wheel to brake clearance

Treg boy

Treg boy

New Member
Any of you have any opinions/experience with really small clearances between a wheel and brake calliper in off road conditions? I'm wanting to go to an 18" wheel but to do that only a few rims will fit and then only by a millimetre or 2. Worried that rocks, etc might easily get jammed between the wheel and calliper causing damage to 1 or both. What thoughts? Really appreciate any input, John
 
jack48

jack48

Active Member
Treg boy said:
Any of you have any opinions/experience with really small clearances between a wheel and brake calliper in off road conditions? I'm wanting to go to an 18" wheel but to do that only a few rims will fit and then only by a millimetre or 2. Worried that rocks, etc might easily get jammed between the wheel and calliper causing damage to 1 or both. What thoughts? Really appreciate any input, John
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Why would you bother changing wheels ??? Can you get MTs in 18" ?????
 
Treg boy

Treg boy

New Member
G'day Jack, bloody good year 1948! To answer your response, standard tyres are 295/35 x21, not brilliant for anything but grass(dry) or sand off the tar. Got some 19" x 9" that fit well but tyre range still limited. Trying to get more side wall height and bigger choice of patterns and 18" has more than 19" which have more than the 3 21" choices which are all highway anyway. Brakes are way too big for 17" and only just able to fit a couple of 18" without contact and that's why the question. Cheers, John
 
jack48

jack48

Active Member
Well the situation is simple, learn to drve on those tyres cause there is not much around in those sizes for off road stuff
Have a guy on the forum Redandy with a Rangie, he has 16" ATs and goes where guys with 33s go, the driver and rig are unreal, so you might have to learn the capabilities of your rig and tyres till a tyre company makes a tyre for you, don't hold your breath though
 
CAMPDOG

CAMPDOG

New Member
Treg boy said:
Any of you have any opinions/experience with really small clearances between a wheel and brake calliper in off road conditions? I'm wanting to go to an 18" wheel but to do that only a few rims will fit and then only by a millimetre or 2. Worried that rocks, etc might easily get jammed between the wheel and calliper causing damage to 1 or both. What thoughts? Really appreciate any input, John
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G'day John, my current wheel setup has about 1mm clearance. Had this setup for about five months and I get off road a bit. No damage so far. I actually replaced my brake pads on Wednesday night and had a good look and all is fine.

A bloke at work has 18" Continental Cross Contact A/T's on his Ssangyong Kyron. He doesn't get off road that often but is happy with their performance so far. Just throwing a tyre option at ya if you haven't already seen them.

Cheers

Joel
 
Treg boy

Treg boy

New Member
Yep Jack all true but highway pattern doesn't give any more grip than slicks if things get just a tiny bit greasy. Thanks Campdog, that's the sort of real life info I was looking for. Any other people with stories?, Cheers, John
 
Big Rig

Big Rig

4x4 Earth Contributer
A mate of my dads had the same problem on his VW however he did manage to find a reasonable 19" all terrain tyre.. I'll find out what he is running.
 
Treg boy

Treg boy

New Member
Grey Ghost said:
Check these out for a better tyre to suit your VW
Cooper Tires - Tyres
And maybe look at a custom set of rims with an offset that gives better rim/brake clearance if that was the issue.
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G'day G G, Cooper (and most others) don't do a 19". As far as clearance the issue isn't offset, it's diameter, so that lack of gap between the calliper and rim rather than the 'spokes' of the wheel. The 18 is way to big in OD and wouldn't clear the guards (and be illegal in QLD). Thanks anyway though, John
 
jack48

jack48

Active Member
Should have thought of these things before buying the car, and checked out your options, why not sell it and buy a real 4X4:):);)
 
Treg boy

Treg boy

New Member
jack1948 said:
Should have thought of these things before buying the car, and checked out your options, why not sell it and buy a real 4X4:):);)
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yeh shoulda, but thought tyre availability wouldn't be an issue having been acclimatised to Patrol sizing. Also should have checked prices on replacement stock tyres because @ $1100 each RRP, it's not good to stake or bruise a sidewall. S''t happens. Rest of the vehicle is fairly amazin though. Satisfies the power freak in me (almost), is an amazing tow vehicle and fairly capable in most off road conditions compared to any other stock 4by and is seriously good on the tar. Not perfect in every situation but a bloody good compromise I think. One day might still buy a shortie for some exteme stuff, or maybe not, time will tell. Cheers , John
 
jack48

jack48

Active Member
It is a great vehicle but really an AWD for tar, as you say good tow horse, mate has a 4x4 Porch?, would not take that off road at its value and no tyres available to make it enjoyable driving, forgetting cost, they are just not made, not enough demand for a tyre company to invest millions of $$$$ on moulds etc for little return, I was not being smart, just saying it as it is
 
Treg boy

Treg boy

New Member
jack1948 said:
It is a great vehicle but really an AWD for tar, as you say good tow horse, mate has a 4x4 Porch?, would not take that off road at its value and no tyres available to make it enjoyable driving, forgetting cost, they are just not made, not enough demand for a tyre company to invest millions of $$$$ on moulds etc for little return, I was not being smart, just saying it as it is
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It's all good Jack, never thought you were being smart. Still think it's more than an awd but haven't had a chance to do much with it yet. Bit paranoid about dinging it for the same reason as your mates Porsche, but I don't like dinging anything no matter how rugged it gets. Anal I guess. It works well on sand even with the stockies on but that isn't that much of a challenge is it? John
 
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