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Caution : Buying New Wheels

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Overbooost Apprentice

Overbooost

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Ok, so last week i purchased some new Gf7 18" wheels from tempe tyres. I had some speclation to wether they would actually fit an r33 as the stock brakes are quite large, but the tempe staff assured me that they would fit and they would even send some spacers just 'incase.' The wheels rocked up at my house after a couple of days, when i searched through the boxes i found no allen key specific to the the size of the new nuts that came with the tyres.. with a little improvisation i managed to get the nuts fully tightened and the wheels on, all looked pretty sex.

A little later i took the car out for a test run with the new wheels. It was evident after just 5 mins of driving that something was not right, i was getting really annoying vibrations and shuddrs on deseleration and some pretty nasty sounds. I took the wheels of when i got home to investigate and found metal filings on the base of the new rims... (oh shit). i made sure i had correctly fitted the tyres and went around the block to try and find out what exactly the problem was... once again shudders. I spoke to a friend who works at beurepaires and he told me a few things 1. Spacers are absoloute shit and 2. they are illegal. The spacers i was provided with did not fit like i was told. The quality was so bad actually that just after going around the block my rear right was near falling off. The spacers weere actually knocking the bolts out and creating a gap between the rim and the hub, this was also causing grinding (i.e. the metal filings) so i immediately took the wheels off and got the stockies back on. I spoke to a another mate who has bolted-on spacers and he too is finding similar problems and is getting rid of the wheels.

Tempe told me to call back tomorrow as they pretty much cbf'd sorting the problem out. Hopefuly i will be able to get a refund or an exchange for something that fits. Just making my problem known to anyone who has or is considering getting spacers so that their new wheels will fit... its definatley not worth it. lol. + if you go throught the pits they will slam you for it. If you are buying from tempe be weary not to get rims that require spacers, eventually you will just be sending them back :) . pce.

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SMOKEYV35 Mentor

SMOKEYV35

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firstly, did the wheels arrive with the tyres fitted and balanced? tempe isnt exactly recognised for quality rims and tyres. an imbalance could be enough to upset things to the point of loosening the nuts.

secondly, u say u had to 'improvise' with tightening the studs. that to me says, u did a half assed job instead of going out and buying the correct size socket fitting for 5 bucks. ur lucky you didnt round off the nuts half way onto the stud, then you would be in all sorts of shit. if u were using an incorrect fitting, then you probably never had enough torque on the nuts to get them tight enough.

thirdly, the nuts on the spacers also have to be on tight as buggery. any play, and like u have noted, the rim will gradually work its way off.

fourth, spacers aren't the problem. they can cause imbalances yes - but plenty of people run them, myself included, and so long as u exercise a bit of caution they are perfectly fine to live with. for example, when i take a wheel off, i put it back on, drive for a few minutes, get out, and retighten. 9/10 times they need a bit more tightening after the initial tighten.

fifth, tempe may have said they fit, but the fact they sent you spacers leads me to believe that they knew they wouldnt, or that they advised you that its 'possible' they wouldnt. 5 mins of research on this site before you bought your rims would have told you the exact offset necessary.

sixth, dont buy new from tempe. buy second hand jap rims from a forum or an importer. better quality, better looking, more value, bulk respect.

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Bliksem Veteran

Bliksem

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Quick tip, make sure when you speak to Tempe ask for the guys name so you can speak to the same person every time...will save you alot of trouble....

I've found them hard to deal with over the phone as I also had to sort out a problem with them too (sent rims but one was the wrong colour :))

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Overbooost Apprentice

Overbooost

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firstly, did the wheels arrive with the tyres fitted and balanced? tempe isnt exactly recognised for quality rims and tyres. an imbalance could be enough to upset things to the point of loosening the nuts.

secondly, u say u had to 'improvise' with tightening the studs. that to me says, u did a half assed job instead of going out and buying the correct size socket fitting for 5 bucks. ur lucky you didnt round off the nuts half way onto the stud, then you would be in all sorts of shit. if u were using an incorrect fitting, then you probably never had enough torque on the nuts to get them tight enough.

thirdly, the nuts on the spacers also have to be on tight as buggery. any play, and like u have noted, the rim will gradually work its way off.

fourth, spacers aren't the problem. they can cause imbalances yes - but plenty of people run them, myself included, and so long as u exercise a bit of caution they are perfectly fine to live with. for example, when i take a wheel off, i put it back on, drive for a few minutes, get out, and retighten. 9/10 times they need a bit more tightening after the initial tighten.

fifth, tempe may have said they fit, but the fact they sent you spacers leads me to believe that they knew they wouldnt, or that they advised you that its 'possible' they wouldnt. 5 mins of research on this site before you bought your rims would have told you the exact offset necessary.

sixth, dont buy new from tempe. buy second hand jap rims from a forum or an importer. better quality, better looking, more value, bulk respect.

wat size (mm) are your spacers and how long have u been using them for. Also was kind of nuts are u using and how many?

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scathing Grand Master

scathing

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important lesson learnt. if you buy rims with the correct offset you will not need spacers. ;)

The most important lesson is that if you buy rims from Tempe, don't expect them to have rims in the correct offset or be balanced.

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Taleb Tyres Proficient

Taleb Tyres

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No matter what wheel you buy, it is recommended to retighten your nuts after about 20 kms, and this must be done correctly with the proper tools, i mean, your wheels are the only thing holding the car onto the road mate. when using loose spacers you need to retighen frequently as they will and do compress slightly over time and driving.

that said they should have told you that any spacer or adaptor not welded onto the hub and engineered is illegal and defectable.

Also make sure you have the centre hub rings fitted, these are different to spacers and should have been provided free with any set sold.

Sounds like you need a lower offest wheel...

Edited by T187
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siddr20 Grand Master

siddr20

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get the right offset firstly when getting new rims..

For your sedan it should be anywhere between 30-45 lol..

Go to their shop and get it fitted, if you still insist of buyin rims from tempe..

Theres plenty of rims on sau for sale section!! Should have checked that out first..

looks like you learnt the hard way tho..

Edit: i hope you havnt put chromies on your car.. :ninja:

Edited by siddr20
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Overbooost Apprentice

Overbooost

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get the right offset firstly when getting new rims..

For your sedan it should be anywhere between 30-45 lol..

Go to their shop and get it fitted, if you still insist of buyin rims from tempe..

Theres plenty of rims on sau for sale section!! Should have checked that out first..

looks like you learnt the hard way tho..

Edit: i hope you havnt put chromies on your car.. :D

haha no chromies.. not a fan. yeah i probably should have,, but the rims i saw on tempe caught my eye first and i had to have them.

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Steve Grand Master

Steve

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spacers do not cause problems unless they are poor quality or incorrectly fitted - I have run them for years on my street/track (drift) car, both slip on and bolt on type, I even went over the pits with them and no probs

you get what you pay for - no such thing as a bargain when you are buying new, your wheels (and tyres) will make a big difference to handling and affect performance.

If you cant afford decent new wheels - you cant afford new wheels.

there is a very, very good chance that if you didnt have a correct key to tighten your 'allen key' nuts, they werent tightened properly, which can cause problems even without spacers

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