Many reasons culminated in the decision to sell the true '70s HRE 3-piece mesh wheels I had worked so hard to build and restore. The HRE's were 16"x8/8.5. A very difficult tire size to obtain even on a good day, and also not wide enough for the amount of power that the RB was driving through them. With more than several runs peeling all the way from first in the 280z, I decided something must be done this time around. Also I wasn't digging the mesh-Euro-style anymore on my Japanese drifter. With deep dishes and mirror finishes, they were more suited for a VW show car than a 240z monster.
I listed the wheels and had the WORST time selling a set of real wheels in this market. Either way, after several ebay ad's and forum listings, buyers backing out from all around the world, one simply replied with "I'll buy them." Just as the sale process thus far, this transaction turned out to be one of the worst experience in years. I actually had 7 of these wheels and was able to sell 2 matched ones to a guy in Miami for a set of slicks. He seemed very appreciative and we both got a good deal on that part. But stay clear of army fan-boy's in California who think they are it. On a side note, pay-pal always sides with the buyer, and ebay only allows electronic payment methods, and there is no such thing as "no returns" with this process.
To make a long story short, I sold the wheels for what I wanted for them originally due to some carefully placed buffer charges in shipping/handling to the tune of 250$ and was now able to continue with the new phase.
I needed super wide super sticky tires due to my above concerns. One issue that I didn't have to deal with before was fender flaring, or lack there of. The 240z body is in too good condition to cut the fenders and weld them up higher just for wider tires, or for any reason for that matter. This was not an option, so I began the search for the widest tires widths/offsets/dia's that could fit under stock 240z body lines. Bart's 570z website helped me greatly and I spoke with him about his setup. As he will tell you, all the specs are on his website.
I thought 18" wheels would be to big diameter on an old car as far as style and function goes, and was looking for either 17" or 15" dia. Based on Bart's measurements/experience with his 18's, it was such a tight fit using his widths that even the radial position of the wheel od would matter based on the angle of the suspension column (the smaller dia the less room you have on the inside). It's so close the tire series (sidewall stretch) choice would also play a major role with how wide I could go without touching. I was worried I wouldn't be able to clear a 9.5" wide wheel in the rear at a 15" dia position. Tire choices were also better for the 17's, and surprisingly enough, the 17's were cheaper and easier to get in the offsets that I needed. With only a 1/2" radially position difference between a set of 17's and 18's, I decided to risk it and use the same widths (in the rear) to go as wide as possible. I loved the smaller JDM rare wheels and wish I could have found a set of 15's that had the exact offsets/widths I wanted, but that will be a long term project for another day.
Since my tires alone were about 1100$ (Hoosier R6 DOT Slicks), I was forced to look for cheaper wheel alternatives. The need for width drove wheel selection as much as the fender line and suspension drove offsets. In order to fit these wheels I had to sell the suspension in the 280z AND the 240z (both had appropriate tokico blue setups) for a Ground Control adjustable setup. This would give me additional (ie the most possible) clearance inboard of the wheels for more width.
Surprisingly, again, the cheaper wheels also had better offsets available. The more expensive TE37's for example are around 3k$ and only come in a few offsets (mostly negative) while the Rota versions are about 700$ and have positive offsets (which I needed to force more width inboard to save my fenders). Form followed function and I didn't care if Rota was off-branded. It reminds me of the helmet sales guy asking, "How much is your head worth?" when you say you don't want to buy the 700$ Soumy helmet instead of the 200$ Icon one that both have the same DOT and RACE ratings.
I ordered a set that was 17x9/9.5et12. Staggered fitment was fine, I assume my rears are going to wear much faster than the fronts anyways so not being able to rotate them back->front would probably not be an issue. It also gave me the widest in both locations. The important part was the offset (or backspacing, whatever your heart desires to use). I took the measurements from Bart's setup above and was able to find wheels with widths/offsets that *should* be able to fit the same and used without spacers. This became true as far as suspension clearance went, but not turning radius.
