Things and Wheels

[doublecanister]

Hey Folks,

I've asked this in an existing post in the wheel and rim's forum but I wanted to ask here in the THING only forum (since nobody said anything in the other one)

I've got a set of rims (American Racing Torq Thrust's on my
66 Mustang, and had thought of changing to the orginal rims
for the Stang and putting the Torq Thrust's on my 73' THING.
(which currently has 15' rims and I believe 205 70 R15in Tires
(not 100% as I'm not looking at it).

I suppose (If they'd fit) & I'd need the wide 5 to Ford wheel adaptors,
but do ya think theyd fit the THING?
The Torq Thrusts are 15inch by 7in Rims with 225 60 R15 BFG's.
I have a feeling I'd need smaller tires, but not sure if the
rims are too wide.

Ive never used wheel adaptors before, are they ok to use?
Heard stories of wheels coming off before but have no
idea if true or how safe/reliable wheel adaptors are.

Just throwing that out there, any suggestions?

I figured if I do this I'd at least use what I have vs buying new rims
for the THING.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions folks!
Tom
_________________
****************************************
2020 - Mustang Eco Boost [High Performance]
1973 - Thing
1966 - Mustang GT- Fastback
1951 - Ford F1 pickup Flathead V8

[doublecanister]

well, it appears I may have answered 1 question per the
wheel and tire size info sticky,

if i'm understanding it correctly, 5in rims are max size a THING can run.

Still would like to know any feelings/suggestions on wheel adaptors
for wide 5s to ford car rims.

Thanks!
Should have done more searching before posting, sorry!
_________________
****************************************
2020 - Mustang Eco Boost [High Performance]
1973 - Thing
1966 - Mustang GT- Fastback
1951 - Ford F1 pickup Flathead V8

[Ron Domeck]

First I have ran adapters for years with no problem. The set I like the best for the Ford pattern is the cast not the stamped steel. Remember that Porsche use bolt on spacers from the factory. As far as size with adapters you can go wider. You have seen my purple/flame car, I run 15x7 front and 15x9 rear. The only way to know is get an adapter and bolt the wheels on set the car on the ground and check for clearance.

[Captain Spalding]

To answer your question regarding wheel and tire combo with any confidence, the following questions need to be answered.

What is the offset/backspace of the wheels?
What is the thickness of the spacer?
Is your Thing raised/lowered?
Stock fenders?
Are you running disc brakes?

The wheel width relates to whether or not the inside of the tire rubs on the steering/suspension. The tire width affects rubbing on the fender and inner fender well. The offset relates to both. The spacers can mitigate one problem while exacerbating the other.

I always use my vehicle as a baseline for these tire fitment questions. I'm running 27x8.5R14s on stock wheels with stock ride height and brakes with no rubbing at full compression — barely.

By comparison, while my wheels are 27x8.5, yours are 27x10. It's almost certain that your tires will rub. The question is will rubbing be the exception or the rule.

Ron, I'd be interested in the details of your car if you don't mind - same questions as above, and add info re: tire sizes.

[kubelmann]

Wide 5 to Ford is a very common wheel adapter. Also 4 x 130 to Ford is common. that means you could convert your fronts to disc brakes keep your rear drums use your ford wheels and be fine. The adapters give you extra width that would allow for wider wheels without rub. I run 944 rear arms with disc brakes and that give me extra width that also give the clearance for my rear Centerline wheels that were meant for 944/911 flat track cars.

[JThw8]

I just bought a Thing with the ford adapters running 235/45/17s so depending on the offset of the wheels those would probably work.

I'll be removing them as soon as I can get some Porsche adapters so if you're looking for a set of Ford adapters I may have them soon.

[doublecanister]

[Captain Spalding]

Well duh. When I gave you figures before it was based on 255/60r15. I miss-typed into the calculator. Apologies. Your 225s are nominally 8.8 inches wide. Not 10 inches as I had said.

So, stock wheel backspace is 4.375. Torq wheels are 3.5. They will move the wheel inboard 7/8". Let's assume the spacer is an inch thick, moving the wheel outboard by that amount, gets us to 1/8" outboard. Now subtract 3/16 to account for the slightly wider tires (3/16 is half of that extra width which is 3/8) for an insignificant net of a 1/16" move inboard. So far so good. You won't be rubbing on the inside.

Your 225s are about 3/8" wider and 1.3" shorter than my barely-fitting 27x.8.5's. Your tires will sit 5/16" (1/8" for the backspace/spacer combination, and another 3/16 for the tires) outboard compared to mine. I believe this will get the outboard edge of your tire very close to the lip of the fender. Since your tires are shorter, but I can't say with absolute certainty that they'll never rub in any circumstance.

[doublecanister]

[Captain Spalding]

[doublecanister]

hey Captain,

I figured as when I typed it It got me too, I was just messin with ya.

did you know of a reliable source for these wheel adaptors?
(at least in your opinion?)

jus' curious. I'll look around a bit as well.

Thanks and take care!

T
_________________
****************************************
2020 - Mustang Eco Boost [High Performance]
1973 - Thing
1966 - Mustang GT- Fastback
1951 - Ford F1 pickup Flathead V8

[Captain Spalding]

[kubelmann]

CB performance has a nice selection of wheel adapters. They also have a minimum order policy. The good news is that the wheel adapters cost more ($33-$40) than their minimum ($20)

Check them out at:

http://www.cbperformance.com/catalog.asp?ProductID=694

[hotrodsurplus]

I know you're hot on the torq-thrust wheels, but a 7" wheel with barely any offset AND an adaptor that pushes the offset to negative on a car that was engineered to run a highly positive offset wheel is sort of asking a lot. It's hell on bearings and ball joints, not to mention you'll probably have rub issues.

instead, why not just have a set of wheels made? The test wheels on the back of mine are 15x6 and the fronts (which I ended up settling upon) measure 15x5 (in other words i have the 5s all the way around now).

The stock offset of the stock 5-inch wheel is 4 3/8. The 6-inchers have 4 1/2-inch backspace, which is 1/4" shy of exact offset as stock (i was hesitant to go the full 4 3/4 for fear of the wheels rubbing the front arms but my fears were unfounded--4 3/4" would've worked perfectly). The 5s have a 4" backspace, which is about 3/8" less offset as stock.

Even with the less-than-exact offset, 215/75-15 tires won't rub even with the car at stock height. For that matter they wouldn't rub when I fully compressed the front suspension and cycled the front wheels full lock. I got the wheels made for $75 a whack and powdered (not shown) for $28 each. Can't beat them prices...

[hotrodsurplus]

[oasis]

[Captain Spalding]