Advice needed on track wheel fitment

[paradocs98]

After months of researching, thinking, hemming and hawing, I finally decided on a square set of 18x10 Forgeline GA3Rs for my track wheels. Forgeline was great to deal with--it's not easy to find an 18-in wheel to clear my StopTech 380mm/6-piston front brakes, but Forgeline used the StopTech template and built my wheels for this specific fitment. I had Discount Tire Direct send a set of 275/35-18 Nitto NT01s to Forgeline for mounting, and after a few weeks of waiting, I received the wheels by UPS last night.

I was excited to do a test fit today, but when I tried one on a front corner, it JUST contacts the brake caliper, preventing free wheel movement. The GA3R is a multi-piece design, and joins the wheel center with the rim or barrel by a series of small nuts, in the case of the GA3R mounted on the inside of the wheel face for a cleaner look. This is in contrast to their ZX3R, which places the joining nuts on the ouside face of the wheel. It's these small jet-nuts that just touch the shoulder of the 6-piston caliper--it misses clearing by just millimeters.

I was about to pack the wheels up for shipping back to Forgeline when I had a thought--what about using the 12.5mm Turner spacers that I use on my ZCP wheels for my daily driver setup? I tried the spacers, and sure enough, the brake caliper now clears without a problem However, when the front wheels are turned a decent amount, there is now contact/rubbing between the tires and the plastic inner fender liner. It's probably a degree of steering angle that I wouldn't see that often on the track, but it's obviously less than ideal.

So...should I:

1. Try this current setup with the 12.5mm spacers and hope that I don't get too much fender liner rubbing on the track.

2. Try a narrower spacer such as a 5mm in hopes that it's enough to clear the jet-nuts from the brake caliper, but not so much that it causes fender liner rubbing. Also, I've read that with BMWs, any spacer less than 10mm cannot be truly hubcentric. Would a 5mm Turner spacer therefore be less than ideal on the track?

or 3. Send the wheels back to Forgeline for revision or replacement with new wheels, since it was a guaranteed fitment.

This hobby is going to make me NUTS.

[rzm3]

How much can you turn your steering wheel before rubbing?

[Gearhead999s]

Can you reverse the bolts on the wheels?I would probally send the wheels back to Forgeline if they guaranted the fitment.If those wheels are 25P using spacers will cause a rub on the inner fender liner.

[STALKER]

Its a custom wheel and Im assuming you told them all the info about the set up you are going to run.
Im guessing they made a mistake on their end, I would send the wheels back. There are a number of 18" wheels that will clear your BBK.

[JAJ]

Originally Posted by paradocs98

After months of researching, thinking, hemming and hawing, I finally decided on a square set of 18x10 Forgeline GA3Rs for my track wheels. Forgeline was great to deal with--it's not easy to find an 18-in wheel to clear my StopTech 380mm/6-piston front brakes, but Forgeline used the StopTech template and built my wheels for this specific fitment. I had Discount Tire Direct send a set of 275/35-18 Nitto NT01s to Forgeline for mounting, and after a few weeks of waiting, I received the wheels by UPS last night.

I was excited to do a test fit today, but when I tried one on a front corner, it JUST contacts the brake caliper, preventing free wheel movement. The GA3R is a multi-piece design, and joins the wheel center with the rim or barrel by a series of small nuts, in the case of the GA3R mounted on the inside of the wheel face for a cleaner look. This is in contrast to their ZX3R, which places the joining nuts on the ouside face of the wheel. It's these small jet-nuts that just touch the shoulder of the 6-piston caliper--it misses clearing by just millimeters.

I was about to pack the wheels up for shipping back to Forgeline when I had a thought--what about using the 12.5mm Turner spacers that I use on my ZCP wheels for my daily driver setup? I tried the spacers, and sure enough, the brake caliper now clears without a problem However, when the front wheels are turned a decent amount, there is now contact/rubbing between the tires and the plastic inner fender liner. It's probably a degree of steering angle that I wouldn't see that often on the track, but it's obviously less than ideal.

