Volvo RWD 444-544 Forum

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rims on a 444 444-544 1957

I've spent weeks, with my friend who owns a rim shop, trying to get 18x7.5 rims and low pro tires on the front end of my 444. Its not really working. We put adaptors on the front end but it didn't seem to make that much of a differnce. I still hit the sway bar but the worst problem is the top of the shock absorber rubs when i turn. Im looking for a way to get some large rims on my 444 but without having them stick out past the fender because i want to put air bag suspension on it. I'm open to any ideas because as of now i'm fine with by current set up as long as the trip is on a streight road without turns and its a one way trip. What can i do?








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rims on a 444 444-544 1957

You could always swap in another crossmember with a different suspension that has fewer interference points. The 444/544 front end just has issues with larger tires. I have 15X6 wheels on mine, and I think that's about as large as you can go without unduly widening the turning circle or poking out past the fenders. my wheels barely clear the inner/upper pivot, reduce the turning circle only slightly (tire hits the sway bar slightly before the original steering stop) and sits flush with the fender lip.

If done carefully, you could probably bulge the fender lip outwards to give some more clearance with a pleasing visual result.
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I'm JohnMc, and I approved this message.








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rims on a 444 444-544 1957

ok, well that doesn't sound like much fun. What suspention should i use? any ideas
and how much work are we talking. Also do those rims of yous stick out past the fender, did you use adaptors and what size tire? Did it lower the car?
Thanx








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rims on a 444 444-544 1957

My wheels sit nicely flush with the fender,just barely to the inside. They are Torq Thrust II's, which have a fairly unusual backspacing of 3 3/8ths. For whatever reason, your typical aftermarket 15X6 wheel with a 4.5 inch bolt pattern has a 3 3/4 backspacing (probably fits peachy on a Mustang/Mopar) but that is too much on a PV. Mine fit on properly without spacers. I originally had 205/65/15 tires on, which I replaced with 205/50/15's. I'd say the lower profile tires lower the car slightly. The original springs were badly sagged, one of them finally broke and I got some new OEM springs (after having no luck finding any neat progressives like you can get for 122-on Volvos) and was surprised by how far up the front end sat. I waited for a few months for them to settle before finally cutting half a coil off them.

As for other suspensions, I dunno. You could try putting on a 144 front crossmember - I think you could probably squeeze some wider tires on it - at least the suspension pivots are more compact and don't interfere with the rim. Or the old tried and tru hot-rodder's Mustang II style front end - along with niceties like rack and pinion, vented discs, cheap custom springs, cheap performance shocks, etc.
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I'm JohnMc, and I approved this message.








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rims on a 444 444-544 1957

I run 15X6 Performance minilite style rims with 225X50 tires and spacers. The car is lowered with the tires flush and no obvious interference problems. One problem with the low profile tries is the reduction in tire diameter.








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rims on a 444 444-544 1957

what offset and what size spacers?








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rims on a 444 444-544 1957

Here is a 1957 (444KS 1956 really) with a 140 front end and a 1800ES (automatic) rear axle with 4 wheel discs and Turbo (virgo) wheels 108mm pattern.

Works for me!

Christopher








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