46 offset wheels

[Rallyho]

Anyone know what the offset limit a saab pre '87 900/99 can take?

Wheel size is 15x6 4x114.3 +46.

Will they fit?

[Luke]

They might JUST fit but they will be very close to rear upper link on back and the spring perch on the front. In a 5.5 or 6 theres probably quite a bit of tolerance, but as the wheels get wider the offset becomes more critical. Johnny eye has these old 15x7 5 spoke star pattern wheels that look like they belong on a mustang. We used them for tarmac rallies and they work perfect but one rear wheel does run on the inside on full droop. I think we measured those around ET 32. Theres common as poo minilite replica's available for the MGB in our bolt pattern, but the offsets are all around ET 22 which starts to get a little tootsie roll mexicali looking and might have some adverse effects on handling due to the tires centerline being pushed out so far from the knuckle pivot. We had a thread that talked about this a while ago.
I was looking into team dynamics wheels which a lot of rally teams are using now with good success. Speedline quality at american racing prices. I was quoted about $600 shipped for a set of wheels drill to our bolt pattern, centerbore with correct offset. But then I found the ebay wheels.

[Rallyho]

Team Dynamics are bitchn' wheels. A friend of mine and I went pretty far down the path of importing these...but at the end of the day, we would have had to work through a middle man, and the price would have been stupid high.

I got this from Minilite in England last week.

We cannot match the original equipment offset with a Minilite wheel but we supply a company with 6.0x15 wheels with a 4.00" back space for the same rally car.
Price per wheel would be £100.00 in competition spec.
The 5.5x15 would also be ok at £95.00 each

The wheels I'm looking at with the +46 offset are Mitsu wheels...which I've heard in the past were close.

[Crazyswede]

you can get the compomotives for about $150 a wheel from the USA distributor...last time I checked at least

[max]

They don't sell team dynamics in the states? Or just those particular ones above?

[Luke]

Yeah they have a us distributor now in CA. They make the spec miata wheels and also the spec rally focus wheels. They have inhouse machining capabilty there too so the guy told me that they could either 8 hole some 4x100 wheels and ship right away or I could wait for them to get some blanks to drill 4x114.3 in the offset I wanted.

[Luke]

When I looked into compomotive they were around $275 for a 15x7 in the minilite style. Other than when a wider wheel is required for tarmac rally/auto-X/hill climb, the good old shelbys and soccerballs seem to hold up fine for me, have you guys experienced otherwise? Especially the shelbys seem tough as nails. My factory minilites are a lot more dented (course they have 25 years of ralllies on them)

[Geoff]

You want to try to stick with a back dimension (distance between the hub face and the back edge of the wheel) as close to stock as you can. Mr. Morand bought some wheels once and the guy said, "They have the right offset!" but they were wider and when we test fit them they went under the spring perch in the front with the wheel turned. I forget how the rears worked.

I've destroyed soccerballs in rallies before. 3" deep 90° bends, full radial cracks, many dents. I haven't run shelbys. Of course this was in Maine where the rocks are big with teeth and the women bigger with no teeth.

[Rallyho]

I think I've only toasted one Shelby. The saab minilites seemed pretty bulletproof too. Never bent a soccer ball.

The issue is that the Shelby's seem to be getting harder and harder to find. And certainly withing the "community" impossible to wrench out of folks hands!

I do know of a set of shelbys around, but the guy likes the looks of them. Anyone got a set of Ronal "minilites" I can buy and swap the guy with?

$150 Compos would be a decent deal actually. Buy 10 and be done buying rally wheels forever.

[max]

These are what I would like to get for race wheels:



Hard to get in the Mini community, because people snatch them up for specifically that reason. They're also apparently the official wheels used for the Mini Cup. They also come in white, which would look BITCHIN' on my car. Also, light at 12lbs! Or so i've heard.

[Jordan]

I found a set of wheels that are 15x7 38 offset... should work right? If my calcs are correct its about 17mm less clearance on the inside and 21mm more on the outside...will handling be adversely affected?

[Luke]

Those should fit but there might be some rubbing on inside rear. The 35 offset's I have are very close.

[Jordan]

but you have your rear cambered in :lol:

No seriously... they are new...$300 , a little ugly, worth a shot?

[Jordan]

I called the guy up and they are 66mm centerbore and their lathe is down...anybody got a big lathe?

Just fyi, they look like the American Racing 5-spokes... but they are infact the original MSW wheels. Not the prettiest wheels but for the price they might just do the job. Anybody know the cost of turning them?

[Luke]

My lathe has 17" swing so physically they would fit but my chucks not nearly big enough to old them. I have no idea what a machine shop would charge. Its not that difficult of an operation though if you have a large enough machine.