pwoens Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 I bought a set of 4 steel wheels with 185/65/r13 studded snows on them for 50 bucks lastnight. They are the common grey steel wheels and supposedly came off an 83. Well, I put them on my 88 and the calipers rub hard on the wheels. Can I grind the calipers down a little?? I thought all sub 4 lugs would work?? Didnt realize there was a difference?? Any ideas??? I suppose I could do the Idaho unmount and remount on my current rims?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thealleyboy Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 There shouldn't be any difference in rims... It might be excessive corrosion on the new wheels - or on your drums. I would take a wire brush to them, then spray some brake parts cleaner on the surfaces & try again. good luck, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganM Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Grind on good sir! Same size rims but shaped a little different and the calipers are quite a bit different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qman Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 There is a difference between the wheels. The offset is slightly different. As you can see there is a measurable difference. You can grind the caliper to clear but it could cause problems down the road. I would suggest that you just remount them. BTW, the older wheels will not hit on the rear drum or discs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwoens Posted December 7, 2004 Author Share Posted December 7, 2004 It might be excessive corrosion on the new wheels - or on your drums. There are no drums..... simply rotors and calipers. The wheels are rubbing on the outside of the calipers. Should be able to grind it down with no problems. Whats strange is they look identical to my 88 wheels, just grey instead of black?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwoens Posted December 7, 2004 Author Share Posted December 7, 2004 You can grind the caliper to clear but it could cause problems down the road. I only need a little room and the calipers have plenty to spare. Im curious how much I could shave without having future problems?? I would suggest that you just remount them. But then I have a set of wheels that dont do me any good BTW, the older wheels will not hit on the rear drum or discs. yep...they work just fine. I have them on the rear with my originals on the front...looks ghetto...LOL Thanks for the information and diagram Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwoens Posted December 7, 2004 Author Share Posted December 7, 2004 Well...I fixed it. They were barely rubbing so I did some grinding. Hardly any grinding at all....mostly the casting marks is all I needed to grind. Soooo, should have no future reprecutions (spelling???) from the grinding. Woohoo I have studded tires!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Well...I fixed it. They were barely rubbing so I did some grinding. Hardly any grinding at all....mostly the casting marks is all I needed to grind. Soooo, should have no future reprecutions (spelling???) from the grinding. Woohoo I have studded tires!!! I would be concerned about clearance when actually driving on them. Cornering flexes wheels enough that hubcaps pop off, so you might want to think about if you really have enough clearance... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Just remember to watch it very closely when you put new brake pads on. A while back somebody had an issue with older wheels on their car that initially worked fine but started rubbing after they did a front brake job and pushed the calipers farther out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwoens Posted December 8, 2004 Author Share Posted December 8, 2004 I would be concerned about clearance when actually driving on them. Cornering flexes wheels enough that hubcaps pop off, so you might want to think about if you really have enough clearance... good point:) I will do a harder road test tonight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archemitis Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 I would be concerned about clearance when actually driving on them. Cornering flexes wheels enough that hubcaps pop off, so you might want to think about if you really have enough clearance... you sure wheels flex that much? im just thinkin about how rigid aluminum is, and how it would break if it was flexin for 100k miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thealleyboy Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Good stuff Ken... Sorry bout the mis-information Powens, I wasn't aware of this difference John There is a difference between the wheels. The offset is slightly different. As you can see there is a measurable difference. You can grind the caliper to clear but it could cause problems down the road. I would suggest that you just remount them. BTW, the older wheels will not hit on the rear drum or discs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwoens Posted December 8, 2004 Author Share Posted December 8, 2004 Well....I tested it hard last night and got no rubbing or vibration in the brake pedal. Before I did the grinding I could feel the "contact" while braking and hear it. Now I cant hear anything nor can I feel anything. I think it will be fine. Besides its temporary until I get the GL10 put back together....which should be this weekend. Thanks again everyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 you sure wheels flex that much? im just thinkin about how rigid aluminum is, and how it would break if it was flexin for 100k miles. True, cast aluminum would crack before it flexed much. But we are talking steel wheels here. And non-cast aluminum flexes just fine, depending on treatments and composition... just look at how much airplane wings "flap". Glad to here that your wheels worked out. I ran across the same problem a few years ago after student driver destoryed a tire and I had to "borrow" wheels for our '84 (*edit -should be '85 - end edit*) GL-10 from an '82 GL. Lovely noise.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWX Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Glad to here that your wheels worked out. I ran across the same problem a few years ago after student driver destoryed a tire and I had to "borrow" wheels for our '84 GL-10 from an '82 GL. Lovely noise.... that shouldn't have been a problem, as long as EA81 steels are going on another EA81 they'll fit just fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 that shouldn't have been a problem, as long as EA81 steels are going on another EA81 they'll fit just fine Oops!!! This is what happens when typing after double-shift... Should have read "85 GL-10", not '84. I will edit original post. Thanks for catching my brain-fade! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Whats strange is they look identical to my 88 wheels, just grey instead of black?? Look carefully at any one of the spokes. If you start at the hub you'll find the spoke has a smooth curve all the way out to the rim on the EA-81 wheels. Compare that to the spoke on the EA-82 wheels and you'll notice a definite "kink" in the spoke just before it gets to the rim. Qman is correct, all EA82 wheels will fit on the older cars, but the EA81 wheels will rub on the EA82 front caliper. This general statement is not true for the alloy wheels which seem to work on either generation of cars (at least I haven't found a set that don't). The EA81 wheels tend to be more robust than the newer ones. The EA82 wheels can bend at the "kink" more readily and will start to wobble when that happens. I once had collected 3 sets of the EA82 wheels and took them to a local tire shop to have them checked for "trueness." Only 4 out of the 12 were okay; that's when I switched to alloy wheels on my EA82 wagon and still use the older style wagon wheels on the Brat or older wagon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CIS Subaru Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 I used to have a set of the 5" 2wd EA81 steel wheels on my '88 wagon, and I could hear them rub if I took an exit ramp at high speed. Just a tidbit of extra info here: The 4.5" rims from 2wd EA71 DLs and STDs will NOT fit on EA82 cars. They are simply too small. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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