>Cropped tail Alpines have a wider track than pointy fin ones. My Series III
>is an exception because someone put late suspension under it.
I dont think this is true, not on the rear end anyhow.
Ive got a couple of rear ends hanging around. On series 1 to 4 There is no difference in the rear axle case except the pickup points for the shocks. The series 5 uses a different case but is the same width at the wheel hubs.
Not sure about the front suspension between pointy fin and not pointy fin, but its the rear that gives the grief, not the front.
>I would have thought Performance would know the correct offset for Alpines.
>When I ordered the Superlites for my Imp I didn't need to give any specs at
>all. The guy at my local tyre shop just rang them and said to send four
>wheels to fit an Imp, much to my amazement. When the goods arrived they
were
>a perfect fit.
I'd think that the people at superlites would know what ought to fit the alpine too, they had a great printed applications chart, that was applicable for many cars with many different bolt pattern (ours is listed as a 4 on 108mm instead of the 4 on 4.25 english spec) I went with the reccomendation of the application guide. Since ther wheel was available in 5, 5.5 and 6.0 inch widths applicable for the alpine/tiger app, I chose, 5.5 inch/113 backspace, which seems middle of the road.
It does work on my car, but the clearances are about an inch less on the insides of the wheel with respect to the outside clearances to the fender lip. This would suggest that I chose poorly, good thing I didnt go full out and get the 6 inch wheels, they'd have rubbed most of the time.
Also, remember to check the type of drums are on the rear of your alpine before mounting any cast wheel. You could loose your wheels out driving. The ones with balance tabs cast in will cause the wheel to pull to the drum instead of the hub. Easy to fix, just watch out.
Jarrid