hair line cracks, hidden rust things like that. Nothing laat forever!

Reply to
Tony Hwang

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.