CLK wheels on Pagodas?

[jeffc280sl]

Shane,

How did you decide on the 20mm spacers?  Were you looking for a wider stance or was it clearance? How do you like the handling? My 205/60 R15 are great.

[shanecallahan]

I could say I checked the wheel offsets, but honestly I couldn't be bothered by that.   Someone on this thread also mentioned that the CLK rims may have been mounted too close to his exhaust which may have caused a blow-out.  That was a good hint that I needed a spacer too. 

The CLK rims and stock rims were both 7" in width and have 205mm width tires.  If the CLK rim was wider I would have had to learn about offsets.  I laid both the CLK rim and stock rim face down and put a straight edge across the back of the rim.  Then I measured from the back of the center hub to the leading edge of the straight edge.  On the stock rim it was something like 2" and the CLK rim was 2 1/2".  By adding the 20mm spacer (about 1/2") to the CLK rim it brought the rim out to the same stance as the original rim. 

[jeffc280sl]

How about performance?  How much space do you have between the exhaust pipe and rear tire?

[Ulf]

Ulfi, the wheels you have might just be a set of Zenith wire wheels.  Many of the 107's had these as an aftermarket item.

They are actually from Dayton and was added by the first owner in San Diego, but right now I'm in the process of replacing them with standard steel wheels with hubcaps, but unfortunately one of the rims I received is 6,5" wide rather than 6", which I discovered after spending the good part of a day sanding and painting them...have a tread somewhere about whether it will make a difference with my 205 Tiger Paws that I intend to keep.
The wire wheels will be up for grabs if someone wants them, but only after I'm sure the new rims are up to the job :-)

Ulf

[shanecallahan]

I confirmed the distance between the exhaust and tires is the same as with the stock 14" rims.  The car rides much tighter with this rim/tire combo.  

My tire project was done on the cheap $620 total ($80 for 4 good condition CLK rims on Craigs, $120 for spacers and lugs, $420 for new Contentials and I had the MB logo center caps).  I spent a good portion of the afternoon sanding out curb rash from 2 of the rims and taking it to the buffing wheel. Overall, it's the look I was going for.  

To Jeffc280sl,  I read all about your 15" hubcaps and challenges finding rims.  That turned out really great!!! 

[jeffc280sl]

Thank you.  The rims were hard to find because I wanted the correct offset and did not want to use spacers.  I'm not anti spacer.  I also wanted the classic look as well.