I have an 88na and was wondering what is the biggest offset i can put on the car without rubbing the tires on the wheel well. I already know the stock offset is 20mm and if I were to get a bigger offset the wheels would move away from the center of the car; giving the car a wider look, correct?

 

Yes and no. If you are talking negative offset, yes, a bigger number makes it stick OUT farther. If you are talking positive offset, a bigger number makes it stick IN farther. A bigger offset means the hub is farther from the center of the wheel. An offset of 0 is when the inside of the hub is dead middle of the wheel.

See the bottom of this page:
<a href="http://z31.com/wheelsandtires.shtml" target="z31.com">http://z31.com/wheelsandtires.shtml</a>

The smaller the backspacing, the farther out they will stick.

And all this depends on how wide the wheels are you plan on getting. It's pretty simple to calculate all this out when you sit down and think about it.

First, realize that there is no difference between the suspension geometry of the NA and turbo of the same year. So, that said, both stock NA and turbo rims will fit either car exactly the same as they did on their own style.

The turbo wheel is 7 inches (177.8mm) wide. It has a positive offset of 1.18 inches (30mm). From the hub, the wheel sticks OUT 2.32 inches (58.9mm). From the hub, the wheel sticks IN 4.68 inches (118.9mm).

The non-turbo wheel is 6.5 inches (165.1mm) wide. It has a positive offset of .79 inches (20mm). From the hub, the wheel sticks OUT 2.46 inches (62.5mm). From the hub, the wheel sticks IN 4.04 inches (102.6mm).

Now, realize again that both wheels will fit without rubbing. This means that you can use the MAX of both of these numbers and not worry about rubbing on anything. So, the most it can stick out guaranteed not to rub is 2.46 inches (62.5mm) and the most it can stick in guaranteed not to rub is 4.68 inches (118.9mm). This makes the theoretical wheel width 7.14 inches with an offset of 28mm. This wheel is guaranteed not to rub. Problem is, this doesn't change much beyond the turbo wheel size.

But, you also can see that the Z32 TT wheels will fit with no problems. And if you want to, you can find out what the offset of these wheels are. They are 16 x 8.5 wheels. Work with those numbers.


http://zbum.nissanpower.com

 

Thanks for the information. It will help me find wheels for my ZX.

 

That means if I go to a 17 X 8 wheel with a 35mm offset then my inside wheel width will be 5.38 inches and the outside wheel width would be 2.62 inches. Given the original dimensions the inside of the wheel will be .69 inches more and the outside will be .3 inches more. I'd better crank in a turn on the front wheels and see how much clearance I have with the stock wheels. The rear wheels shouldn't be a problem.

 

So let me get this straight, I buy a set of rims for my 86 na that measure 17 x 7 with a positive offset of 40 I can rest assure that it will definitly not rub?

 

Those may rub the strut assembly on the front wheels. The most backspacing the fronts will handle on the 84-87 is 5", and that's just a hair more than 5". Plus, they'll look damn funny sitting that far under the car.