need advice on 14inch pug wheels.

Ben james · Post by **Ben james** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 11:48 am

hi guyz i need sum advice on 14 pug wheels
that i want to buy to morrow i just want to no if
thay will give me more ground clearance.
and is there an all terrain or mud tire you can get for the

14inch pug wheel. all so what size can i go as my subaru
isnt lifted. thanks for any advice on this. :-

oh and my car is a subaru Lseries 4wd wago.

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 12:29 pm

technically the size of the wheel makes no difference to ground clearance. What makes the difference is the outside rolling diameter of the tyre. Of course with 14" wheels instead of 13", naturally your selection of tyres includes larger sizes.
Max you can go comfortably is 27" outside rolling diameter but that needs 3" lift. Mud terrain options are quite limited in 14" but I believe there are some Khumo's you can get.
Without a lift you are very limited, you'd have to go smaller, probably 25" outside rolling diameter at the most. I'd highly recommend getting a lift kit.

Ben james · Post by **Ben james** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 2:37 pm

i do want to get the lift kit but sounds like to.much
Trouble. as im guessing even with the 2 inch lift sumthing will
have to be modified. if it was just a matter of geting the kit
and geting sum one to install it i would love to lift it.

iv been having a hard time finding a kit any way.
as most of the kits are located in QL. and im in melbourn.

so i thought i might try the wheels and see if
thay can give me a little more ground clearance.
would be so much easier if there were shocks and springs lift
in sted of the body lift.

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 3:31 pm

different springs and shocks will gain a little more clearance (mostly because of getting brand new ones which don't sag though).

Not sure what you mean about something needing to be modified with a lift kit? The lift kit IS the modification. See about contacting Cr0ssbread performance, I believe they are doing 2" kits at the moment. They are easy to fit.

dfoyl · Post by **dfoyl** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 5:22 pm

I will be selling off my 14" Pug's shortly (along with the rear disc conversion), as I am moving to 5 stud. The offset on the pug's works fine on a Brumby, but I believe isn't ideal for the L-series (sticks too far out).

I also have a set of 15" Pajero wheels that have been redrilled to 4x140 (and the old holes filled in), that would give you access to the 15" tyre range. Again, offset might be a problem.

And finally, I have a set of factory Forester wheels with good rubber (65 or 70 profile from memory) that I am using on the Brumby, but will be moving to a lower profile. These *might* be usable on the 15" Pajero wheels (depends on width, as the Pajero has 7" rims and the Forester has I think 6" in steel).

danceswithdingoes · Post by **danceswithdingoes** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 5:50 pm

are the forester wheels four stud or five please?

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 6:18 pm

They are 5x100 pattern.

Ben james · Post by **Ben james** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 6:40 pm

if for now i just stick with no lift and 14pug wheels
and get the fender flare kit. will i see a difference in ground clearance.
with the biger tires. dont mind triming gards or any thing.

dfoyl · Post by **dfoyl** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 9:07 pm

Only if you keep the same profile. Stock Subaru wheels are 13x5", 175/70, giving a diameter of 575mm. Assuming the same 175/70 profile, the diameter grows to 600mm. So divide the difference by two as the distance between the centre of the wheel and the road is half the diameter, and you get 600-575 = 25/2 = 12mm.
Now, if you take that 14" rim and get something like 215/75, then the diameter is up to 678mm. So, compared against stock the height goes up 678-575 = 103/2 = 51mm. Which is pretty much dead on 2".

dfoyl · Post by **dfoyl** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 9:25 pm

I wouldn't go beyond 215 on a 6" rim (and from memory the Pug's are 5.5" not 6" - maybe the wagon rims are 6", but they are even harder to find than the sedan). The recommended width for a 5.5" is 165 (min) -195 (max). So I don't think pug's are going to get you to a 2" lift. A 195/75 works out to 648mm, which is 648-575 = 73/2 = 36mm. It would probably handle like a wet mop on bitumen too with such relatively tall tyres on a narrow rim (I am running 185/65 on my pugs and that is probably a bit wider than ideal).

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 9:34 pm

dfoyl wrote:I will be selling off my 14" Pug's shortly (along with the rear disc conversion)

Hear that guys? gonna have to keep a 24 hr watch on the FS section

dfoyl · Post by **dfoyl** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 9:42 pm

Tom (t-ridden) has first dibs, I was trying to get some for him on USMB but the seller did a runner

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 9:53 pm

Ah yeah, they're usually sold before they're sold

Here's a question, what profile on a 14" rim would be equivalent to a 27" tyre? Looking at tyres myself for 14's and dunno what profile is going to be too big. Do 27's require guard cutting on L series as they do on Brumbys?

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 10:04 pm

http://www.tyresizecalculator.com

Yeah 27s need guard trimming on an L with lift but only a little

Ben james · Post by **Ben james** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 10:25 pm

so would you guyz say there is any benefits. from geting the pug 14 wheels
or am i just wasting 250bucks. and should just keep the
13inch stock wheels.

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 10:39 pm

Yeah get 14s for sure

I rekon L series look silly with anything smaller. just hold off getting 27" tyres till the lift kit is in.

Ben james · Post by **Ben james** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 11:07 pm

ok sweet as man. well off for the big drive tomorrow to pick
them up. thanks guyz for all of the advice. im the only one
in my group with a subaru. so its good to talk to ppl
who know alot about subaru.

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Tue Nov 11, 2014 11:38 am

Best thing about being the only Suby is if you make it up a hill climb or such, you can say "haha see I can do it and it's only a Suby!".
Then if you don't make it you can say "oh well, it's only a Suby!".

t.ridden · Post by **t.ridden** » Tue Nov 11, 2014 2:03 pm

dfoyl wrote:Tom (t-ridden) has first dibs, I was trying to get some for him on USMB but the seller did a runner

Just to pipe in, thanks heaps! Shame about the seller but not your fault. Message me when you get around to parting with your setup

Ben, my L is stock height, 14x6" rims (speedy desert rats) and 185/65 tyres. The larger diameter is handy for a little lift but the taller profile and higher load rating has probably been the biggest advantage. Can air down on rough roads (say, 20psi) not lost much height and saves your suspension (and saves the Handbrake a trip to the chiropractor). They do rub on compression, possibly due to shagged suspension and/or poor offset of the rims but damn they look good with a wide track!
Body lifts aren't hard or especially expensive (about the same as new rims + tyres or cheaper) and the only extension I know of for a 2" is steering shaft, but some kits come with that.