how to fit 8" rims on your galant without sticking out

[gtluke]

i'll update this when i get a new 5 lug rear hub, the one i bought is bent to hell and the wheel wobbles like 2 INCHES its bent so bad, and the rotor hits everything. ugh, car on jackstands now and i'm pissed off.

anyway

this is what it takes to get FD wheels to fit on your galant without hacking it with spacers.

here is where the interference is with the rear trailing arm, so start making room by cutting out the fold and spot welded section, cut up and down the arm about an inch or more into the top and bottom of the arm to give a definitive point where metal will bend

you are left with a nice gap like this:

hammer the gap closed by hammering on the front of the arm, it will close the gap, be patient and careful as to not bend the whole arm, just the sheet metal where you are hitting, i had to use the grinder and cut a bit more out of the corners because as it was closing, the beginning and end of the metal was touching before the middle. check and recheck with the actual wheel and tire, note that the tire may deflect a tiny bit under cornering so make sure there is appropriate room. i had about 3/8" at a minimum everywhere. don't go crazy so you don't weaken the control arm

take 2 pieces of appropriate length steel, this is just plain flat stock from sears, i think its 1", leftover from making the ebo seat brackets

clearance the side slots, and tap these in place

weld them up!

again i'll follow up with conclusion pictures when i get my new hub. i'm stuck in a tiny garage till then so you'll have to be patient.

 

[CP]

Or get 8" wide wheels with the correct offset (ET35) to begin with so you don't have to do any of this hacking. My 17x8" wide wheels fit just fine with absolutely no rubbing. Do you have any pictures with the wheels on the car? I'm thinking that you just created a major safety hazard /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/uhh.gif

 

[gtluke]

with the rims you have, the matching fronts then stick out too much for me.
i'll have pics as soon as i get a new rear hub, and i can get the car off jackstands.

that arm is like 4" round in that area, now its 3.5" round, i don't think its a problem at all, especially because most of the lateral force applied goes to the upper and lower control arms, not this trailing arm.

the only force that could damage this section is accelerating force forward.
i'm not going to be cutting 1.1 60fts in this car
and the control arms i'm using on my mustang to cut 1.5 60fts are a LOT weaker than the galant pieces.

 

[gtluke]

i should add that the control arm is no thinner than it was before, its only at its thinner diameter for longer. the point nearest the front of the car hardly moves in at all, its mostly towards the rear which gets thinner as illustrated by the last picture.
-luke-

 

[IncorpoRatedX]

I guess thats one way to do it....

 

[boostx]

Quote:
Or get 8" wide wheels with the correct offset (ET35) to begin with so you don't have to do any of this hacking. My 17x8" wide wheels fit just fine with absolutely no rubbing. Do you have any pictures with the wheels on the car? I'm thinking that you just created a major safety hazard /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/uhh.gif


hey CP got any pics

 

wtf /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/uhh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/uhh.gif

 

I would have just "hacked it" with spacers I guess.

 

[gtluke]

i can't stand spacers. i had a wheel almost fall off on my mustang because i was running 3/16 spacers in the rear
near the end of a 1,300 mile trip to bowling green, it started to wobble off because the spacer. thankfully i had 3" wheel studs and the lugs didn't fall off, they just hit the center cap and stopped.
never again.

 

[CP]

Quote:
with the rims you have, the matching fronts then stick out too much for me.



These stick out too much? By my account, they don't stick out at all /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

 

[boostx]

that's how i want mine to look
sweet

 

[kartorium]

I'm sure the way luke did it probably makes the arm just as strong as stock, if not stronger. Looks like a good way to do it luke.

 

[steve]

I want to see pics with the FD wheels mounted. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/applause.gif

 

[iLLeffeKt vr-4]

I don't think you'll have any problems with the arm itself.
You did a very nice and clean job however I think those FD rims will go out first. I've heard/read about them breaking.
Here's a pic of a 17x8 rim with 35mm offset on my car.
It does stick out a bit (about 1/2") but also keep in mind that I went with 245/40 tires instead of 235/40 which is a more common size for those wheels and also my camber is set to -.3*
With some more negative camber they will tuck in nicely. I plan on running -2.5* in the front

 

As long as there is full penetration in the arm, there is no problem. CP stop being so picky.

 

[gtluke]

yeah i know the FD rims are shitty, i did manage to get a later set which are stronger.
but for the price, you can't touch a rim that light, 14.8lbs a piece or something.
plus, they look good on the car.
i can't stand the way 99% of aftermarket wheels look, and i like a little more tuck behind the fenders. i'm more of a stock appearing guy than a boy racer.
sh*t, i painted my glass trunk, and i'll paint my CF hood too.

 

[mitsu90]

you might want to cut out all that weld and try again. it's all cold lapped and looks like it's laking penetration.

 

[gtluke]

thats about as hot as my welder gets
its not that important, look at the factory weld, or lack there of. its basically just tacked closed on that seam. i made the weld extra slow to give it somewhat of a seam.
i bet if i didn't weld it at all it would be fine.
i mean i've seen a bunch of dsm's with that whole seam cut out, and thats it. they just cut it out to fit the bigger rims. nothing bad ever happened.

 

That kind of stuff happens to other people, not me, or at least thats what I always tell myself. LOL

 

[gtluke]

meh, i've seen people cut that whole arm in half and replace 80% of it with a rod.
my sh*t will be fine, or more than fine.