Anbody have experience with E-T Sebring knock off wheels?

[KettleCarver]

I am considering a set of these: https://www.etmags.com/sebring.html

They are 15" wheels, that are 5.5" wide and have a 3" offset.

I am also wondering what the maximum tire size that would fit. My fender lips appear to be trimmed back.

I was thinking of tires in size 195/55/15 if they would fit on a 5 1/2" wheel, without rubbing the fenders.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks,

Marty

 

[michael-king]

They appear to be halibrand kidney replicas.

Given they are pin drive wheels and they are fitted via bolt on hub adaptors you really need to know the adaptor depths For the front end especially as they will sit the wheel further out.. So keeping tryes inside the guard will be an issue . so offset will matter as will clearance to not catch the front valence. Offset will be critical

When Alpines use bolt on aftermarket hubs for wires vs the factory splines they always sit out a long way... Just a heads up

 

[KettleCarver]

They appear to be halibrand kidney replicas.

Given they are pin drive wheels and they are fitted via bolt on hub adaptors you really need to know the adaptor depths For the front end especially as they will sit the wheel further out.. So keeping tryes inside the guard will be an issue . so offset will matter as will clearance to not catch the front valence. Offset will be critical

When Alpines use bolt on aftermarket hubs for wires vs the factory splines they always sit out a long way... Just a heads up

I appreciate the heads up Michael.

The website lists the offset as 3". I am used to seeing offset quoted as something like 24mm. I found an on-line converter, which says 3" is equal to 76.2mm. Does 76.2mm even make sense?

The last thing I want is to have the tires sticking out and throwing rocks on the new paint.

 

[65beam]

FYI, VTO wheels list a 15X6 wheel for Tigers and their wheels show roughly 1 inch or 24mm off set. I have their 13 X 5.5 wheels on three of my cars and the off set is 19mm. A 3" off set plus an adaptor may cause handling problems. This photo gives you an idea of where the front tires set under the fenders. The amount of tire extending past the front fender lip is at the edge of the tire tread so that's maybe 1/2" to 3/4" past the fender.

 

[KettleCarver]

FYI, VTO wheels list a 15X6 wheel for Tigers and their wheels show roughly 1 inch or 24mm off set. I have their 13 X 5.5 wheels on three of my cars and the off set is 19mm. A 3" off set plus an adaptor may cause handling problems. This photo gives you an idea of where the front tires set under the fenders. The amount of tire extending past the front fender lip is at the edge of the tire tread so that's maybe 1/2" to 3/4" past the fender.View attachment 14865

So, if I understand what you are saying correctly, you have a 19mm offset on the front, and it still sticks out past the fender??

 

[65beam]

So, if I understand what you are saying correctly, you have a 19mm offset on the front, and it still sticks out past the fender??

Yes, on two of my cars. I also have them on my 69 fastback Alpine GT and they are OK but it's an entirely different body with struts instead of upper and lower control arms. VTO lists a 15X6 wheel in the 8 spoke as having a 24mm offset which is less than 1 inch. Their 15X7 has a 12 mm offset. Google "wheel offset" and read how to measure the offset of a wheel.

 

[KettleCarver]

Yes, on two of my cars. I also have them on my 69 fastback Alpine GT and they are OK but it's an entirely different body with struts instead of upper and lower control arms. VTO lists a 15X6 wheel in the 8 spoke as having a 24mm offset which is less than 1 inch. Their 15X7 has a 12 mm offset. Google "wheel offset" and read how to measure the offset of a wheel.

I have been looking at the VTO website. It looks like you have the option of going with custom offsets as well.

Classic Motorsports has a very interesting article on putting tires and wheels on their Tiger: https://classicmotorsports.com/project-cars/1965-sunbeam-tiger/tiger-feet/ He went with 15" wheels, 6" in the front with 24mm offset. Later in the article he says he had the hubs shaved, so his offset was 22mm in the end. For the rear he went with 7" width and a 25mm offset. He is using Superlite Wheels. I suppose each manufactures' wheel will have a slightly different optimal offset due to the design of the wheel.

