16x8 On a Horizon

[AzShadow]

I've been researching for days now trying to avoid this post.

I am attempting to purchase 16x8 ET30 wheels for my Horizon. Originally the wheel manufacture said that they could shave 5mm off the back pad resulting in a ET35. GREAT! According to all my research and measurements this should JUST work.

Well after i officially pull the trigger and order the wheels (payment cleared) the wheel manufacture emails me saying that shaving 5mm off the wheels is now NOT possible and I will have to go with the ET30...They asked if I still wanted to go through with the order and I have yet to respond...

I've heard of people running an 8 inch wide wheel on a Omni/Horizon but i have yet to find a picture of it and get confirmed offsets.

BTW I would like to run a 225 tire and the car is on Koni Coilovers which helps clearance inward. Clearance inward should be OK, its outward that i am worried about.

Will this work or should i bail?

Thanks

[4 l-bodies]

I had 15 X 8" wheels with a 225/50/15 tire on my 86 GLHS for a short while. This was around a 24" tall tire. Mostly had them on for shows. I have looked everywhere for pics, but I have to believe I do not have any. I will say that it was an extremely tight fit in the front tire diameter size between the air dam (GLH's) and the rear plastic wheelwell. In fact I remember having to adjust the front crossmember a bit to center the tires in the wheelwell. In the rear, you will have issues with the upper wheel well lip on anything that approaches 24" tall and that wide of wheel. I also had to do some minor relocating of the shock mounts. These wheels ended up on Mike Mills Lancer Shelby. See attachment.
I also briefly flipped on my old 16x7" 35 ET OZ wheels on my GLHT to see how they would fit and to take a couple pics. These were on my Sunlight Yellow Shadow that I sold to Tim Costello. This was with a 205/50/16 tire. I believe also slightly over 24" tall. 24.2" rings a bell. It doesn't look right to me. IMO, this is too tall of tire for a L-body, but thought you could use this pic to see how a -35et wheel looks on an L-body.
IMO, not worth the effort running that wide of tire. You will probably ideally end up with two different offsets for the front and the rear should you decide to try it.
Good Luck!
Todd

[AzShadow]

I had 15 X 8" wheels with a 225/50/15 tire on my 86 GLHS for a short while. This was around a 24" tall tire. Mostly had them on for shows. I have looked everywhere for pics, but I have to believe I do not have any. I will say that it was an extremely tight fit in the front tire diameter size between the air dam (GLH's) and the rear plastic wheelwell. In fact I remember having to adjust the front crossmember a bit to center the tires in the wheelwell. In the rear, you will have issues with the upper wheel well lip on anything that approaches 24" tall and that wide of wheel. I also had to do some minor relocating of the shock mounts. These wheels ended up on Mike Mills Lancer Shelby. See attachmen
I also briefly flipped on my old 16x7" 35 ET OZ wheels on my GLHT to see how they would fit and to take a couple pics. These were on my Sunlight Yellow Shadow that I sold to Tim Costello. This was with a 205/50/16 tire. I believe also slightly over 24" tall. 24.2" rings a bell. It doesn't look right to me. IMO, this is too tall of tire for a L-body, but thought you could use this pic to see how a -35et wheel looks on an L-body.
IMO, not worth the effort running that wide of tire. You will probably ideally end up with two different offsets for the front and the rear should you decide to try it.
Good Luck!
Todd

ah yes thank you for replying! your name came across on my search on the 'other forum' which lead to searching for a while for the famous 8 wide Omni picture to no avail.

Do you remember the offset? Also, if i cut the inner lip out (almost completely) will that help my case?

I'm definitely close to scrapping the whole deal and playing it safe with a 16x7 ET35 and maybe a small spacer to give it just a little less offset.

[contraption22]

Check out this tool for estimating wheel and tire clearances.

http://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp

For reference, the OE GLH tire was a 195/50R15 and the wheels were 15x6 with a 40mm offset.

[cordes]

Doesn't Jon Trotter have 8" wheels on his 87 S? I know we had to roll the fenders on that car for them to fit.

[minigts]

Check out this tool for estimating wheel and tire clearances.

For reference, the OE GLH tire was a 195/50R15 and the wheels were 15x6 with a 40mm offset.

No tool listed Mike.

Doesn't Jon Trotter have 8" wheels on his 87 S? I know we had to roll the fenders on that car for them to fit.

Well the rears were rolled because I have different spindles. The front, had to go with at least a -1.25* of camber to keep it from rubbing the fenders and about -1.5* to ensure nothing would touch. Unfortunately, they still rub when there is a lot of travel, but they are just hitting the plastic inner liner. This is with a 225/35-17 tire, which is around the stock size, I don't remember up or down of it. If you get a stock tire diameter in a 16" wheel/tire combo, you should be ok if you set the camber in enough.

