Second Hand Alloys.

Chuck_Norris

Evening all.

Time to get new tyres for the car, and am attempting to kill two birds with one stone, what with the current economic climate and all. The alloys are getting a bit scuffed, and a bit of lacquer peel occuring at the same time, so am contemplating buying a set of second hand alloys, with decent tyres. I think Ive found a decent set on adverts.ie, and think I'm reasonably aware of the pitfalls, ie, checking for buckles, dents, cracks, damage to tyres, but I'm just looking to see what the general opinion is on doing so?

Has anubody got any experience of buying second hand alloy/ tyres?

I'll also be moving from 15" rims, to 17", so I'm fairly sure spacers will be required to sort out the offset.

Compton

Ive got a set of S/H alloys on mine, its good to put them on the car first and check them at motorway speed.

Anan1

I bought a second set for last winter. Get high res pics, have a good chat with the seller, if in doubt look elsewhere. I got a set of almost perfect Subaru 16" alloys for €150, but it took a while.

Chuck_Norris

Thanks for replies folks. This may come across as a silly question, but, by increasing the wheel size by 2 inches over OE spec, will this effect the calibration of the speedo?

Quazzie

Chuck_Norris wrote: »

Thanks for replies folks. This may come across as a silly question, but, by increasing the wheel size by 2 inches over OE spec, will this effect the calibration of the speedo?

Yes.

Chuck_Norris

Quazzie wrote: »

Yes.

Thanks for reply man. Would you have any idea as to by much it would effect it?

Anan1

Chuck_Norris wrote: »

Thanks for replies folks. This may come across as a silly question, but, by increasing the wheel size by 2 inches over OE spec, will this effect the calibration of the speedo?

What matters is the total radius of the wheel & tyre, as long as this remains unchanged then your speedometer will be unaffected. Going from 15" to 17" wheels will therefore require much lower profile tyres to keep the overall size the same, and this may negatively impact on ride comfort & handling.

Chuck_Norris

Anan1 wrote: »

What matters is the total radius of the wheel & tyre, as long as this remains unchanged then your speedometer will be unaffected. Going from 15" to 17" wheels will therefore require much lower profile tyres to keep the overall size the same, and this may negatively impact on ride comfort & handling.

I know it'll affect the handling. Size at he minute is 195/65/15. Possibly moving up to 235/45/17.

Quazzie

It really depends on a number of factors. My speedo in general is out by 10kmph when travelling at 160kmph so that equates to approx. 6%. It is possible to get it calibrated but in General the difference will be significant. Generally speaking the speedo will indicate faster than reality so for me its a good way to ensure I'm going that small bit slower than the limit. I know if the speedo says 80km/h then I'm really only doing 75km/h.

Every car is different though.

Chuck_Norris

Thanks Quazzie. I kinda knew the speedo wasn't 100% accurate alright. I reckon my owns out about 5-6% as well. Was just curious as to whether it'd be a significant enough of a change with the larger alloys to worry about.

Nforce

Chuck_Norris wrote: »

I know it'll affect the handling. Size at he minute is 195/65/15. Possibly moving up to 235/45/17.

225/45/17 would be the ideal update...see http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Anan1

Chuck_Norris wrote: »

I know it'll affect the handling. Size at he minute is 195/65/15. Possibly moving up to 235/45/17.

First off, those tyres are 40mm wider than standard - are you sure they won't rub off anything on full lock? Off the top of my head, the overall diameter is close enough that your speedo will be unaffected. After that, it's just down to whether you're prepared to put up with a rough ride, and being forced to crawl around by the risk of damaged tyres & wheels for the sake of appearance.

Chuck_Norris

Well the plan is to fit them before paying, and the seller has agreed to this. Having done a wee bit of research, some of the higher spec versions of the car have the 235/45/17 wheels on em. I know it wouldn't necessarily translate to being the same fitment on mine. And was also thinking spacers would be required anyway.

haymur

If you go to this site you can put in the original rim and tyre size and then the new rim and tyre size it will calculate the speed difference
http://www.tyretraders.com/Tyres_Calculator.aspx

TheDudeIsHere

I bought second hand alloys and its been a year and they are fine

Chuck_Norris

Cheers Haymur. Did a quick check there and the speedo difference would only be 0.69mph.

haymur

Yeah I changed the wheels and tyres on my Honda last year and got a difference of only .1 something so made no difference to my speed reading. Most speedo read 1 -3 % under actual speed so you should be OK. Don't forget to have a comparable spare as well

Chuck_Norris

Oh don't worry, I'd thought of that alright!!!

dr.fuzzenstein

One thing you got to do:
Either jack the car and put the wheels on one by one, give it a good spin by hand and really watch that rim spinning round.
If it is in any way not round, if there is even a hint of wobble, don't bother, they are warped and scrap.
Or:
Bring them to a tyre place and have them balanced, again watch that rim spin, inside and outside.
Any up or down/side to side movement, warped, fcuked.
Even before you spin them:
Any flat spot on the inside, or multiple weights on the outside, walk, they're only good for the bin.
Paint chips, scratches can be fixed, but once an alloy is warped I would never trust it again.
And having a car with clown-style wobbling wheels will not only look silly and handle badly, but the ABS is affected, this is a serious safety issue.

PS: Tyre places are notorious for hammering weights made for steel rims onto alloys because they are lazy or incompetent, tell them to use stick on weights or no dice (delivered Chuck Norris style)

Chuck_Norris

Cheers Doc. I was trying to figure out a way to check for warping on the wheels alright. The seller seems to be sound, and he doesn't know it, but he's literally 2 minutes from my house. So if they're not right, at least it's not a long journey wasted.

Matt Simis

Chuck_Norris wrote: »

I'll also be moving from 15" rims, to 17", so I'm fairly sure spacers will be required to sort out the offset.

Offset is not what you think it is. Going from 15-17" (or whatever) has nothing to do with wheel width and offset.

Use an Offset calculator which will allow you to input your current Width and Offset and the new one and you will see how far out or in the new wheels will sit.

Chuck_Norris

Matt Simis wrote: »

Offset is not what you think it is. Going from 15-17" (or whatever) has nothing to do with wheel width and offset.

Use an Offset calculator which will allow you to input your current Width and Offset and the new one and you will see how far out or in the new wheels will sit.

My understanding of offset is the difference between the centreline of the alloy, and where the actual studs are. I probably worded the post incorrectly. I understand that being a larger diameter wheel doesn't necessarily mean it's got a different offset.

I should have said that being a wider wheel, I would assume spacers would be required.

johndaman66

Going from a 195 width tyre to a 235 width tyre be prepared for your fuel economy to take a hammering - I've being there, done that.