Tires for 5.5 inch Wheels

Tirerack says you can put a 195/60 on a 5.5" rim- http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...e1=yes&tab=Specs

 

And according to them a 205/60 will work as well- http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...e1=yes&tab=Specs

Just as an additional visual reference, here are pics of 185x60 on my fake Fuchs (5.5") & VS swing axle.

 

 

 

Jim,

 

Your new car isn't lowered?

 

Ted

And what is with the oil catch pan Jim?  The new ride can't be leak that bad already.  How many miles are you up to?

 

Stephen

@Ted - this was taken before I lowered suspension. Still need to lower front another inch. As low as it will go right now with current single Adjust-a-lift that VS installs. Click on pic to embiggen.

 

 

@Stephen - since taking delivery of car 5 months ago, have logged 8,450Km (5,400 mi.). Oil pan is just an old habit. 

So, a 205 will fit on a 5.5" wheel, but will it fit under the rear fenders?

That's a problem many of us have.

185  usually

195  maybe

205  unlikely

Frank C does have a CMC wide body BUT it still depends on wheel offset and rear suspension (IRS? rear disc?)

Jim- do you know if your axles are long or short? Here's what the swing axle end castings  look like (long on top)- 

 

 

Not sure which they are, but my end castings look like those depicted in your top picture.

 

Also, don't know what the wheel off-set is on my fake Fuchs. I just asked Kirk to fit 185x60 on 5.5" wheels underneath my VS. 

Through the wonders of the internet I also saw where a 205 would be the max. for a 5.5 inch rim. It appears that a tire of that width is measured on a 6 inch wheel but can fit on anything from 5.5 to 7.5 inches. I have a widebody car and really want the Fuchs look but not a 17 inch.  So CIP has the 5.5 rims and I already have the tires that have maybe 200 miles on them. This way I get the 205 width and the wheels I like.  Thanks for all of the replies.  I'll have to check the offset and buy spacers to replace the ones I have to get the 5 x130 bolt pattern.

95% chance it's ET40 or ET45.

Frank:

 

I have original Fuchs 16" rims from a 1989 911 sitting under a CMC wide body.  5X130 bolt pattern and 6" wide rims and I am now running 205's all around.  They look great.  You can fit a 225 X16 under the rear with a 3/8" gap to the fender lip.  The 205 is over 1/2" to the lip.  If you run thinner spacers you can run much wider tires.  I've had 7"X16" rims with 225R55's on there with lots of tire clearance.

 

The spacers are 1-1/8" that adapt from 4X130 VW to 5X130 Porsche bolt patterns.  I went through a set of cast aluminum ones and never had any trouble with them but, in a fit of recklessness I bought my latest ones (made from T60 Billet Aluminum) from Pelican Parts.  Bullet-proof and look like jewelry, but pricey at close to a Benjamin per wheel.  IIRC, I called Pelican, told them what I wanted and they had them made to order in about 2 weeks.  Trying to find them on their website is an effort in frustration, so call their parts line at 1-888-280-7799

Thanks Gordon.  Im looking into the 15 x 5.5 inch wheels at CIP complete with caps (I know I know but I cant afford the real forged Fuchs).  They have a 4.5 inch backset (and I think a 40 mm offset) and they also sell a 4x130 to 5x130 spacer set that is 1 inch deep and costs about $140 for all four.  This I can deal with.  I was hoping to be able to use the tires I have (a 205/60) since they are almost new.

BTW, this all started when Marty G. posted his wheels for sale.  That got me thinking and I think his had 195 series tires but brown centers. That got me thinking about new wheels with a black background (I have a black car) and the fact that I would have to buy spacers anyway.  Now I have to pull a wheel and check the offset and spacer fitment to be sure they will be out far enough and that everything else will fit...but not too far. Almost sure they'll work just fine. 

...and i like the way Jim's looks....very classic with a black car.

My Fuchs started out as totally black anodized spokes, background and centers - nothing polished. I found them on the PCA Registry and the seller (in Alpheretta, Georgia) told me they would never fit under a 356 so I had to go through the flared-fender-replica-explanation-soft-shoe to convince him.  He was not convinced, but sold them to me anyway, promising that he would buy them back if I found they would not work - nice guy, actually.....

 

Well......They eventually fit, but the fronts were 6" wide while the backs were 7" wide - those rears got swapped for another pair of 6" originals and that's what I have today.

 

After a few years, I decided to go the polished spoke route and, since I'm retired and everyone keeps asking me, "What do you DO with all of your time?", during one particularly cold winter when we were still in Beaufort, South Carolina (it must have been, like, way down into the 50's at that time) I started stripping and polishing the spokes myself.  Eventually, I found that it takes about 4 DAYS of sanding and polishing PER WHEEL!  The black anodizing process used by Fuchs must have been designed by the same guys who invented "Anti-Seize"......Once it's on something, it NEVER comes off.

 

Anyway, several weeks later I had them stripped and polished to the Bee's Knees and painted the non-spoke-backgrounds with Krylon spray-bomb semi-gloss black.  That was around 2007 and I just noticed this past Spring that they could almost use a re-polish and re-spray but I may just as easily touch them up with a black Sharpie.

 

BTW:  I was at Hutchins Island for one of the Hilton Head Island Concours track days, the winter before we left Beaufort.  This guy wanders over and looks around the Porsche corral and gives Pearl a long look.  I wander over and say hi and he tells me that he used to have a 911 and sold the original Fuch wheels to a nutty guy in New England to run on a 356 similar to mine but he doubted that they ever fit.   I asked; "Are you George so-and-so from Alphereta?  I'm that nutty New Englander!"  It truly is a small world.

as they say 'what are the odds'?  To me hey are the classic Porsche look for some reason even though they came out after the 356.