225s on the front

[GeorgeM]

Am I the only one who can't get 225/50/16s mounted on 7x16 inch 911 Fuchs to fit on the front of my narrow fendered '89 Carrera 3.2?

They appear to stick out way too far and I'm sure they'll rub like crazy.

I've been using 205s on my street Fuchs and also on my track rims, which up until now, have been Rial BBS style. I just figured the offset on the Rials was different. I got a set of 7/8x16 Fuchs for the track and they just happen to have 225/50/16 Kumho V700s on the fronts. I just mounted them and it's obvious that they will rub.

I had minor rubbing with the 205s, but rolling the fender lips cured that. So I've been stuck with 205s on the track as well.

If they do rub, will the rolled fender lips keep the tires from getting cut up? Will the rubbing damage my fenders at all?

The wider tires probably don't make that much of a difference, but now I have these Kumhos to use up.

Thanks.

[jphillips-998]

You're not alone. There is no way that I can clear 225x16's up front of my Carrera w/7" Fuchs. My 205's had minor rubbing as well. The car has been lowered to Euro spec and is running about 1.5 negative camber.

I was scolded by one on the other board when I offered my experience in sizing the front tires by saying that I did not think 225's would fit. I obviously did not know anything about anything.

Hey, if there is something that I missed or something else that can be done other than taking a 225 x 50 x 16 (Hoosier) and mounting it on my Fuchs rim and then on the car to clearly see that it doesn't fit, please let me know...I would love to run 225's up front. How do you guys do it?

[john_colasante]

Hmm, 225 on a 7x16 Fuchs should be a tight fit but it should work. You will have to roll the fender lip but no rubbing is acceptable even if it is rolled. The rolling is just for clearance, not to minimize the tire damage.

Have you tried dialing in more negative camber? This is what I had to do. On the left side is usually where the fit is tightest, so you max out the negative camber there and then match the right side. My car is fully lowered and has about -1.5 degree and it fits with no rubbing at all even under very aggressive bouncing.

[ttweed]

Originally posted by jphillips-998
I would love to run 225's up front. How do you guys do it?

The way you do it is to have the right rim. Get the 8x16" 944 Turbo 23mm offset Fuchs and you can run 245s up front. 225s would be a piece of cake.

[jphillips-998]

Is there a way to measure or determine offset?

[CEO]

I am running 235 50 17's on my 81 911 with no problem. I do have rolled fender lips though.
Are the 16x7's a taller series tire?

Hmm, they should fit!

[trak ratt]

I could get 225/50/16 on 7x16 Fuchs to fit on our ’82 only after installing new Bilstein shock inserts in the Bilstein struts. At the time it had stock torsion bars, big upper washer on the strut removed, rolled lips & the Ride height is 25.5”. Tires are AVS Intermediates & RA1’s. The left side is considerably closer than the right. The 8x16 944 wheels may work on some cars because the added width is on the inside, approximately the same as a 7 on the outside, & allow the side wall to “flatten” some. In my experience it only moves the problem from the outside to the inside on street driven car w/stock suspension.

[Bill Verburg]

There are periodic reports of the 225/50x16(B.S tires 24.9" tall x9.3" cs) on 7" 911 rims not fitting. I am puzzled though, as I used this combination for years, and currently have 235/45x17(25.5" tall x 9.4" cs) with only minor additional work to the lips. Yes, the left front has less room than the right front.

Are you sure that you have +23.3mm o/s rims, I had 7" 911, 7" 944 and 8" 944 all with that same o/s nand 16" diameter on the front of my car, ride height at the time was ~25.25" at the front lip. The o/s is embossed on the back of one of the wheel paddles(ET23 for instance)

[jpachard]

Hmmm, I had no problem. I now run Fikse's up front 17*8 with 235 or 225's lowered and no rubbing....easily..

Cheers, James

[GeorgeM]

The part number on the 7s is:

911 361 020
AS 10 62

One of the paddles has a 26 stamped on it.

One of the paddles on the 8s has 39 stamped on it.

[Bill Verburg]

George, you need the # that is pereceded by "ET"

[Chris Bunker]

Just to add my .02,
I have the 8x16 944 turbo wheels with A032 225s on the front of my 78, and it is a very tight fit. I run a 25.5" ride hgt and about -1.2 deg camber and I have had to do some minor fender rolling.
There is no way I could fit 245s under my fenders with these wheels.
I think this speaks to the nature of our cars in that there is a lot of production body variances.

Chris Bunker
78SC

[Bill Verburg]

George, these are some Audi rims I have laying around, but Fuchs will have similar markings


In this case the wheel is a +35mm o/s 7.5x15 Ronal with DOT mandated safety beads

[trak ratt]

The 911 & 944 fuchs are almost identical except for the 944 has slightly more clearance on the inside rim for larger rotors. The best way to tell the size of a fuch is to look for the size stamp on the inside of one the “wheel paddles”. The best way to tell the application is to look for the part number, also on the inside of one of the other paddles. Both are usually buried under a thick coat of baked on brake dust! Some fuch infor from some earlier research:

944 Turbo 16x8 951.362.117.00 23mm 125mm
944 Turbo 16x7 951.362.115.00 23mm 112mm
911 16x7 911.362.115.00 (early) 23mm 112mm
911.361.020.44 (late) 23mm 112mm
911 16x8 911.362.117.00(early?) 10.6mm 112mm
911.361.020.45 (late?)
911 16x6 911.362.113.00 (early) 36mm 112mm
911.361.020.43 (late) 36mm 112mm
930 16x9 911.362.119.00 15mm 130mm

I’d like to know the difference between the 2 6x16s? I have 2 from a Carrera & want to get 2 more for our ’71 Targa.

[Randy W]

In my experience some '69-89 911s will allow a 225/50-16 to fit on either a 7x16 or 951 8x16 in the front, and some will not. The left side is usually tighter, and a 951 8x16 just makes the outer sidewall flatter. For the ones that allow this tire to fit, you almost always have to roll the fender lip, add negative camber, and on the early cars, shave the outside bumper/fender interface. Jeff, Hoosiers are at least an extra 1/4" wider on each side than any other tire, so this makes fitting these tires much more difficult.

[GeorgeM]

Thanks guys.

I found the ET number on my 6s and one pair of 8s.

My old 6s match the list above: 911.362.113 ET 36
The 7s are: 911 361 020.44
My street 8s are: 911.362.117 ET 10.6

I could not find an ET number anywhere on the 7s or the 8s that I use for the track. Otherwise, they all look alike with the same markings and part numbers.

The track rims are quite dirty, so maybe I have to scrub more, but the two that I checked had no evidence of the ET number.

This doesn't mean they're not real Fuchs, does it? They all look the same.

[rdane]

I am running the new 225/45/16 on the front with a standard 911/7" Fuchs. It seems to work easily with lots of clearence because it is such a short tire.

It does make the front end a little lower though.

[zzwhm]

George - If your fender lips aren't rolled absolutely flat roll 'em some more. I struggled to get 225s to fit till I got really aggresive with the fender lips.