 

[65beam]

I have been looking at the VTO website. It looks like you have the option of going with custom offsets as well.

Classic Motorsports has a very interesting article on putting tires and wheels on their Tiger: https://classicmotorsports.com/project-cars/1965-sunbeam-tiger/tiger-feet/ He went with 15" wheels, 6" in the front with 24mm offset. Later in the article he says he had the hubs shaved, so his offset was 22mm in the end. For the rear he went with 7" width and a 25mm offset. He is using Superlite Wheels. I suppose each manufactures' wheel will have a slightly different optimal offset due to the design of the wheel.

That's a reasonable opinion but the 3 inch offset is roughly 75 mm which is about three times what Tim used as well as what the wheel companies build into their wheels.

 

[michael-king]

I appreciate the heads up Michael.

The website lists the offset as 3". I am used to seeing offset quoted as something like 24mm. I found an on-line converter, which says 3" is equal to 76.2mm. Does 76.2mm even make sense?

The last thing I want is to have the tires sticking out and throwing rocks on the new paint.

The sunbeams are very prone to having aftermarket wheels sticking proud at the front due to the location of the hub mounting face to body.
Ro keep them inside you need a shallow outer lip and the rim to go back inside.. This can then causes issues with interference on the steering arms.

Your springs, ride height and if the front valence has been trimmed will also impact any further issues with body contact.

Pse used to offer wheels that work.. They have since been bought out.. There is a tiger on ebay with a different design halibrand style wheel im 15x6 thats got the right offsets.. As you can see shallow front outer rim and stock ride height

 

[65beam]

The sunbeams are very prone to having aftermarket wheels sticking proud at the front due to the location of the hub mounting face to body.
Ro keep them inside you need a shallow outer lip and the rim to go back inside.. This can then causes issues with interference on the steering arms.

Your springs, ride height and if the front valence has been trimmed will also impact any further issues with body contact.

Pse used to offer wheels that work.. They have since been bought out.. There is a tiger on ebay with a different design halibrand style wheel im 15x6 thats got the right offsets.. As you can see shallow front outer rim and stock ride height

View attachment 14867

VTO does have listed for Tigers a 15X7 wheel with a 12mm offset. That's an inch wider wheel but half of the offset of the 6" wheel. Anybody installed a wheel this size on a Tiger?

 

[KettleCarver]

Well, I got some additional measurements on those wheels. The flange of the hub is 1/2". The distance of the back of the hub to the front lip of the wheel is 4". In the rear, that places the wheel lip out about even with the fender lip. When you add on the tire, I figure it will stick out about 3/4 - 1" past the fender lip. In the front I figure it will stick out up to 1 1/2" past the fender lip. So that is a deal breaker for me.

I think I will look more closely at the mini-lite type of wheels; Panasport, VTO, and Superlites.

Does anyone know if you can various offsets on a 15X6 wheel from Panasport?

 

[TAH_Tiger]

I have 15x6 with 20 offset on front and it pulls the wheels in fine. Mine are Rota.

 

[KettleCarver]

I have 15x6 with 20 offset on front and it pulls the wheels in fine. Mine are Rota.

Thanks. It is good info to zero in on the proper offset.

Did you use 15X6 in the rear also? What size tires did you use?

 

[TAH_Tiger]

Previous owner had put on 7x15 offset 20 all around with 195/55 but had spacers on front as wheels hit tie rods on sharp turn. Changed front to 6x15 offset 20 with 185/55.

 

[KettleCarver]

Previous owner had put on 7x15 offset 20 all around with 195/55 but had spacers on front as wheels hit tie rods on sharp turn. Changed front to 6x15 offset 20 with 185/55.

View attachment 14907

They look good! What kind of tires are you using? Thanks for the info.

 

[TAH_Tiger]

Yokahama