Advice on rims and tires

[71Firebird]

I've got an 87 Tercel with reg wheels and am thinking about putting something else on it. What are my options?...what wheels work in this size...what size are Tercel wheels?...what bolt patern?...where is the best place to look for new wheels? I want to put some bigger tires and wheels on the car, the stock ones are too small and whimpy, I'd like something with a little more meat to it, any suggestions, both wheels and rims?
Thanks,
Steve

[- GT style -]

I'm just about to get a '87 wagon also

I had an '88 EZ 3dr before & it was 4x100, I've been told the wagon is also but haven't measured yet.

Nice that there'll be another wagon near me.

[71Firebird]

Hey GT Style,
Glad to hear that the Terc Wagon Clan is ever expanding! and going beyond borders too!..lol...great lil car, been going and going, ours has 230k on it now.

Thanks for the post...so the wheel/rim size is 4X100? I'm lost with imports (only been into cars for last 2 years) I'd like to find some alum rims, maybe mags for it, but don't want to buy new, so I need to know what to ask for at the yards and swaps. Any other numbers I need to know? What other vehicles rims will interchange with it, do you know? And any idea what the largest tire that could go on a set of rims could be? what I mean is, are there rims in the 4X100 size (which I imagine are for the stock 13 in size tire) that will let you go up to 14 or 15 in tires on the 4X100 size rims?

Sorry for the bombardment of questions...lol...but ya won't know if ya don't ask right?...
I can tell ya about Pontiac wheels if you ever want to know...lol
Thanks

[thoughthard]

The lug pattern is 4x100.

Offset is something to look at also, but I can't tell you what will work or not.

Centerbore also needs to be looked at, since if it is too small to fit over your Tercel's hub, then the wheel will not fit, unless you bore out the center, which could be unsafe. Too large of centerbore might cause vibration problems, or might not. Hubcentric rings might fix the vibrations, if available.

Here is a useful link... http://www.lensowheel.com/alloy_page1.htm

[- GT style -]

Originally Posted by 71Firebird

Hey GT Style,
Glad to hear that the Terc Wagon Clan is ever expanding! and going beyond borders too!..lol...

what I mean is, are there rims in the 4X100 size (which I imagine are for the stock 13 in size tire) that will let you go up to 14 or 15 in tires on the 4X100 size rims?

I haven't picked it up yet cause I just grabbed an '84 Volvo 240 DL (245) wagon in the morning after I posted that.
The Tercel wagon is still on the list, now I just need to organize space/money .


I had 15" on my '88 EZ, I'd suggest not larger than that or it'll look like wagon wheels.

[Donald]

The original tire size for the '87 Tercel is 155/80/13.

155 is the measurement in "MM" from one bead to the next around the outside of the tire carcas, like you cut out a cross section and measured around the "U".

80 is the % ratio of the hight of the side wall to the measurement from bead to bead. - the lower that second number, the lower the tire sidewall in relation to the width - (Profile)

13 is the diameter of the rim, in inches measured at the bead.

I have an '89EZ and have put Paseo front brakes on. Because of the increase in diameter (10MM) I had to go to larger rims with lower profile tires in order to clear the calipers. I put on a set of 15X7 aluminum wheels with 195/50/15 tires. The difference is 3 revolutions more per mile, or -0.4%. Almost a perfect match.

There is a very good site that you can use to calculate the best size tire to use on a larger rim, for whatever car, You just put in the original tire size and the size that you want to compare it with and it will give you sidewall hight, radius, circumfrence, revolutions/mile and an ultimate percentage speed difference. I have attached the link below.

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

[Donald]

The original tire size for the '87 Tercel is 155/80/13.

155 is the measurement in "MM" from one bead to the next around the outside of the tire carcas, like you cut out a cross section and measured around the "U".

80 is the % ratio of the hight of the side wall to the measurement from bead to bead. - the lower that second number, the lower the tire sidewall in relation to the width - (Profile)

13 is the diameter of the rim, in inches measured at the bead.

I have an '89EZ and have put Paseo front brakes on. Because of the increase in diameter (10MM) I had to go to larger rims with lower profile tires in order to clear the calipers. I put on a set of 15X7 aluminum wheels with 195/50/15 tires. The difference is 3 revolutions more per mile, or -0.4%. Almost a perfect match.

There is a very good site that you can use to calculate the best size tire to use on a larger rim, for whatever car, You just put in the original tire size and the size that you want to compare it with and it will give you sidewall hight, radius, circumfrence, revolutions/mile and an ultimate percentage speed difference. I have attached the link below.

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

[Donald]

Sorry for the double post. Opperator defficency. :o)

[REN69]

delete one. well.. 2 now.

As for wheels, most FWD smaller imports are 4x100 or 4x114, if you're getting OEM Toyota rims from another car (Corolla, Celica) they should fit fine, but if you're getting them from another brand (Honda, Nissan, Mazda) that's when you look at center bore size. All aftermarket wheels come with bigger than everything center bore, that's why you have to get hubcentric rings for them which are specific sizes to fit specific brands.

For the Tercel, you could go with 14 or even 15s anything bigger than that will make it difficult for those 80hp motors to move the car forward.
175/65-14, 195/55-14, 185/60-14 or 195/50-15 is probably the biggest you should go.