[contraption22]

No tool listed Mike.

Retooling!? I'll retool you!

[minigts]

Check out this tool for estimating wheel and tire clearances.

http://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp

For reference, the OE GLH tire was a 195/50R15 and the wheels were 15x6 with a 40mm offset.

Retooling!? I'll retool you!

I'll be expecting that link to work Claud. /BDM

[AzShadow]

No tool listed Mike.




Well the rears were rolled because I have different spindles. The front, had to go with at least a -1.25* of camber to keep it from rubbing the fenders and about -1.5* to ensure nothing would touch. Unfortunately, they still rub when there is a lot of travel, but they are just hitting the plastic inner liner. This is with a 225/35-17 tire, which is around the stock size, I don't remember up or down of it. If you get a stock tire diameter in a 16" wheel/tire combo, you should be ok if you set the camber in enough.

Aren't you on a ET35 setup tho? This would be an additional 5 mm outwards. Also how different do we suppose the fender clearance is on SC vs Omni due to them having different geometry?

[tryingbe]

I've got a set of 16x7.5 with ET 35 wheels for sale,

http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/sh...ht=OMNI+WHEELS

they will work with 225/45R16.

http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/sh...ht=OMNI+WHEELS

[4 l-bodies]

ah yes thank you for replying! your name came across on my search on the 'other forum' which lead to searching for a while for the famous 8 wide Omni picture to no avail.

Do you remember the offset? Also, if i cut the inner lip out (almost completely) will that help my case?

I'm definitely close to scrapping the whole deal and playing it safe with a 16x7 ET35 and maybe a small spacer to give it just a little less offset.

The offset was very close to -30ET. Back when I had these made, offset wasn't a term used much. Most people went by backspacing and not offset in mm, at least for wheels made in USA. Yes cutting the upper portion of the lip will help a bunch. Also with your coilovers, that will help alot too. I think you still will need to do some work on the rear shock mounts, relocating them inboard a liitle bit. Probably will clear the spring okay at rest, but will more than likely rub when the body leans and tire flex occurs. My advice is stay at or below 24" diameter and it should be doable.
I also owned a 87 SC that had the upper lip cut and tig welded shut. I estimate probably around 12-14 inches of each wheelwell. Cut about 3/4's of lip edge width. I ran 225/50/15's on 6.5" Lemans catalog wheels (black ones). These were the ones with -40ET offset. With the rear wheelwell mods they didn't hit anywhere EVER. That car is now in NJ. I sold it to Derek and Derek sold it to Wayne. Both are on this forum. Derek put 16" wheels on it. Not 100% sure what width or tire size, but pretty sure it was either 7 or 7.5" wheel. You might want to do a search for that if interested. Let us know how it works out for you.
Regards,
Todd

[AzShadow]

Todd, thank you for the response.

After talking with the sales representative they are going to give me black friday pricing on these wheels (buy 3 get one free).

so between that and much more pondering and measuring and test fitting with various stuff i have at the house i took the plunge. Hopefully it will all work out. if not i can maybe sell the wheels at little to no loss...

updates to follow

[Wayne in NJ]

Just a note: mine has 17x7 Konig Foil rims

[4 l-bodies]

Just a note: mine has 17x7 Konig Foil rims

Wayne, Good to know. 17x7" it is. I remember Derek was going back and forth between 16 and 17". What was sort of amusing to me was Derek didn't want the Leman's wheels but instead wanted the restored pizza wheels I had. He wanted it stock, and I can completely understand that. Within a year of purchasing the car the pizza wheels had to go and then a search for aftermarket wheels was on.
Todd

[minigts]

Aren't you on a ET35 setup tho? This would be an additional 5 mm outwards. Also how different do we suppose the fender clearance is on SC vs Omni due to them having different geometry?

Not sure what you're saying? I mentioned I have different spindles, but I probably should have given more detail since the spindles on my car are not the stock spindles off that came on the L bodys. They are off a 99 Concorde LHS that were machined down to fit the GLHS. The thickness of the spindle itself where it mates to the backplate for the rear axle is thicker than that of the stock one for the 5x100 hubs. So yes, a +35mm wheel is +5mm over, but the hub is pushed out already using the Concorde spindle, so it's not a fair comparison to the standard one on our cars when identifying whether or not a 16x8 +35mm wheel will rub. That's why I mentioned it, but probably should have been a little more clear on what I referring to.

Given all that, I would think that the fender clearance on the cars will be comparable and more than likely will need some modification on turns and full travel, i.e., negative camber and probably some trimming at the fender lip.