“Weapon” of choice… American Iron Javelin update.
After some research I decided which wheels I’m going to run. They are MB Weapons in 17 x 9 with about 6″ of backspace. I bought them from Discount Tire Direct. They weigh 21lbs each. Wanted to run the Enkei RPF1s but they were $100 more a wheel (but they only weigh 16.5lbs). Tires were a no brainer. The class has a spec tire and a max size. So I’m running Toyo RA1’s in 275/40-17. Got them mounted, balanced and shaved to 4/32nds at AIM tire at Infineon Raceway.
Sweet!
Steve
Hey, great job on your Javelin AMX! The president of our club, Marty Bricker, is upgrading from 14×6″ wheels to 17″ on his 1974 Javelin AMX. He’s trying to find out the largest wheels and tires he can fit on the car while being able to rotate them. I noticed you did a 17×9″ with a 6″ backspacing and are running 275x40x17 tires. I know your suspension has been heavily modified but can you tell me what needs to be done to fit the tires and wheels from your car on a stock 1974 Javelin AMX? Thanks. Scott
my yellow ’73 Javelin has 17×9 wheels with 5″ backspace that fit fine. the rear suspension on the yellow car is stock leaf springs/drum brakes and has 275/40 17 nitto tires on it and I could probably go wider with a 9 1/2″ rim and a little more backspace. Front has wilwood brakes on a Ken McIntire hub with 255/40 17. I’m not sure how much (if at all) the front brake kit changes things from stock.
I’ve found it somewhat easy to figure out wheel setups by just looking at the wheel/tire you have currently on the car and thinking through what going wider and adding/subtracting backspace would do. So, say you have 15×8 with 255/60 15s you can look up what the “section width” and overall diameter is and compare to the wheel/tire combo you’re considering. if you want a tire that’s 1″ wider then you’re going to grow 1/2″ to both the inside and outside compared to the tire you have on the car (assuming the same backspace). if you want the tire wider AND want to move it more inboard you need more backspace. hope you’re able to follow me… here’s the link to info on the wheels/tires on the yellow Javelin: http://asifnyc.com/?p=527
I’m talking about my yellow ’73 Javelin here because the race car is not really relevant to your question. rear suspension is a custom 3-link with ford 9″ and front suspension is an IFS unit from Control Freak suspensions.