Re: Aftermarket rims (was Re: Colors update)

["Danrc30" <Danrc30@xxxx>]

I wholeheartedly disagree with Walt here. I have aftermarket rims on my car, 16"/17" combo, and I couldn't be happier with the performance. Both are 7" wide, but I have a fatter rear tire on than the front. The handling is way more responsive and the car grips the road well when the Pirelli's warm up. It's true that the front wheels do rub the swaybar, but only a little bit since the wheels are 2" bigger in diameter. The larger size brings it further away from the swaybar, but not quite enough. I wasn't able to find any wheels in a 6" width that would match the rear, and look good. It's a difficult match when factoring in the offsets too. But I am way happier with the wheels I have now than the factory ones. Spacers were used, and the rear are perfectly hubcentric. Walt is correct there. They should be hubcentric right from the start. But, my front wheels aren't. This isn't a big deal due to the very light front end of the DeLorean. The lugholes in the wheels are beveled to match the lugnuts, so the front wheels center nicely when tightened while the car is elevated. I have absolutely no vibrations in the car anywhere.

I think PJ Grady has some aftermarket wheels styles available as a custom order. If interested, you might want to call them.

---Dan


From: "Walter" <Whalt@xxxx>
Subject: Aftermarket rims (was Re: Colors update)

Jim K,

I'm definitely not a purist, so I'll be glad to see pictures and read
descriptions about what you are doing. Let me warn you from my experience
about aftermarket rims. The biggest mistake I made when buying my rims was
getting 7" wide front rims in place of the OEM 6" rims. This extra inch of
width sticks further into the wheel well and interferes with steering. Even
on original Deloreans, the OEM wheels may touch the sway bar. But add an
extra inch to the inside of each tire, and you REALLY hit the sway bar. And
with these new rims, it is the metal part that hits the sway bar and not the
rubber part. This is not good. I went with 16" front rims and 17" rear
rims. They are TSW brand in the Imola style. They look fantastic, but I've
had all kinds of trouble making them fit right. First of all, if your
application needs custom spacers, make sure they are made 'hub-centric' and
not 'lug-centric'. Hub-centric means that a round hollow area inside the
rims fits snugly on the brake rotor hub. Lug-centric means that the hub is
not used and you are at the mercy of hoping that the lug-nuts alone will
center the rim on the hub -- bad idea.

Also, make sure that the rims you get are properly drilled to match the
Delorean lug pattern. My front rims were not available in the proper lug
dimensions, so the dealer had a machine shop re-drill them. That really
screwed them up since they drilled the new holes in the wrong place. Now
they are going to try to re-drill the holes again, but I think that is a
lost cause. Hopefully they will have to replace the front rims.

In order to fix the rims hitting the swaybar, I'm in the process of
designing a new heavy-duty sway bar that will have a different shape to
allow more room for the wheels to steer. You can save yourself a lot of
trouble by making sure that whatever rims you get are 6" in the front and
come factory drilled for the Delorean lug pattern.

Sorry to get on a soap box here, but I just don't want to see someone else
make the same mistake that I did.

Later,
Walt Tampa, FL


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