Hello Folks,

My Escort is slowly nearing completion after a prolonged rebuild (interrupted by arrival of wife and kids). It is wearing aftermarket wheels. I have noticed that the outside edge of the front tyres is getting cut by the wheel arches. Details are:

Wheels: 7J 15H2 AD705 437 - I don't know if any of those later numbers relate to offset but I could find no other numbers.
Tyres: 205/55/15
Car - Lowered by 30mm

The return lip of the wheel arch had been snagged and pulled down slightly. I have since rolled the arches and set the adjustable dampers to their stiffest setting to try to prevent further damage.

Looking on the internet the standard wheels are 6J and the vehicle spec for wheels gives an offset of 35-45.

I need new tyres anyway as the current tyres are perished and cracked.

My question is, should these wheels be suitable for my car (in which case I'll get a new set of tyres for them but in 195/50/15) or do I need to replace them with 6J wheels?

Thanks for looking,

Regards,

Smiler.

 

Offset is usually "etXX" XX being the number.

I run 16x7's on my ERST lowered 30mm without issue.

 

55 profile is too big so you should really have 50s and as mentioned you need to check your offset as it needs to be right as any lower than 35 and it will start pushing them into the arch more

 

Thanks for the replies, looks like I need to check the offset. I could not find any other numbers, certainly no ET number which I was looking for. Do any of you know how to physically measure this? (I'm about to google it in the mean time).

The replacement tyres will be 50 profile.

Thanks again,

Smiler.

 

Just to clarify lower offset is further out on the car, more offset is further in

Edit: think that was what you meant but I was reading it wrong

 

I have just been out and taken measurements. The offset comes out at 43mm so should be good.

Just to clarify, the wheels are 7J so 7" wide.
7" % 2 = 3.5" to the centre line.
3.5" = 89mm
Distance from edge of back face of the rim to the hub mating face = 132mm
132mm - 89mm = Offset
Offset = 43mm

I have no signs of inner arch rub so hopefully with a set of 195/50/15 tyres I should be good to go.

Cheers,

Smiler.

 

yep thats it fella, lower offset puts it outwards towards arch like how french cars are that used 4x108 pcd


losing that extra 5mm of tyre height will help it no end

 

43 offset? that might be heading into the realms of fouling on the suspension.

Not to mention it wont look great as the wheels will be lost in the arches.

 

Excellent, combined with the narrower tyre giving shaving another 5mm off I should be ok.

Thanks, so just a new set of tyres it is then. Much easier than trying to find a set of wheels within reasonable range.

 

There's been no suspension rub apart from the rubber boots on the rear dampers. Wheels seem to look alright in place. I'll take some photos later if I remember.

 

change the tyres to 195/50 profile which is what they were from factory

 

Yes, that's what I'm doing.

 

The 7J is between the tyre bead mating surface not outside edge of wheel so normally u'd add half inch for each edge. 8j halved is 101.6mm

132- 101.6 = 30.4

 

Ah, that's not so good. I had another look today and they look very close with the wheels straight ahead.

Thanks for that, I'm really not feeling comfortable at the moment with these wheels.

Cheers,

Smiler.