TeamSwift

I found a set of Toyota 4x4 1/2 in x 13 inch, but only 3/4 in (12mm) offset, that fit my Turbo Sprint. (With some special Lug Nuts)
They were in a pile of wheels, but a couple still had the small "T" hubcap in them so I know they came from a Toyota and there were only a few late 80's Camrys and Carollas on the lot.

The jury is still out on the success of this swap.
I was looking for more tire options for better bad weather handling / traction and better gas mileage.
The 175R70 X 13 Hercules IV's I tried are only 1 inch "taller' than the 155R85x12's it had on it and the wheels are EACH 5 POUNDS heavier than OEM steelies. The mileage dropped from 38+ to 32+ City, so I got a Cop buddy to track me on his radar (unofficially ) at 25-30-35.
Each time, his gun showed 3-4-5 MPH MORE than my speedometer.
(Really gotta watch my cruising speed, now. )

I figure the difference is about 10% at city speeds and add that to the trip miles reading at fillup but it still comes out to only 34-36 MPG and the dang thang still "skitters" around like a Water Bug in a "Meth Lab" on wet asphalt and seems to take more Braking effort. That might have something to do with the increased diameter and extra 20 lbs of rolling weight.

This might be a good swap for a road car, but for city driving it backfired and I know for a fact, these puppies weren't bred for Road trips.

At 75 MPH, my little 3 banger is wound tighter than the old lady's "Singer"
StitchMaster. 1200 miles in 18 hrs is like doing 24 hr at LeMans. Gotta rebuild the engine before another run like that.

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Not so Nooby, 87 Sprint Owner, trying to keep it on the road, now. Any info welcome.

O.K. any Help would be greatly Appreciated. I am Looking for wheel that will fit my 97 geo metro lsi. I did the sear thing , the google thing and I am stumped. I don't want to buy local , seems all we have are folks with 22's and what not and I don't want that for my project car. Would there be a site that you folks would , could , suggest that I can Take a look at a few sets of wheels?


Many Thanks In Advance.

Eric

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Project Hillbilly Speed
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2976045

i have a 91 base metro and am going to swap to the ert front spindles/hubs/rotors. i willl then change to a 14" rim, but keep the diameter the same-leaving me with a 165/60R14. From what i've read only 2 companies make that size. Anyway, what rims from another car can i use? I want to stick with 14" steelies and try to keep weight about the same or lighter. If the rims come out a bit farther; that's ok too, but i don't want rubbing issues. Thanks gamg!
And, i may be lowering it a bit to try to solve my "looks like the car is launching" look.

Hey everybody, I just did a conversion on my 94 Geo Metro. I did find some 13 inch Geo rims (Geo from 95 on were 13 inch) so there was no guessing. The Metro from 95 up had 12mm studs. I considered changing the studs and changing rotors and rear drums but it was going to be too much trouble....the studs seem to me to fit too close to the edge of the rotors and I just didn't want a bigger hole there....the newer rotors and wheel are much larger and seemed to require new brake assemblies as well. So, I searched and found that a 10mm lug nut with a larger diameter base could be used. I found that ATVs use them and they are easy to find. I searched Ebay and found a man selling "ATV lugnuts" that fit perfectly...10 x 1.25 metric with a 60 degree taper for 12.95 (4.95 postage) per set. Normal prices are $25/set. Apparently they are very common on many ATVs. I then found Kumho 155 x 80 13inch tires for $20 each at Discount Tire and my Metro suddenly has new life. It rides far better and quieter; plus, the gas mileage is better because the wheel is larger...approximately 5% faster than the speedometer. It is a little more sluggish on hills but on interstate it really ramps it up! I can't report on the mileage yet except to say that before, I got 52mpg and on the last tank of gas I had done some significant repair, hauled a car full of people, etc and I still got 52 when I figured it would be more like 45. So, I'm sure it is increasing the mileage. If you have any questions on any of this I'm happy to help. I check the posts every couple of days.

Great find!

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1994 Metro - MPH project (getting a DOHC G13B)
1994 Metro - MPG project (getting an XFi G10)
1992 Swift - Parts car (gone)
1991 Swift - Parts car (gone)
1990 Swift - Parts car
1997 Metro - Parts car (gone)
1993 Metro - Parts car
1989 Swift GTi - Parts car
1998 Metro - Parts car

You can purchase the "bulge" lug nuts at summitracing.com it is part# 41117 total cost with shipping
to my door was about $30 for 16 lugs

Here are some pics of the larger lug nuts that fit the smaller studs on the earlier geo.
You can see that they bulge and take up the extra room of the bigger holes of the 13 inch rims
or aftermarket rims.







