Will Watanabe RS-8 wheels Clear Z Brakes?

[shinhed]

I'm looking to buy 15-17in Watanabe 5-lugs and don't want to regret it. Will they fit? Also, where can I find new Watanabes besides eBay, Jspec, and Yahoo Jp?

[s14falcon]

thats a negative on the z brake fitment.

(or, no they won't fit z brakes, i dont know about the 17 inch ones, but still probably no, and you dont see many of them anyway.)

[kingsol]

most likely no, the spoke design doesn't allow much clearance

[shinhed]

Damn. They'd look so nice with my planned setup :-/

[JasonNagra]

NOT TRUE. The 16 and 17" sizs are able to clear z brakes w/ out spacer. Just depends on offset, the spoke desing is pretty much there, just depends how much lip (offset) there is. Old S13 is running wats right now with FULL Z brakes all they way around on his S13 in 16" size. Looks SWEET too.

[kazuo]

Jason,

Any info on what offset/width Wats he has?

:D

[Legacy]

I'm glad Jason stepped in and regulated. I have 16" RS8s and there look like they'd clear with little trouble, if anything... a 5mm spacer. If any of you actually get a chance to look at a RS-Watanabe 8-spoke up close, you'll see that on a lot of the models the spokes are curved. I can see 15s and lower not clearing though because the spokes would be shorter and it would reduce the curve.

You'll hear all the time that offset has nothing to do with clearing brakes. But in the case of Watanabe and the 1 piece models, the offset is determined by the backing... in which case, lower offset, more clearance.

you see 16" 8-spokes on Skylines all the time. I'd refuse to believe they all use spacers.

Oh and another thing. If you go with 17s you're going to be limited to the 2pc model only if you get 8-spokes. I think for Watanabe Cyclones you'd be able to run larger sizes.

[JasonNagra]

I'm glad Jason stepped in and regulated.

Damn rights. DAMN rights.