TR4/4A VTO wheels on a TR4- questions

[thechileman]

I am looking at the VTO wheels for my TR4. I have an email and a phone message to Hap at Acme, no response yet. Maybe someone can help me here. I am trying to find out what tire size I should put on the wheels, and to confirm that I won't have to do any body modification to the car. (I just got the car back from paint, and don't want to change anything in the wheel wells.) Can anybody that has these installed or seen them installed tell me about fitment on a stock TR4??

thanks again!

 

[DNK]

He should get back to ya soon.
Not an expert in that ar
What size did you want to get

 

[thechileman]

The 15x6 wheels seem to be the recommendation. I am unsure about tires. Just need some that will fit both the wheels, and the wheel wells.

 

[DNK]

I think most of the 6 guys run 205 something or other

 

[DanB]

What you need to do is look at the outer diameter of the wheel/tire combination to start with. I did that a couple of years ago on my TR4A and ended up purchasing a much wider tire than stock. Unfortunately I don't remember the size and the car is not near me right now. If I remember I will check it and get back with you, but what I did was google specs for the TR4A tires (mine's a 4A) and found the original equipment tire which was a bias ply, then looked that tire up and found its dimensions. Using the outer diameter I searched for tires with the same outer diameter, searching several tire sites like tire rack and discount tire. Then I got an idea of what was available. i already had 15x6 wheels, so I went with 15s. You could go to 16, 16.5, or whatever wheels since you haven't bought them yet.
Another thing I did before I bought the wheels was to take a picture of the wheel and paste it on a picture of my car (in photoshop) to see what it would look like.

Dan B
So. Charleston, WV

 

[DNK]

Never seen a 16.5 tire, Dan
Intrigued!

 

[glemon]

205/65-15s on the TR250 with no clearance issues (did have some with the 7" wheels I have, but 6"s should be no problem. I will add that I do feel I get better grip with the wide tires, but on the other hand you do lose some of the light sporty feel you will get with, say, a 165 series tire, which is fun in its own way if you like to drift around and squeal the tires a bit!

 

[thechileman]

Thanks for all the input guys! I have actually gone in a different direction. I just placed an order for 5 60 spoke chrome wire wheels, and all the associated stuff to install them. I couldn't resist that classic look, and my wife said go for it! I love that women. Anyway, if anybody is interested in 5 original disk wheels, I will be selling them after I get the wires installed. Perhaps I will put them on ebay.. If you have an interest, make an offer!

 

[DNK]

Talk about changing horses in the middle of the stream

 

[DanB]

Never seen a 16.5 tire, Dan
Intrigued!

Yeah, I think they are mostly truck tires or something, but you can get 16.5, 17, 17.5, 18, 19, 19.5 .... They are on the drop down menu at Tire Rack. I think my dad's F150 has one of those .5 sizes.

 

[thechileman]

Lol Don, no, not really changing horses. I had always wanted the Wire wheels, but felt the cost was prohibitive. The VTO classic 8's are awesome, and were a close second for me, and MUCH cheaper to implement. In the end, my wife nudged me and said get what you really want. And with what I already have invested in this car, that made sense. (It was nice to have permission from her as well.)

Again, thanks for all the input! Ill be posting pictures when I get "rusty" completed. Should be in a week or so..

 

[TR4A_IRS]

I'd consider hanging on to the steel wheels. IMHO, they will be an added plus when you eventually sell the car.

 

[Geo Hahn]

I'd consider hanging on to the steel wheels. IMHO, they will be an added plus when you eventually sell the car.

And if you are using spacers (rather than shortening the studs) you can swap back in forth. In fact, even when I have wires mounted on the TR3A my spare is still a disk wheel as a 60-spoke would not fit in the spare compartment.

 

[thechileman]

Thanks TR4, yeah I have been considering keeping the steel wheels. They all are chipped and have a little surface rust, but all 5 run true. I can't imagine putting them back on the car though. If I can get a decent price for them, and help somebody else out on a project, it might be worth getting rid of them. (I could even throw in what I am guessing are 4 original hub caps) And I don't have any plans to sell the car.

Any Idea what the original steel wheels sell for?

 

[Andrew Mace]

Any Idea what the original steel wheels sell for?

Offhand, no, but I will note that good, straight TR3/4 steel wheels are getting pretty scarce. If yours really are straight and true, I'd either hang onto them or at least not GIVE them away (like a guy years ago who spent a lot of time and effort to clean up and paint his TR3 wheels only to find they weren't really very true; he gave them to me in part trade for some better ones I had at the time)!

 

[HerronScott]

I'd consider hanging on to the steel wheels. IMHO, they will be an added plus when you eventually sell the car.

I don't understand those words when put together that way?

Scott

 

[TR4A_IRS]

I know none of us have plans to sell our cars, but they will all eventually be sold, even if by our estates...

 

[mrv8q]

I know none of us have plans to sell our cars, but they will all eventually be sold, even if by our estates...

That's how I got my first one. Come to think of it, my second one, too!

 

[richie]

For what it's worth, I have chosen to go with 15x7 Classic 8's for my TR4a (solid axle). Despite the warnings I heard about of rear wheel to leaf spring clearance, the measurements I took indicate that I should be just fine in the back. In the front it was too difficult to factor all clearance issues but I'm taking the chances as VTO is currently out of stock on all 6" classic 8's except for black.

Tire size is 205/60's (classic hoosier speedster size used by all racers). Another thing to consider after much contemplation is the fact that a 1" wider rim will theoretically not necessarily make anything stick out more, as the tire usually dictates the dimension. i.e. if you were to put a 5" or 7" rim on a 205, the outermost portion of the tire will remain more or less 205mm.

I'll be sure to post any fitment issues on the board - even if they end up not fitting!

 

[Geo Hahn]

...In the front it was too difficult to factor all clearance issues but I'm taking the chances as VTO is currently out of stock on all 6" classic 8's except for black...

I think that is where you may have some fouling with the rim possibly contacting the suspension as the steering nears full lock. But, yeah, hard to determine that other than by fitting the wheel to a specific car.