So...should I:

1. Try this current setup with the 12.5mm spacers and hope that I don't get too much fender liner rubbing on the track.

2. Try a narrower spacer such as a 5mm in hopes that it's enough to clear the jet-nuts from the brake caliper, but not so much that it causes fender liner rubbing. Also, I've read that with BMWs, any spacer less than 10mm cannot be truly hubcentric. Would a 5mm Turner spacer therefore be less than ideal on the track?

or 3. Send the wheels back to Forgeline for revision or replacement with new wheels, since it was a guaranteed fitment.

This hobby is going to make me NUTS.

You're already nuts - you know that, right?

As tempting as it is to say "get some 3mm spacers and you'll be fine" I'm with the guys that say to send them back and have them rebuilt. Spacers are a pain in the butt on a long term basis. If you have the option to not use them, take it.

That said, I have some real bad news for you. 275/35x18 NT-01's are so wide that they will still rub the inside of the fender well on any rim - 9.5 or 10 - that clears the strut (ET25 or so). Mine, on 9.5 ET23's, hit the liner so hard under braking into a hairpin (once every 90 seconds or so all day long) that it dislodged the windshield washer reservoir located behind the fender liner. I eventually gave up on the square set and ran 245's on the front.

[Gearhead999s]

Originally Posted by JAJ

You're already nuts - you know that, right?

As tempting as it is to say "get some 3mm spacers and you'll be fine" I'm with the guys that say to send them back and have them rebuilt. Spacers are a pain in the butt on a long term basis. If you have the option to not use them, take it.

That said, I have some real bad news for you. 275/35x18 NT-01's are so wide that they will still rub the inside of the fender well on any rim - 9.5 or 10 - that clears the strut (ET25 or so). Mine, on 9.5 ET23's, hit the liner so hard under braking into a hairpin (once every 90 seconds or so all day long) that it dislodged the windshield washer reservoir located behind the fender liner. I eventually gave up on the square set and ran 245's on the front.

Not to take this thread off topic but I have run a lot of 275/35 18's on 18x10's @ 25P with no rubbing issues.The 888 is the largest tire in width and I had zero contact in the wheelwell or fender area.

[dcstep]

You paid a premium price for premium wheels that wouldn't need spacers. These are track wheels, so the added weight of spacers makes no sense. If you were trying to make some cheap wheels work, then ok, but you paid a huge premium and deserve an elegant solution, which means, send them back. If you hadn't told them which calipers you had and if you hadn't sent a template then I might say it's your problem, but you did everything right and deserve what you ordered.

[JAJ]

Originally Posted by Gearhead999s

Not to take this thread off topic but I have run a lot of 275/35 18's on 18x10's @ 25P with no rubbing issues.The 888 is the largest tire in width and I had zero contact in the wheelwell or fender area.

The NT-01 has square shoulders.

[dawgdog]

Originally Posted by Gearhead999s

Not to take this thread off topic but I have run a lot of 275/35 18's on 18x10's @ 25P with no rubbing issues.The 888 is the largest tire in width and I had zero contact in the wheelwell or fender area.

I ran 275/35/18 R888s on my square Volk setup - 9.5" et 28 with no rubbing. Hope the NT01s fit because I just ordered them. Also have ran NT05s on this wheel on the front with no rubbing.

[dawgdog]

Did a test fitment today of my NT 01s on my 9.5x18"et 28 Volk rims in front and no rubbing even at full lock. Glad because they are going on for a track today in less than two weeks. Are a little wider than the same size NT05, though.

[leo95se]

i put on 275 nt01s last night with 15mm spacers up front, and it doesnt fit at all. removed spacers and there is the smallest amount of room left now. i can see some rubbing under a hard braking or cornering situation, but hope not. its definitely tight, either way!

[Dntlvet]

OMG this thread makes me sick. If I ordered custom wheels for track and they didn't fit; I'd be very upset. I was planning on Volk TE37 SL 19 with Ad08 or Michelon SS 275/30/19 front and 295/30/19 rear. Do I pull the trigger or wait? Stock 2010 M3

[Dntlvet]

I have repeatedly been told the Nitto 01s are not a good fit for 9X M3.

[JAJ]

Originally Posted by Dntlvet

I have repeatedly been told the Nitto 01s are not a good fit for 9X M3.