Here is a post were I talk about upgrading to 13 rims from 12 inch rims

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbullet ... p?t=901753


I will post pics of the final instal when the tires are on.

ROSST: great pixs. These are the same lugnuts I mention in my comment just prior to yours. They are available for about $17 including shipping from ebay.

In my last comment I said I would get back and give the gas mileage. I am a little disappointed in that it only went up about 2 mpg to 54. I think it is because I live in some very hilly county and it slows down on the steeper hills. I love the way it looks though. I got some of the walmart $14 wheel covers which are cheap ... actually about like the originals...but rather sporty.

Good luck in your conversions everyone!

Nissan Sentra 00-02

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An eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind.

1989 Suzuki Swift GTi: Red "My PocketRocket"
1989 Suzuki Swift GTi: White (Being resurrected)
1996 Geo Metro (Stocker)
1999 Suzuki 1.6 Esteem (Baleno) Wagon (Sleeper creeper)

Remember when figuring out your mileage (when going from 12's to 13's) you must account for the slower speedo/odometer readings. I went with the 175/70-13 The tire calculators http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html indicate that the odometer will be slower by 7% when going to 175/70-13's from the original 145/12's. Thus if you drive 100 miles you actually drove 107 miles (so use 107 when calculating your MPG) I confirmed this with my GPS while driving the metro.

With the larger circumference you would expect and increase in MPG on the highway cause your gear ratio will be lower. In town you would expect a lower MPG cause it takes more energy to get the larger tire moving. At least this is what I have been told.

I was expecting an overal decrease in mileage with my metro, but I was surpised that I actually went up by about 2-3 MPG. I think this is due to the alignment that I had done with the 13's. It was off badly

I would never go back to the 12's. The ride is incredile, and the tire selection is so much better.

I added some more pictures to my write up at:

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbullet ... p?t=901753

Thanks for the awesome tip, slojaz and RossT !!! I just got them on eBay from "performanceatv" for about $19 with shipping and they are perfect!

Nice list. Thanks. Has anyone ever tried the Supra to 95 Metro Swap? My concern would be tire clearance.
Al

Be careful with that list, it doesn't address offset in any way. Many of the cars on there are rear wheel drive (including the Supra) which will normally have an offset near zero. We need something around 40mm, more typical for front wheel drive cars.

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91 Pontiac Firefly Turbo
10 Suzuki Kizashi


Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
Should be the name of a convenience store, not a government agency

About ur list: Both european ford and saab are 4 x 108.

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Geo Metro Convertible (3-banger)

The newer SAAB's are a 5 bolt pattern (5x110 I believe), the older 900 series are different PCD

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ET 13.138 at 120.2mph

i own a 99 chevy metro lsi(mk5) it came with stock 13z and i upgraded for some 16z with 205/40/16 but they rub and im about 2 close a deal on some racing rimz size 13z..... but if im correct the metro bolt pattern is 4-114 and the ones im gonna ge are 4-100....w ill they fit couse i have no idea........

if anyone can help i would gladly apreciate it..........

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METRO LSI
MIDNIGHT MOTORSPORTS RACING TEAM

You know 114 isn't the same as 100, right? So no, they don't fit. Probably fit a Honda. Just wondering why you say you have no idea if you already know that they are different.

thought I'd toss in that I was just looking at what fits at my parts shop, and I noticed that the 2000 or so volvo 40 series rims are similar to ours too. the 4/114.3 pattern, the offset is like 2 mm difference, the biggest difference is the size of the hub. from memory ours are something like 56mm (for the lowly 1liters, don't think the gti's are the same), and the volvo hub is like 72 mm. hub adapters would be required obviously, and not trying to say that the volvo rim would fit on our cars, but when shopping for rims, you'l get many more hits on what will fit if you look up the volvo rim and a hub adapter. we prices out the adapters to be like 12 bucks for a 4 pack. they're hard nylon so shouldn't give any trouble.

anyways I found a rim I'm interested in by enkei, and when the time comes I suppose we'll try one first and see if it fits or if it rubs. if it rubs I guess I'm stuck with a restocking fee, but otherwise I'll let you guys know.

the only trouble I keep running into with this car is that nobody has info on such an old car, and secondly, whoever does all show different offsets. they'er all close but we'll have to see. I'm sure it's probably on here somewhere, but does anybody know the true wheel specs on a 91 vert? and are they the same as the hatch?

