Borbet A's Rubbing On Brake Callipers

[b1jc]

Hi All,
I have been a member for a while now, but this is my first post, I usually just read. Anyway, had my 89' sport for a few years now and still love it as much as the day I bought it. Anyway, my problem......

I got some Borbet A's off a well know auction site (I'm not going to name drop) obviously 4x100 and apperently pcd 15, j9 215/40/16 stretched over. On paper they should fit, but they jam on the front callipers, the rear ones seem fine. When I got home tonight I came equipt with 5mm spacers but as I suspected the bolts are too short, I then proceeded to get the dremel onto the part of the callipers that where fauling on the inside of the wheels, dremel went flat, grinder got a bit loud for the neighbours, I have taken loads of metal off there and am now a bit worried about the thin'ness of it.

I'm hoping someone else has had this problem and managed to get round it somehow. Thanks in advance for all your kind help.

[dazleeds]

i have this prob with 7.5j azevs only on the front again
mine are et30 so i need to use spacers
am gonna prob end up with 10mm spacers
at the moment i have 20mms but think they are gonna cause arch probs when i lower it

what et are your wheels??

[b1jc]

I'm told they are et15, I mean the back ones look okay, and seem to fit right as far as I can make out, the 5mm spacers do the job but as I say the bolts are too short, I get about 3 or 4 turns on the bolts, I'm not risking it like that, and if they are likely to rub the arches then 5mm of more poking out is alot.

[dazleeds]

if your clearing the calipers with the spacers then
as ya said just a case of slightly longer bolts

most motor factors can order them in same or next day just take original stud in and add for spacer etc
if you get em too long just grind them down gently to size
Daz

[b1jc]

That's what I think I'l have to do, I had a bad experience with spacers a few years back and like to avoid them when possable, they where like 50mm spacers. But really I would like to have them on there without them, especially as the fronts are 9" wide and already stick out a little without the spacers on there.
But I think I'm going to just take your advice and get me some longer bolts.

[dazleeds]

50mm fook that

youll be fine with 10mm mate
i have 20s at the moment and theyre ok but will be an issue when lowered

just dnt go for the el cheapo chrome plated chav studs

make sure they are a good quality set and ya should be fine mate

good luck

im pretty sure twiggy is using same size wheels as you and he def has 10mm spacers

[nav786]

are you sure they are jamming the caliper, cos et15 9j on front will not work as they hit the strut, so it may be the strut they are jamming on. they should be okay with the caliper.

[b1jc]

Hehe, yeah they were the old ford rs2000 alloys on a 309 GTI, we all go through these bad taste stages at some point, the important part is knowing they were not good ideas. Thanks for ya help Daz, it's much appreciated.

Ben.

[b1jc]

Nav,

Yeah, every time I take more metal off the calliper and check it, i'm getting paint off the inside of the wheel, thats how I know which bit to grind off next lol. It is very close to the strut but I havn't managed to bolt it completely back yet so that might be a problem too.

Ben.

[nav786]

are you 100% they are et15, cos my keskins are et15 9j and they hit the strut but clear the caliper. twiggy had same problem as me with his borbet b's. he is now using 10mm spacers.

[b1jc]

I was thinking about getting some keskin kt1's but these came along and were my second choice. The guy that sold them to me said they came straight off an e30 and that they were et15. Alot of people say 9" is too much for the front but then alot of people seem to have fitted them, I'm very confused and very stuck.

[bigun]

i think it is the strut also my mates running 9's rear 7.5 fronts on his 320is we tried the rear on the front and it was hitting the strut same size tyres as you

[nav786]

where in berkshire are you mate?

[b1jc]

I can fit my head between the wheel and the arch, is my head too small?? try it and let me know!! at the point it's fauling, forgot to say it fauls only 1/4 of the wheel turning not all the way round, but I'm sure that's because it's not perfectly round at that point of the wheel, anyway at the point its fauling, I stick my tiny head up in there and the wheel isn't actually touching the strut at all. definately the calliper as the inside of the wheel is all scored where the caliper is at, and paint on the calliper off the wheel.

[maxfield]

Dude if your heads that smal i hope your not a body builder.

[b1jc]

No, but am now thing of taking it up in an attempt to maybe grow my head a bit too.

[b1jc]

I'm from Newbury Nav, bout 20 miles from slough.

[dazleeds]

[nav786]

ah i see understand where it is fouling, its the inside top of the wheel, yes. a 16 inch rim easily clears standard 325 calipers, is your car running bigger brakes?