I ran 245/40x18F and 275/35x18R NT-01's with my KW CS suspension - excellent balance and good handling. Square doesn't get you as much as you might think, in my opinion.

[paradocs98]

A followup: After numerous discussions with both Forgeline and StopTech, everyone is scratching their heads. Forgeline received and used the correct StopTech template based on my brakes. Forgeline also says they have made numerous sets of 18x10 inch square GA3Rs and ZX3Rs for the E92/E90 M3 and this is the first clearance issue they've had. I sent the wheels back and they remeasured and confirmed that everything is to spec. But they're making good on the guaranteed fitment and building a new set of wheels for me. The offset will be the same, so the wheels sit in the same location relative to fender and strut, but they will add some material to the mounting pad, moving the face of the wheel out for more clearance, while taking some width out of the outer rim shell and adding width to the inner rim shell.

They should be here in a couple of weeks. I'll post another update at that time.

[Bubbles]

I've run several sets of the 275/35/18 NT-01s on 10 in wheels with no rubbing. Stock ZCP suspension.

[paradocs98]

Originally Posted by paradocs98

A followup: After numerous discussions with both Forgeline and StopTech, everyone is scratching their heads. Forgeline received and used the correct StopTech template based on my brakes. Forgeline also says they have made numerous sets of 18x10 inch square GA3Rs and ZX3Rs for the E92/E90 M3 and this is the first clearance issue they've had. I sent the wheels back and they remeasured and confirmed that everything is to spec. But they're making good on the guaranteed fitment and building a new set of wheels for me. The offset will be the same, so the wheels sit in the same location relative to fender and strut, but they will add some material to the mounting pad, moving the face of the wheel out for more clearance, while taking some width out of the outer rim shell and adding width to the inner rim shell.

They should be here in a couple of weeks. I'll post another update at that time.

Update as promised: FINALLY got the new GA3Rs in yesterday. Since they had to make all new wheels for me anyway, I changed the finish to matte black centers with polished black rim shells. It will give me a different look from my daily driver ZCP wheels. So they kept the offset the same (18x10 inch square setup ET 27) while moving the wheel centers 12mm toward the wheel face/fender side. They took away 12mm from the outer rim shell width and added 12mm to the inner rim shell width, and the mounting pad is a corresponding 12mm thicker. Since there is more material on the mounting pad, they are probably marginally heavier (maybe 0.5lb per wheel), but the important part is that they now FIT! They clear the front StopTech 380mm/6-piston brakes. Clearance is fine, but there's not a tremendous amount of room--par for the course I would assume for fitting 18-inch wheels to such large brakes. If the wheel balancing weights were taller or in a different position, there might be clearance issues.

I took the car for a spin to Wendy's for lunch, and it felt good. Minimal tramlining. No rubbing on the fender liners that I can tell so far. The Nitto NT-01s make a weird tread noise, but this setup is for the track anyway. Even on local streets at sane speeds I can tell there is more front-end bite. I'm looking forward to comparing them on the track with the stock ZCP setup. Attached are a couple pics--not perfect quality, but you get the idea.

[Brosef]

badass setup!

[Radiation Joe]

Glad it all worked out.

To add another opinion to the discussion, I believe there is less wheel well clearance on the e90s than the e92s. So what just clears on an e92 will rub a hole in the fender liner of an e90. I did just that by running a square set-up of 18 inch OEMs with 265/40 PS2s on my first e90. Absolutely loved the way the car drove, though.

[saildoc]

So much work and money, glad to see that it worked out finally. I did a lot of reading on this forum about tracking my car, especially about brakes. Some people made the point that big brake kits may slightly increase the swept area and add some heat sink mass but do not really offer much over the stock brakes. The problem is the pad material that works on the street is not heat resistant enough for the track. Cheap solution: track pads, I went with carbotech and tried hard to overheat them at tracks in Oklahoma and Texas with 100 degree days. No problems-the pain is driving those harsh pads on the street.
Good luck with your set up!

[turbo8765]

Originally Posted by Bubbles

I've run several sets of the 275/35/18 NT-01s on 10 in wheels with no rubbing. Stock ZCP suspension.

On what wheels?