8.5" wheels- this was a bad idea...

W

wildo

Member
:
Mazda Protege5
I recently picked up some 17 x 8.5" (48mm offset) 5zigen wheels from a forum member and am seriously wishing I would have done better research before picking these up... These wheels are w-i-d-e!

I've search and searched, and I can't find one mention of msp/mp3/p5 owners running 8.5" wide wheels. I even read through all 57 pages of the "Aggressive Fitment" thread...

My '03 P5 is lowered on Tein S-Techs.

I have a few questions:
  1. Am I stupid for even beginning to think I can make this work?
  2. There appears to be enough rear clearance on the fronts but fender clearance is close! I can only think to add AWR adjustable camber plates and roll the fenders. This doesn't seem like a bad way to go- I pick up some neg camber and turning stability at the expensive of some tire wear. Thoughts? Can anyone comment on tire wear from running extreme neg camber for a long period of time?
  3. This site (gulp- it's a Honda site!) has a really nice explanation of camber/caster and does point out a downside of negative camber being twitchiness over uneven surfaces. Can anyone comment about this from experience? I already think the P5 can get twitchy over uneven surfaces...
  4. How do I determine fitment for the tires, without buying tires? I think the widest I could go is 215 x 45, but that is gonna be stretched a bit. kinda ghetto- though not much choice...
  5. Tirerack tire specs, generally speaking, show a 215/40 having a rim width range of 7-8.5" whereas the 215/45 has a range of only 7-8". Why do you think that a shorter tire could stretch wider than a taller tire? That is very counter-intuitive for me!
  6. Speaking of 215mm tires- too wide, you think? Should I be looking at 205s? (Ugh- that is gonna look terrible stretched out!)
  7. It doesn't seem too tough to determine if the wheels/tires will fit when pointed straight. But how do I determine if they will rub when turning (without first buying the tires)?
  8. I haven't fit the rears yet, but suspect there are going to be major fender clearance issues back there. I could have have 2mm machined off the wheels to put them at 50mm offset, but that isn't going to help much. What options do I have here? I've only heard of camber bolts- not sure what they do or how they work...

Hopefully you guys have some decent answers. And hopefully I didn't buy a set of wheels from a forum member who stated "They will fit but you might have to use a skinny tire" and was straight up full of s***... (sadbanana)

Is this a worthwhile endeavor, or a pipe dream??
 
Why do all the work to fit 8.5 inch wheels and then put 215's on there. See these and get a set of 17x7's, mount some 215's and save yourself a bunch of hassle? I'm sure you can make them fit, but if you are dead set on keeping these rims find a way to get some decent tires at least 225's to fit. 10mm shouldn't be that much more work if you are going to have to roll anyway.

Edit: Great looking rims BTW
 
Are you fenders rolled? if not roll them fully.. get camber bolts/plates and get as much camber as needed... ive been running -2 camber for a while now...theres no crazy wear like tires gone in months type deal...just as long as YOU GET AN ALIGNMENT and a good one...there is uneven wear tho... but thats to be excpected...but its not that bad..also if you get non directional tires you can always flip them..and then your good to go.. as for tires im not to sure.still learning on that...but stretch that s*** as much as you feel safe to
 
Yeah- they are great looking rims- and lightweight too! I agree fully that it seems silly to put 215s on an 8.5" rim; what's the point, right? I get it...

I recently bought snow tires to run on the stock wheels. It's no longer winter, and I don't want to drive around on the snow tires much longer. So it was important for me to get new rims/tires. These were a good deal, which is why I picked them up. So that's the real reason.

I'm not totally "stuck" on these- though it will suck balls to have to sell off rims that I just bought. My main concerns are how safe it is to stretch tires, and if the added expense to get them to fit doesn't justify the good price I picked them up for...

I assume body shops will roll fenders- anyone know a general price on that? If that is between $50 and 100, plus the $240 for camber plates, plus the $?? for camber bolts- I'm already looking at an additional $400? to get the damn things to fit. Maybe it's not so worth it after all...
 
you could always sell them on CL or ebay, possibly for more then you spent depending on how good of a deal you got...
 
I found this pic:
744_large.jpg


Given the explanation in the picture- I am not sure I see any reason why camber bolts couldn't be used up front. Anyone know for sure?

Edit - Actually- camber bolts REDUCE rear clearance. These aren't going to work at all, as I only have about .25" of rear clearance to the strut as it stands... s***!
 
Truly.. even tho they are really nice wheels. I say sell them. Look around and see what other cars would take this size wheel and join their forums just to sell the wheels. Thats what I would do... Like depending on the hub bore, I think Mustangs might take that wheel size, at least the 05 and up ones.
 
martispeed said:
Truly.. even tho they are really nice wheels. I say sell them. Look around and see what other cars would take this size wheel and join their forums just to sell the wheels. Thats what I would do... Like depending on the hub bore, I think Mustangs might take that wheel size, at least the 05 and up ones.
Click to expand...

I'm going to have to. Just tested fitment on the rears and they don't even fit. The seller who told me he had them mounted either didn't have a stock MSP setup or is a ******* liar trying to offload oversized rims to a dumb-**** like me who didn't do good enough research first. Dammit. Lesson learned.

Front profile:
24239_385228847234_649827234_372452.jpg



Front inside clearance:
24239_385228887234_649827234_372453.jpg



Rear profile:
24239_385319807234_649827234_372627.jpg



Rear inside clearance (or lack thereof):
24239_385319767234_649827234_372627.jpg
 
haha- then my car could be this cool!

corr3.jpg


corr10.jpg


...What a great way to ruin a great car. Poor Corrado.
 
Space that s*** out. +48 is way too high for 8.5"

roll ur fenders, get caster plates and run a 215(no u won't blow up if you do) and they should fit nicely. Funny u post this cause I'm thinking of running 17x9 +32 LOL
 
I got mine from wheeldude.com

Cheap, but not short in quality so u dont have to be worried about it.
 
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