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89K views 267 replies 73 participants last post by  SOAB  
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#1 ·
Okay I didnt learn anything about rims in schooling, so im a retard when it comes to this. Simple question, will any 4 lug rim work on a saab? Im thinking about getting some 17" Racing Hart's deep dish rims or something similar.

Im willing to get 18's as long as the tires aren't freaking rubber bands. Will 18's work on a saab or will 17's work better?
 
#2 ·
1. No, not any 4-lug wheel will work on a 9k. You need something with a 4x108 bolt pattern, 65.x center bore and correct offset depending upon wheel width. I don't think you'll be able to fit anything wider then 7.5" in there without rubbing issues. I've got 17x7.5" Ronal RTs which are 35 offset and 73mm (?) bore, 4x108 bolt pattern. The center bore and offset are fixed by using hubcentric rings/spacers. I use 8mm thick ones on my car and have no vibration from the wheels, nor do I have any rubbing.

2. 17" will be better, especially if you plan on installing springs on your car. With 17" wheels you can still run a decent sized tire with enough sidewall. I'm on my second set of 225/45/17's. 18" is just too big in my opinion (as well as many others).
 
#4 ·
1. Question very well replied by mcrowley ( as allways...;-) )
2. x2... just adding something here.... if you want to keep upgrading your car, the 17" are better BUT that doesnt mean that 18" can´t be fitted with no problems....
I have 18" in my car ( 7.5" wide ) and run some 225/40 R18 tires with an 9mm spacers... no rubbing at all, no vibrations and no problems.
If you wish some pics, they are here on the forum.... but if you want some i´ll post them for you ( or the link ... )
The only IF in this question, is your roads...
 
#7 ·
I'm also looking for rims, even thought I'm not ready $$$-wise.
Go to the above link and also look for offers on eBay!
The 9000 has a very rare wheels pattern but fortunately Ford focus (among others) has a similar 4x108...regarding the offset it seems that the sweet spot is around ET25...let us know if you find anything!
I'm also a fun of the deep dish wheels, I just got for my Miata a special delivery ROTA CUP-PDC (after 6 months)...with 5" lip :)
 
#13 ·
-Yes, Matt had an accident...hydroplaned and the car is no more :(

-As far as I know there is no place to get the 4-5 lug adapters (in the US at least).

-and Thanks!

More pics as promised:

Image

Mike Poore's 94 Aero (unsure of wheel type)

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My former 95 CSE w/17x7.5" Ronal RTs

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93 Aero w/17x7" ROH ZS

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9k w/17" Fondmetal 9a's

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...and the car everyone loves...black 9k w/18" BBS CH's
 
#18 ·
Guys you are unbelievable, thanks for the pics and keep them coming if you have more!
It was really sad to hear that about Matt, even though I don't know him his car was awesome and I visited his page many times...was it front end collision? any pics?

Regarding the 4->5 lug conversion I found a place that they are doing it and they ask $500, but I think it's not worth it...

Does anyone happens to know about how much the AZEV wheels cost?

The bad think I guess is that most of the cars that use the 4x108 pattern are European...that's why many of the wheels are coming from there :(

Last question...
Do you know exactly what's the limit (before starting to rub the fenders) of the offset for 17x7 225/45/17 ?

I want to be on the edge regarding that - to be just one tick before rubbing.
I saw that I can get the Azev with custom offset so if that's the case I don't want to use spacers.
 
#21 ·
My Ronals are 17x7.5" stamped et35 and I use 8mm spacers = 27mm total offset. I really don't think you could go with anything much higher because the inside lip of the rim barely clears the trailing arm on the rear suspension. If you were to go with too thick a spacer/not enough offset the outer edge would then be a problem and you'd rub on the fender or the fender arch. 225/45/17 tires fit with no issues on my car (which is dropped).
 
#25 ·
Just make sure that you get wheels with the correct hub bore (65.1mm) or buy hubcentric rings if the wheels are a larger bore. If you install wheels with too large a centerbore and no rings, you'll get horrible vibration because the wheel won't truly be centered...it'll feel like your car is on square wheels. If you get a smaller bore wheel you'll never even get them on the car. Lots of other 4x108 cars use the smaller bore (Merc. Cougar, etc). Just make sure you check out all specs on the wheel to make sure it fits the car before you plunk down a lot of money and then get stuck with 4 expensive paperweights.
 
#26 ·
Thank you mcrowley, I never thought that I can stuck with smaller bore rims!

Regarding the larger bore it's not such a big deal, since you can center the wheels by putting the nuts one by one and tighten them gradually.
I did that with my new rims in the miata (since they forgot to send me the hubs- btw these are free or $1-2)...I went up to 100mph w/o any problems (vibration or anything).
Btw the miatas are very sensitive since are very lightweight cars...anyway 3 days latter I had to remove the front wheels so I put the hub there...

But as you said if you get wheels with smaller hub you are in trouble, that's why most of the companies they are bringing the wheels in the larger available hub and then they provide hub centric rings to fix the problem...but still is something that I have to double check before ordering!
 
G
#27 ·
So what im getting out of this thread is that we need a 4x108 bolt pattern and the max width of 7.5" with the rim. Now if we want a 7.5" wide rim we need to use spacers to keep rubbing issues away. When it all comes down to the center hub bore, it needs to be a MINIMUM of "65.1mm" in diameter. If the bore is any larger in diameter, we need to purchase hubcentric rings to compensate for the larger diameter bore.

Now I personally think 18" rims look better. If we get the right tire, we can probably get away with it (even with having the car slammed) and not have the rubber band tire look. Buy 17's if you want to keep it safe.

Am I right? Because I'll be trusting what you say and shopping according to what I gathered :) Thanks alot by the way!
 
#28 ·
4x108....yes

7.5" max width....for the most part because I don't see how anything wider could ever fit. Spacers are only necessary if the wheels don't have the right offset.

65.1mm bore....correct. Anything smaller and you won't ever get them on the car.

You're also right about 17" vs 18". Basically it boils down to how much tire you want...one will necessitate substantially smaller tires and will also result in a harsher ride and greater chance of wheel damage.
 
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