[b1jc]

Only thing I have done is grooved and drilled discs and pads, tar-ox I think. O) The O is the hub, The ) is the caliper. Right in the middle of the ) is where the fauling is going on. I hope that makes at least a bit of sense. If not, I'l try try and come up with some other silly way of explaining it.

[nav786]

i understand made, but it has me puzzled, are both sides fouling?

[dazleeds]

heres a pic of mine

the black score line roung the uoter edge across the spokes is where the caliper outer bracket catches without spacers


click to enlarge

[b1jc]

Both front wheels yeah, backs seem absolutely fine obviously due to tiny calipers. I cannot say they are et15 though, would they be printed on the wheels somewhere?

[nav786]

daz thats not where his is catching. his is hitting the curved round face of wheel the inside of the O.

[nav786]

yeh offset is on inside face or under the wheel cap. its not the offset thats causing the problem from what you are saying.

[b1jc]

Daz, are they my wheels? well mine look like that now anyway. A picture paints....... you know. That is what I was trying to get at. Well done Daz.

[nav786]

ok so the pic daz put up, is that where they are fouling. if so then spacers it is.

[b1jc]

After quite a bit of grinding it's only slightly touching now, but if I keep going I'm worried that part of the caliper is going to become too weak, so maybe I should bite the bullet and use my spacers, any suggestions where to get slighly longer bolts of good quality?

[dazleeds]

if yours are catching there same as mine
its an et problem
#

and i would say yours are no way et15 more like et30/et35
mine are et30 azevs 7.5x16"

[b1jc]

these wheels at some point were on a corrado, I thought they where exactly the same fitment as e30's. If mine were 7.5's up front, I wouldn't think twice and just use the spacers, but the 9's stick out slighly as it is amd I don't wan't to cause problems with MoT's etc.

[nadz325i]

borbet a, sexy sexy looking wheels.

from memory the 9j et 15 is/should be engraved/embossed just on the inner dish.

the rears fit perfect on standard hubs, no spacers, you need arches rolled tho ( i did)

the fronts do/will rub becase of the way the caliper is positioned, clears the struts but not much.

i had rear 15mm spacers hubcentric eibach and fronts 15 to but were to much and bought FK 10mm, 15 10 gives a nice track size on the car,

7.5j you need spacers again (et20) and sit nice but hasnt the dish of the 9j, golf mk1,2, opel astra e30 have same fitment, 4x100 with 57.1mm bore. ofset depends on wheel size.

mmmm nice euro stretch, 215, look slick, but to be honest these are all show then go because handling/cornering is just shite with them(understear, slide slide all they ever did if you took a fast corner or plant your foot down) thats why i sold them, i like to go fassst.. with due car and attention of course.

you can buy large bolts to match 9j no probs, 3 - 4 quid a bolt tho.

i have my old kit consists of 12x longer bolts suit 9j and 2x mcgard long (suit 9j to) have 2x eibach spacers to 15mm hubcentrics. pm me if you want anythhing, im from berks to

[sheldo]

reading all this is getting me even more confused

I really want a set of 15"or 16" bs split rims. What are the exact sizes i can get away with? I was looking at one set that are 7 x 15 on the front and et25 and the rears are 8 x 15 et18. I get confused with the et. Will these fit?

Or alternativley the other set im looking at are 8 x 15 et14 and 9 x 15 et01 on the rear. All are 4 x 100pcd.

I think i understand i can go as big as 8j on the front and 9j on the rear but i definatley aint got a clue what the f**k et is.

[dazleeds]

sheldo mate
im same the et side confuses me

standard bbs are et24 and obviously a perfect fit

so ur aim has to be to try match that et if poss

however this seems almost impossible to do on aftermarket wheels

mine are et30 and the rears go on fine no probs as yet altho im about to swap trailing arms and add rear calipers etc so this may change yet??

as for the fronts at moment im on 20mm spacers which make it look the nuts but will soon be a big prob when i lower her

my rims r 7.5 wide so im hoping that proper hubcentric 10mm spacers will be enough for me to clear the calipers i dnt have any probs hitting the struts

[sheldo]

cheers daz its all bloody confusing to me. I know what i want and i have the mulla waiting just dont want to spend the kind of money that they are and then not have them fit properly or look stupid.

What other wheel manufactures do split rims? See if they've got something i like that i can find in the right size!

[dazleeds]

im no expert on this mate
so dnt wanna steer you wrong

prob worth finding a decent wheel supplier and going through it properly with them rather than just going for the wow effect

9" are just too wide imo
they look great but you dnt want to compromise handeling too much
9"for posing mate
7.5 for handeling

and as for stretched tyres noooooooooooo
looks good but again the grip must be terrible