fbekholden.com

Hey guys,

My ute has a HR front end, torana stub axles and VN discs/calipers, i was wondering if anyone else is running the same thing (ie, rodshop front end with commodore brakes) and if so do you have standard commodore offset wheels on them? I have 15x7" steel chaser rims on the ute, the rear end is narrowed to suit this offset as well, and the outer edge of the rims tuck in about an inch or so from the guard lip, but the fronts appear way too far in by comparison. The 15' rims clear the upper control arms happily, and it doesnt touch either way lock to lock, so I'm wondering if rego/engineer is going to shit a brick.... because from what I can tell it may now have a narrower track. Which could be bad??

Andrew,

I've got Commodore/HR on my EK wagon.

Most Commodore wheels are 43mm positive offset (you will find "43P" stamped on the rim). This is a lot more than the original HR Holden offset of 6mm positive, but is in the right direction (wheels are "tucked in" under the car rather than "widened out" and loading up the stub axles). Many engineers use the rule that the offset shall not be increased by more than 12.5mm each side of the vehicle - OK in your case as you are decreasing the offset.

For some conversions (including mine) the "tucked in" wheels rub on the tierod ends, or look too narrow. One way around this is to fit wheel spacers, which are frowned upon by most engineers and registration authorities. A better way is to fit Commodore wheels with 26mm positive offset ("26P"). You can find these on VP Berlina, VP and VR with ABS/IRS, VT Aclaim V6 and VQ Statey Series 1. These are 20mm less offset each side than the standard HR, so safer.

Note that if you do end up using the CRS crossmember/stub axles, you need to be aware of the track limitations. The Castlemaine Rod Shop indicates that the modified stub axles have been designed for a maximum track of 1455mm. Not sure about VN, but the VN/VP V8 hubs on my EK give a track of 1436mm (when measured as per the Casltemaine Rod Shop to the centre of the tyre).

Cheers,
Harv

Thanks for the info Harv, very informative!

I'm running a HR front end, but dont have the CRS stubs- mine are Torana of some sort (gotta check with the old man) with mix and match bearings to suit fitment of the VN discs. Whilst close, the tierods don't touch the rims or tyres- could be a slightly wider setup than the CRS one I suppose, might have to take some good photos and measurements.

I'll check to see what VP/ stato type wheels Dad's got lying around- owing a wheel and tyre shop is always handy..