I just got a 1992 metro xfi, and just put motegi traklite 15x6.5 35mm offset wheels on the front. 10lbs ea. without center cap. I used 185 60 15 michelin x-ice xi2 winter tires.... originally didn't rub, now a month later i think i trashed all my bushings and get some rub on hard braking and cornering... for summer i am using general uhp? tires 195/50r15 @ 15.5lbs each

My stock 155r12tires/wheels are 21.25lbs

Edit: just got my 195/50r15 general tire, exclaim UHP tires today....25.5lbs/corner for tire/wheel. tires $54 ea from tire rack

also, i think i messed with the scrub radius just a bit by going to 35mm offset. Driving in snow, it will pull to the spinning tire side, not extreme, but a decent bit.

2nd Edit: 195/50r15's fit beautifully no rubbing at all, even at full steering lock, i did have to do a ghetto fender roll (I cut slits on the inside lip of the wheelwell every 2 inches and pounded them up flat) on the back to keep them from rubbing with the suspension fully compressed. I am absolutely amazed at the handling now. just perfect.

BTW i upgraded to 1996 springs (the 12MM diameter ones), wheel hubs, bearings and brakes. fairly rough ride (very stiff compared to stock springs) had to cut the coils to keep stock height. 1996 wheel hubs and brakes seem to be about 1/2" wider than stock (pushes weels outward)


My opinion is that Motegi traklite wheels are about the only feasible upgrade you can do to the wheels...they are light...inertia is so important, i had 14" steel wheels off of a hyundai on it for part of the winter (approx 40lbs/corner with tires) and lost 7-10mpg. also reasonably priced 700 for the set of 4 shipped off of ebay(some wheel shop in ohio, columbus i think.) also no problems with them holding up to abuse, i load up to 1200lbs of newspapers in my car and drive 120 mi daily. other than them i was looking at a couple other sub 10lb wheels, but was quoted $1500-3500/set for them. steering is also just fine with the wider tires, not much, if any, extra effort to turn the wheel.
Hope this will help someone.

I'M LOOKING TO BUY AFTERMARKET RIMS AND TIRES FOR MY 1991 GEO METRO CONVERTIBLE DOES ANYONE KNOW DETAILS ON WHO SELLING AND WHAT WILL FIT

AHUTSON98--I put the 80 Supra rims on my 91 Metro and I love the look. I'm going to finally try to get a pic up tomorrow if you want to see them. As for your 95, I don't see why they wouldn't fi since they fit my older one. Oh, I did put the 12mm lugs on with the slip on rotors from a 96
I'm actually looking to find out how much these rims weigh. My diameter is actually smaller than the 145R12's but i can definitely tell it's killing my gas mileage. I went from @50 to @40mpg!!! I'm also running a 3cyl engine though

If the Suzuki stock 7 spokes are lighter, I'd be willing to trade. They can even be unfinished, just not cracked or highly grooved or bent. Mine are powder coated white There are a couple scratches along the lips due to have issues with our tire machine, but still very nice. I'm gonna put a listing in the "want to trade" area.

What 13" wheels fit? 13" is better for rally due to the use of higher profile tyres

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Cheers,

Chris

Mini Cooper 1.6 rally car #37
1989 Suzuki Swift GTI Parted out
Road cars , 2013 Hyundai Accent

my geo metro has the smaller lugs. so the will pull through most
rims. i used washers, but that failed inspection. I wanted to
change the lug bolts but never got to it.
are there any lug nuts with larger flanges?

Mustang II / Pintos are Offset: 00mm Bolt Pattern: 4-108...

There is a giveaway set of four nearby - I wish they'd fit!

great info. thanks.

http://www.speedstash.com/wheelguide.html

Just keeping it current

For those that don't read the whole posts, our cars need:
-4x114.3 bolt pattern
-60mm Center Bore (minimum)
-12mm lugs
-Base model 2DR Hatch needs to upgrade to 12mm lugs (from 10) or buy expanding nuts