Custom Wheels and tires

[pteezer129]

Ive been eying these Boyd Coddington V-Twin wheels in 18x7. Size-wise they will fit, but the bolt pattern is not specified and the only two backspaces available are 4.00 or 5.25. is either of those useable, or should I start looking for another set of wheels. I posted the link below to see the chart.

Legend V-Twin Pricing

[CREWZIN]

Did a fast search and the only thing I could find was on PTE (PT Enthusiasts).

Backspace isn't too critical with the PT Cruiser (unless you're trying to fit 15'' alloys) because there is a lot of room in the wheel-wells and fairly decent brake and suspension clearances. There are a lot of PTE running 8" rims (on 17, 18 or 19 inch rims) on their Cruisers with no problems. Most after-market wheels fitted to the Cruiser run offsets between 35-40mm.


...and of course you still have to find out the bolt pattern. The PT Takes 5X100.

[Chromenut]

I hate to say that's not true, but maybe that statement is a bit misleading. You have to be damn careful about back spacing. I went through quite a few options trying to get the tire and wheel combo that I wanted to fit my PT. If you've got the turbo, there's a slightly different setup on the front, and left front spacing is super critical. Where you have a problem is the clearance between the spokes on the wheel and your front calipers. I just went to a show two weekends ago and met a guy that had beautiful 18's on his, and he had to shave his calipers for them to fit, and you could barely fit a piece of paper between the wheel and the caliper!

So the secret is matching tire size and wheel size. It also depends on if you've lowered your PT too.

In my picture below, you can stack three quarters between the top of my tire and the bottom of the spring seat on the front struts. Thats right at 3mm clearance. Probably gets less when I'm running hard and heating up the tires, but that's as close as I want to come. I have plenty of clearance between the wheels and the front calipers as I went with the suggested offset (your measurements were in "backside spacing", versus the offset that most wheels are measured at).

Backside spacing is from the rim to the center of the mounting surface at the middle of the wheel. Offset is either a positive or negative number, and this refers to the mounting surface to the centerline of the wheel. So if you cut that wheel in half right down the middle vertically, how far in or out would the mounting surface be.

The only reason I know all this is from basically taking a course between PTCrew and Discount Tire's shop manager here in my town. He schooled me on all this and actually took around a dozen wheels and set them on my hubs so we could see what that all meant.

Here's my pic showing my clearance to my strut:


Mind you, that strut in my picture is a Tokico blue, not the factory Tokico black that came on the car. I didn't get any before shots as I didn't really care at the time....lol

I swear by Discount Tire. I had three shops on the same street here in Mooresville ready to sell me the retro Crager SS's. They were going to sell them to me, mount the tires and put the on car, and would have found out that they just wouldn't fit. I had the Cragar rep on the phone because I REALLY wanted those, and he was ready to sell me all kinds of silly spacers and such to make them work, but I still run my car on the track and could just see some of that crap flying off at halftrack and me ending up over the wall. No thanks, just give me a set of wheels that fit!!! Now I'll take the hub rings, those don't bother me, but all that other crap?!?

The guy at DT would NOT sell me the wheels I wanted. He told me I could go to any other place and get them, but he wouldn't sell them to me. He said we could make them fit and within a month I'd be hating them. So I followed his advice and I love the combination I ended up with.

17x7 MB Drifters with Falken Ziex Ze-912 all weather sport tires, 215/50R17, a little more meat on the ground, an excellent looking wheel, and no fit or performance issues!!! These are on a bolt pattern of 5x100 with an offset of .40.


No matter what anyone tells you, you can probably fit just about anything on there between 16" and 18", and could stuff 20's in there with some work. It's all up to you and what kind of ride you want (comfort wise), the stance you're looking for, and how much extra work you want to do to make them fit. The main thing is, get what you're happy with and ignore what all we say! You're adding new tires/wheels to please yourself or your significant other, so what we say doesn't matter for sh%t. lol

I like mine and don't give a damn what anybody else says. I went practical, got a bit more meat and a tall tire, like the ride and the look, and anyone who doesn't can just go soak in feces!



Also, I have to give a shout out to my Crewmates at PTCrew for the effort they put into learning me on this stuff. The guys and girls there were quite significant in helping me to make my decision to lower my PT and in fitting the proper tire and wheel size! Go PTCrew!!

[mopar_man]

Originally Posted by Chromenut

I just went to a show two weekends ago and met a guy that had beautiful 18's on his, and he had to shave his calipers for them to fit, and you could barely fit a piece of paper between the wheel and the caliper![

Are you sure he didn't upgrade his brakes? Don't the factory GT's come with 16" wheels?

Originally Posted by Chromenut

In my picture below, you can stack three quarters between the top of my tire and the bottom of the spring seat on the front struts. Thats right at 3mm clearance. Probably gets less when I'm running hard and heating up the tires, but that's as close as I want to come.

That distance doesn't change. Your strut is bolted to the knuckle. Had you measured that distance before you lowered it, you'd find that there wouldn't be any difference. If you don't believe me, get a flashlight out and have somebody bounce the suspension while you observe in the wheel gap.

