Newbie's tire and rims

[kukunaokala]

I'm a new owner of an '83 944. When I pulled the wheels off I found 7Jx16(rear) and 6Jx16(front) rims with 911 markings.

Stock specs from the Mitchell data base don't mention a 6J rim. I'm curious about the tire/rim combination as the car needs new shoes.

I did an 944 and 911 archive search before posting.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Aloha and mahalo(thanks), Neal.

[Pilot_951S]

sounds like your car was upgraded to early 80s 911 wheels. These were standard/optional on 911SC.

What tires sizes were on these wheels, my guess the fronts are 205/55/16 and the rears are 225/50/16.

[Frankster]

If it's any help, my '83 has 205/55/16 on the front and 225/50/16 on the back.

[This message has been edited by Frankster (edited 11-20-2000).]

[kukunaokala]

The tires are stock according to Mitchell:

FRONT: 205X55VR16
REAR: 245X45VR16

It's the rim sizes that have me confounded, 7Jx16(front) and 9Jx16(rear) with those tire sizes, again, according to Mitchell.

Another quirk, WHEEL SPACERS? Doesn't it seem to shorten the life span of the bearings or spindle?

I had quite an adventure with the wheel locks, "Ahh... what's your code?" and "Sorry, they don't make'em anymore".

[kukunaokala]

OOPS..I forgot to convey my thanks for your replies before I hit the send key.

The car also has EXTREME front-inner tire wear.One front tire, you can get a nasty prick from the steel belt. So, wheel spacers and rim specs have got me addled. I'll have it aligned after I decide on the tires.

[kukunaokala]

Mideastmafia, I would call them mags, 5 spoke mags. Fuchs? cookie cutters? As I said, I'm a newbie. Aloha, Neal

[kukunaokala]

Nice pics Mideast and yes they're Fuchs.

What I would like is to mount four tires of the same size so I could at least rotate them front to back. Are all V rated tires uni-directional? Then I could have different sizes and rotate them left to right. Any ideas? With that noted 50-50 weight distribution does tire rotation matter? Aloha, Neal

[Dean Gurko]

OK, I see that I have Fuchs rims, but all black, and no chrome / shined alloy on the "spokes". Why are those two small wholes in the center cap? I assumed the last (original) owner drilled holes to screw from inside to prevent theft.

Dean

[thamlin000]

Neal,

944s never came with 6 in wide wheels of any size. 911s did however. All 944s had at least 7 inch wide wheels. Somewhere along the line, a previous owner of your car installed 911 Fuch wheels. And he had good taste, Fuchs are excellent wheels. But 16x6 wheels are too narrow on 944s, they look funny too. I'd bet if you sold your 16x6 wheels and installed 16x7 wheels, you'd have much less understeer, it'd probably look better too. Or install the 16x7 wheels in front and put some 16x8 wheels on the back. If I remember correctly, Hawaii had a big suped-up aircooled VW following. Does it still? If so there should be a decent market for a couple of 16x6 Fuchs. Here's how to sell them to your niche Hawaiian market.

"Eh, brah, only tree hundred dollar fowa da kine Fuchs wheels. They good kine you know? From one Powsha car, cuz. You like, yeah?"

Then put that money towards 16x7 or 16x8 wheels. Good Luck.


[This message has been edited by thamlin000 (edited 05-10-2001).]

[kukunaokala]

This post is six months old. I decided to go with 205 front and 225 rear. Those 245's are too montrous. I plan on painting the spokes black and polishing the rims.

Hey Thamlin, so how's school? I remember passing through Texas and their girls are BIG and beautiful like their state. And no, I have'nt gone up Tantalus, one month on the road, the rest on jack stands. Aloha brah, Neal

[kukunaokala]

Thamlin, I think I had typo on the original post. A later post mentioned 7J front, 9J rear. Aloha again, Neal

[thamlin000]

Maybe I should pay closer attention to the original date of post

It sounds like you have a nice wheel combo. Sorry to here you haven't been driving the 44. What's wrong with it?

Big girls in Texas? Not quite as big as some of those island honeys. But in true Texas fashion, the girl I'm currently dating drives a Chevy pick-up. I think she hates my 944, but won't admit it.