Not happy with wheel gap w/ 19" volk gtc's
 

I just bought my volk gtc in 19 x 8.5 F and 19 x 9.5 R. The front tires are Nitto 555's in a 35 series and rear are N 555's but in a 30 series. I swear I notice MORE gap than with stock 18" wheels with 45 series. Could I find a decent priced 1" lowering kit? I am worried about messing a brand new car up with lowering. OR do you guys think the gap isnt that bad?

-Dave

dm350z@msn.com

Awesome wheels, but it needs to be lowered. Plenty of lowering springs around $200-225.

Of course you notice more wheel gap, you just threw on some 19's. And yes its basically a must to lower your car when you go up any wheel size to get rid of the dreaded wheel gap.
Wheels look great!

Will I mess up my car with only a 1" drop? I dont wanna void any warranties etc. or put excessive wear on my car?

if youlower your car you void the warranty you have on your stock springs. and you will have to get an alignhment so you dont have excessive tire wear

Re: Not happy with wheel gap w/ 19" volk gtc's
 

I have the same set up but my wheel gap is not that bad.....Unless you guys think so. You tell me.........

2

you're right - you're wheel gap doesn't look as bad as the first guy's pic, but that could be one of many things - the fact is if you don't want to lower your car, put the right size tires on from the get go (245/40 and 275/35) - more sidewall, more height, less gap....period.

first off. larger wheels do not equal larger gap. ideally your overall diameter of the tread does not change, so gap remains identical.

you however, went to a 30series rear, which puts your rears a good bit smaller than stock. and that does increase the gap.

if you go up to a proper sizing of 35 youll notice it to be nearly identical to stock regaurding ride height and gap.

Ummm.... but then your speedo VDC, and TCS wont work. ;)

interesting, my wheel gap is MUCH less with my 19"

I have a 2.5in drop on mine, with the exact same wheel setup. but I got the tien full coilover w/edfc. thats the way to go just to be sure. here is a link:

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....5&goto=newpost

Again ares is right. the 275/30s in back are the wrong size. Now both wheel outer diameters are the same. The front diameter should be about 1" lower than the rear for VDC and the slip control to function properly. Also the car is set up to properly handle with this stagger. Your rear wheels are 1" to small in diameter. Put on a 35 series tire in back, which will be the same diameter as stock, and all will be well.

Lou

I cant find nitto 555's in a 275-35-19, anyone know where to get some?

-Dave

dm350z@msn.com

First of all, there are plenty of people running 275/30/19 tires out back with no problem. I'm one of them and happen to think that the stock tires and 275/35/19 and 275/40/19 in most makes looks too much like a balloon. I digress on this point.

DM350Z, your gap in the rear does look bigger than mine before I lowered my Z and bigger than other Z's with the same set up. See SixRB6's set up above which does not look bad. By the way that's exactly how my Z looked before lowering. With respect to warranty - of course you will not have the factory warranty on your springs once you replace them with something better, but that's common sense. There are hundreds of people that have lowered their Z's without encountering any significant problems from it. By the way, I don't think Nitto makes the 555extreme in a 275/35/19.

DM350Z,

Your peception is right. Your gap is increased by .5925" when you went with the 275/30/19 tire. Your new wheel is 1.185" smaller in diameter than your stock 245/45/18. That's why your gap is bigger. Nitto 555 does not come in 275/35/19, and that's why so many people go with Toyos and S03's

In thinking back about my wheel selection, I kind of wished that I would have staggered it with 245/40/18's up front and 275/35/19's in the back. That would have given me about the same amount of sidewall height (front and back) while protecting my front rims. I'm bound to mess up my front rim on a pot hole with the 245/35/19's up front. Oh well, live and learn....

As for reducing that gap, you'll have to lower it quite a bit now to close that gap, especially with the 30 series tire. But, keep in mind that you may go with a 35 series tire after you wear through the current set. So don't lower it too much now. If you don't want to lower it, then live with it until you get your next set of rear tires.

oh YEAH, In this pic guys the stock 18's are still on the front left and right, and rear right side, I was just fitting the one to see how they looked before buying them. Is that why the gap looks a little more than average? Just a thought?

-DISTRAUGHT! Dave

Wheel gap with Volks
 

You're right, the gap is worse. So get a set of professionally made spacers. I got 1/2" spacers, and the wheels come right out to the fenders with no rubbing.

The spacers don't affect wheel balance, and you get the plus of wider track.They're not cheap, but they are made for racing, so it's done right, not like the cheap stuff you get from Kragens. The company is Spencer Racing.Their website is "spencerlowracing.com.

Marcus

by gap I think he meant space between the tire and the fender verticly. which a spacer would not help(it may or may not make it appear smaller, but it would be an illusion, the problem remains that the tires is smaller than stock.

nothing wrong with the tire size, car will drive, it wont self destruct and flip 40 times. VDC probably wont even say a word. but the wheel gap will be there. nothing thats said here matters, because the mathematics of it (as dnguyent nicely explained) show that your gap will increase. if someone else has the same tire size and looks less or more, its tricks of the photo and nothing more.


also, by having only 1 on, your wheel gap on that wheel would be less than normal(so what your seeing could actually be worse with all 4 on), itd also be less on the cross wheel(drivers side front). the other 2 would be larger than normal.

Re: Not happy with wheel gap w/ 19" volk gtc's
 

Looks great now, would looks awsome if lowered.