Originally Posted by Chromenut

Backside spacing is from the rim to the center of the mounting surface at the middle of the wheel. Offset is either a positive or negative number, and this refers to the mounting surface to the centerline of the wheel. So if you cut that wheel in half right down the middle vertically, how far in or out would the mounting surface be.

Backspacing and offset are different. To measure backspacing, lay a straight edge across the back of the wheel and measure to the hub face. This number is always positive. Offset is from the middle of the wheel to the hub face, which can be positive or negative.

[Chromenut]

Starting with the first one....NO, the GT's come with a freakin 17x6 wheel. Can you imagine that? Try getting tires for that stupid thing! That's why you see so many of us on GT's getting rid of the factory wheels. And no, he was running stock calipers.

On the strut thingy, the distance changes between models of struts. The pan, or spring seat, is even different shape between some of them. I just kind of threw that out there as a generalization.

On the last one, yes, you said the same thing I said, only you said it differently. The backside spacing is from the back of the rim to the mounting surface. And I said the same thing, backspacing and offset are different. You got dat right man!!

Other than that, yes, I agree with everything you say...lol...

[pteezer129]

Yeah but does either of those backspace sizes fit. The 4.00 or the 5.25. Which one brings me closest to stock. And yes, I was think or doing a 1.5 to 2" drop unless the 18's fill out the wheelwells better. And its not a GT or Turbo.

[Chromenut]

ON my pictures you're looking at a 1.5" drop front, 1.3" drop rear, Tokico Blues, and H&R springs, along with 17" wheels and 215/50's. I went taller tire, same height wheel, rather than taller wheel, shorter/low profile tire. Taller tire, more sidewall, softer. Taller tire, taller wheel, less sidewall, great on turns and at the track, suck on the open road, as in your butt will get tired of them in short time.

As to the backspacing, I bought my wheels by offset, so not sure. Somewhere here in my vast PT library I have a chart on this... I'll see if I can find it...

[Chromenut]

All I could find were the specs listed for my car, and they don't list backspacing.

Vehicle: 2006 PT Cruiser Bolt Pattern: 5x100
Offset Range: 34-45 Wheel Size Range: 15x5.5-20x8

[mopar_man]

Originally Posted by Chromenut

On the strut thingy, the distance changes between models of struts. The pan, or spring seat, is even different shape between some of them. I just kind of threw that out there as a generalization.

I dunno. If they're not the same, they should be. Let's say you ordered new struts from Company "A" to replace the ones on your car that are from Company "B". Say you've got aftermarket wheels and slightly larger aftermarket tires like you do. How pissed would you be if you went to put those struts on and they wouldn't fit because the spring seat is lower than it should be? I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying it would be awfully stupid for companies to mess with that distance on struts made for the same model car.

Originally Posted by Chromenut

On the last one, yes, you said the same thing I said, only you said it differently. The backside spacing is from the back of the rim to the mounting surface. And I said the same thing, backspacing and offset are different. You got dat right man!!

My mistake! I misread your post.

[Candyman]

Hey their pteezer129,

I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in. Now, I am not nearly as up on backspacing issues per the conversation here so I am afraid I am not much help their. What I do know about wheels is limited but the knowledge obtained was taken from my experience while taking a break from Long Distance Truck Driving, to running a Flatbed for one of the the largest Steel Suppliers in LA who supplied all of the Billit Aluminum to Boyd, KMC, American Racing, and so on of which two of them were on my daily route, and KMC had their Shop next door to the Steel plant I worked out of. As such, I had several good friends I made who cut wheels, and picked up bits and pieces here, and their. So for what its worth...

Most aftermarket wheels can be special ordered from the Manufacturer as Blanks (un-drilled), and can then be drilled to spec accordingly to fit most cars bolt pattern wise, so you might be able to order those Boyds, and have them drilled to fit. You can also request specific offset, and so on.

You can go as large as 19" wheels on a PT without exceeding the overall dimensions of the stock wheels on a PT size wise, and 20"s will fit in back as well no matter how low you lower your PT. I actually had a 19" / 20" combo test fit on my PT at KMC one day with my 3/5 drop and they actually fit without any issues, but they were way out of my budget even with a heavy discount so I had to let em be.

If you have Air Ride, you can go as large as 20"s without modification, however the width of the wheels does play a factor to a certain extent if you want to lower your PT on Air Ride due to clearance issues between the wheels, and front struts not allowing the front end to go all the way down to where it should be.

And of course, the biiger the wheels, the less the ride quality, and greater chance your gonna bend a nice shiny wheel on a pothole making for the potential to have a really bad day.


Now, I haven't heard about too many aftermarket wheels having such severe issues fitting over stock calipers myself, but like I said, I am not 100% up on it to be able to give a good educated answer either. It just sounds funny to me for some reason. It wouldn't be all that hard to have the wheels tuned to spec on a Lathe, but that beside the case.

So, in retrospect, you might have a decent shot at special ordering those wheels cut to your Spec's, and drilled to your PT Either way I would check with several Distributes, as well as see if you can find Rep directly and talk to them. TAsk Questions, Look at all your Options, and then go from their. As Chromenut said, at the end of the day, this is your Ride! DO what you want to it! Just be careful, go easy, go safe, and I'll catch ya later.

Candyman