102 replies to this topic

[76lxhatch]

Damn Im pissed off=.... the Draglites WONT fit!!!, heres the situation

I went to Chris Mills today with the dimension sheet of the Hoppers kit and took a tape measure= the overall distance I need for the brakes to clear inside the back of the wheel running the smaller 290mm Hopper Stopper kit is 360mm ( 14") but the lowest end of the rear of the 15" Draglites is measuring in at only 315mm because of the lip design on the wheel!. Higher up on the wheel it measures in at 365mm but the lower end wont clear without spacers,which I wont do.

The narrower end of the calipers needs only 320mm clearance but it angles up getting thicker as it progresses and this is where the reduced ID section is in the back of the Draglites so it will foul on the Calipers there.

Not trying to second-guess you here but I don't think you should completely give up on the Draglites until you've actually tried fitting one as the clearances are so tight on the 15s to the Hoppers kit that any small margin of error in measurements could throw you out. I still think there might be some chance they will fit.

From Rexy's photo above I reckon that the outer edge of the wheel centre sits slightly further toward the outside of the car than the bolt up face - my Cragars are the same, and this allows the smaller diameter section of the rim (the bit you measured at 315mm) to sit further out of the way. The sketch with the dimensions shows 3mm between bolt up face and the outside of the caliper, however this extra clearance at the outside of the wheel centre gives me enough room to easily slip a finger between the caliper and wheel centre:

(that's the clearest pic I could get, hope you can make it out, might be about time to clean the car I think!)

The dimension sketch is also a little out on the shape of the caliper shoulder (it is only a sketch after all), they actually roll off quite quickly at that 320mm diameter edge. My wheels do have the 320mm required (barely, more like 319mm) but I don't think that would clear at the position shown on the sketch anyway, it is more about the offset of the reduced diameter part of the rim. These are the 15x7s I had on there for some time:

You can see that there are recesses between the spokes and in one of these there is a balancing weight. The new 15x8s I just got don't have these recesses and I got the wheels balanced off the car then went to fit them and discovered that the weights were too wide and hung off the edge of the lip a bit, fouling the caliper! (And it was more the width than the height that was an issue). I melted down some old lead weights to the equivalent and poured it into the corner between the centre and the rim (similar to the position of the welds holding the centre) so that it didn't stick out so far, which gave me the clearance required.

Sounds like it was just dumb luck on my part that my wheels fit, I never checked any of this when I bought everything!

[DanWA]

I've not found a wheel yet that doesn't fit over my 290mm Hopper Stoppers kit, I went Commodore pattern though (wish i went ford stuf actually)

[DanWA]

depends where you got them from, if they are from VPW, doubt it.

[rexy]

Can no one in WA lend this man a draglite?????????

[DanWA]

If i had one i would, pretty sure MISS308 runs them on her car

2 FLY or LX77SL might be able to put you in contact with her

[Hybrid]

If i had one i would, pretty sure MISS308 runs them on her car

2 FLY or LX77SL might be able to put you in contact with her

I wanted to get the Hoppers 290mm kit too until I read your comments that Draglites wont fit over the calipers. When I bought my LC it camed with 2 x 15x5" Weld Pro Stars.

If you want to go halves in the shipping costs* I will send you one of my Weld Pro Star rims to trial fit? I don't know if they are the same internal profile as a Draglite, but I reckon they would have to be close.

* provided it cost $20 or less one way.

[dattoman]

Doesn't Repco sell Weld wheels nowdays
Maybe they have what you need to test fit
If you get along with someone there
Even if its the wrong stud pattern you could knock the studs out of your hubs to trial fit
Or take an assembled stub down to the branch

[dattoman]

Repco Cannington still has some Welds in stock... so not sure about the truth of that

Pick another wheel mate... your causing yourself too much heartache
Or change your brakes back to something that fits

[DanWA]

i got told minimum 5.5" backspare for my rears (if that helps - r31 borg warner)

[ls2lxhatch]

If there is enough spline on the diff axles then it would be relatively cheap to the diff housing down to Torana size.

[rexy]

15x8 with 5.5 inch backspace and 15x7 with 4.5 inch backspace will give you an even look back and front.

[DanWA]

As Andy said, providing there is enough spline on the axles you can get it shortened fairly easy/cheap... Ring Final Drive.

[DanWA]

They only cut the spline side, thats why Andy mentioned "if there is enough spline"

To give you an idea

Final Drive fitted mc donald brothers mounting kit and my old top arms to the borg warner and changed stud pattern on axles/rotors and new bearings etc for $700

So a housing cut/weld and slight shorten of axle would be pretty cheap (just strip it yourself and take housing/axles only)

Edited by DanWA, 31 July 2011 - 04:14 AM.

[76lxhatch]

I borrowed Mumbo's 15 x7 draglite with 4.5" Backspace and 205/ 60 tyre ... <snip> ... on the back and it will definately NOT clear the rear guards

though with an 8" x 5.5" backspace on rear I dunno what tyre would fit!?,I suspect I wouldnt get much bigger than a 205 on the rear due to the oversized diff problem, thats pretty darn small for rears but may have to live with it and I'll have to try get the rear guards rolled ( fronts have been done years ago).

It depends on how close the 205 on the 7" wheel is to fitting, but by moving the whole extra inch width to the inside as you've suggested by your measurements, you're moving the tyre quite a way inward too. One inch (25.4mm) extra width all offset to the inside will move the centre of the tyre 1/2" inboard, which means that in theory a 225 on the 8" wheel would have nearly 3mm more clearance to the outer guard than the 205 on the 7" wheel. If I were you I'd definitely roll the guards and if the 205 was close to scraping in then the 225 on 8" wheel may be an option which would look OK.