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RIMS
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So lets start with what you see when you walk up to the car:

Well I'm sure you noticed the rims!

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2000
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Well it was time for tires and I wanted to get a larger rim. I went back and forth and finally decided on a rim I liked:

17in Niche Serpents in Chrome. Only problem was that they were discontinued. I finally found some still available on the web from Salesco. They were FWD, which meant a spacer. I called all over and the only set of 4 left were in a 4 lug Datsun pattern. I thought about it a realized, I had to have the spacer anyway, so what did it really matter.

I called around some to research the adapter pros and cons. The local wheel companies said not to do it.
"The rims would not be secure."
"They would cause it to vibrate at hwy. speeds."
"They would break."
"5 lug to 4 lug is going to put too much weight per lug",
blah, blah, blah.

Well I did some of my own research on spacers and found that if they are billet and made right they are as strong as a rim. To address the concern of only having 4 lugs instead of 5, I looked to the Mustang. They have no problem with 4 a lug pattern on High HP cars. I did find they had thicker diameter lugs though. So I decided to go with the 4 lug pattern, but beef the diameter of the lugs up to the Mustang 1/2 diameter lug size. This increased lug diameter from the factory GM lug diameter will handle the increased weight per lug ratio.

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SPACERS/ADAPTERS
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So contacted Salesco. They got the info from me on what car the rims were for and had a set of Custom Billet Aluminum spacers/adapters made at the same time. These spacers widened the stance to what I consider the perfect width side to side. I told them of my plan to go with larger diameter 1/2 in. lugs and they did just that for me.

The final product was a beautiful spacer/adapter made of Billet Aluminum with a lifetime guarantee. They are indeed as strong as a rim. Overall they are about 3 inches thick.

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INSTALLATION
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Now installing regular spacers/adapters is normally pretty easy, but since mine are to fit FWD 4 lug rim on RWD 5 lug car, they are going to be complicated.

Here you can see the first plate that actually attaches to the car's stock lug pattern.

It attaches just like any regular rim. It has 5 lug holes dilled just like a normal rim. This first plate is the bulk of the spacer portion, coming in at about 2 inches. Now it also has 6 holes in it where you attach the adapter plate with 6 countersunk steel bolts.

Now you can see we are adding the top adapter plate, about 1 inch thick.

It actually converts the lug pattern to 4.

Now you can also see how the 2 plates are held together by the 6 counter sunk bolts. Before these bolts are run in, we applied anti seize.

***VERY IMPORTANT TO ADD ANTI SEIZE!***

The bolts are steel and will fuse with the aluminum spacers. The anti seize should prevent this. The first time I installed them, the directions did not say to add anti seize, nor did the kit include any. The heads of the counter sunk bolts actually fuses to the aluminum spacer. To fix this and to remove the spacer to do a brake upgrade, Joe had to drill out 3/4 of the bolts. Now Salesco & the spacer manufacturer stood behind the product and sent me a new set of countersunk bolts to replace those. The fact that there was no anti seize included and the instruction never indicated it was necessary, was in my favor.

Once they are installed they are flush with the top of the spacer. Then you are simply left with the new 4 lug pattern. You then bolt up your rims as you would on any other car.

Here is a shot from the rear showing the stance these adapters gave me...

Wider then stock just like I wanted!

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RIDE QUALITY
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Now I noticed, in fact, less vibration at hwy. speeds. I have run them for years & have had no driving problems. I even got run off the road once where I ran over a rock that was about 6 in tall. I all held together. Rims and spacers were fine. I plan to Autocross the car with them as well. I took it on a road course & everything held up fine. The only odd issue... I did have to get a Datsun spare. It was easier to do this then have a flat and have to pull off the spacers and everything. It�s also a larger diameter tire, so a bit safer if you have to run with it.

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HOME PAGE

Follow this link to additional information on the car not found on this site!
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DIRECTORY FOR RAIF'S HANDLING SITE
01 Site Overview
02 Rims <<<
03 Tires
04 Shocks & Struts
05 Lowering Springs
06 Panhard Rod & Lower Control Arms
07 Steering
08 Sway Bars & Wonderbar
09 Strut Tower Brace
10 Old PA Racing A-Arms: Failure
11 Old PA Racing A-Arms: Passenger side damage
12 Old PA Racing A-Arms: Driver side damage
13 Subframe Connectors
14 Underbody View
15 Brakes
16 AJE Racing: Tubular cross member
17 AJE Racing: Tubular A-arms and coilover conversion

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