Hi gang,
I’m looking for the factory steel wheel specs, offsets and widest / tallest tires one can squeeze under the lovely haunches of my series II XJ.
My plan is to upgrade the wheels in diameter to 17’s or 18’s to allow for better tire choices. I’d like to go a little wider on a 17 or 18 however naturally I’m concerned with the tires rubbing. Has anyone gone down this road?
Thank you!
Solo Out…
Solo,
it largely depends on where you want to find yourself on a scale ranging from “approved ex-factory” to “will work … somehow”.
Using the 16" wheels as on sports versions of Jaguar XJS is the entry point. Arden used 8.5 x 17 wheels without modifications it seems.
Everything above is a question of trial and error. Unless you want to install steering locks and/or roll in fender lips you’d probably be limited.
BTW, going much further you’re not only compromising on ride, but also on longevity of bushes and all other suspension parts as loads will increase exponentially as tire ratio is reduced.
In terms of tire choice I’d probably go for a 17" - there’s more than enough at this size and everything beyond looks like another feature of “pimp my ride” or the Queen in high heels … do yo really want to see this?
Good luck
Jochen
75 XJ6L 4.2 auto (UK spec)
I’m certainly not the pimped ride type. I want to go with steel wheels and imitate the factory look as close as possible however the ‘right’ wheel is tough to find. I don’t know who’s car this is but the figment looks good. Not my taste for wheels but stance and how they fill the wheel well looks good.
Trying to post a picture…
Another way to fill the wheel well that I might try is inch shorter springs. SNG Barratt has them and I think they’re made by Eibach. Not sure what this would do to ride quality but I think there is room to lower the car a bit -not a noticeable amount, just enough to reduce the gap between the tires and fender arch.
Got the pic to upload. I plan to lower my series II ever so slightly and combined with a larger wheel, should look pretty slick.
Solo,
what a beautiful car! A SII LWB in Squadron Blue that nicely sets off the brightwork.
The wheels are horrible though in my old eyes, and not just for the rim design. The wheels seem to be far too small for the wheelarches and the XXL rims with super low profile tires (35, 40?) don’t make that rice racer look any better.
To get a picture, maybe look at a decent specimen with good stance and the original (on 12 cylinder cars) 215/70-15 wheels. So you’ll get a picture of how the tires should fit the wheel wells.
Then go to an original XJS 16 inch wheel (7Jx16 ET32) and add suitable low profile tires 225/55 and find fairly priced Pirelli Cinturato P7.
To move things more up market, there https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/jaguar-16-alufelgen-xjs-xj-s-felgen-xj6-xj-x40-neu-speedline-xjr/1340758248-223-6448 are brand new Speedline (TWR) 16x8" rims that allow the use of up to 245/55 tires. As for low ratio that’s as much as I would go on an XJ. You might have to add limiters to the steering an roll fender lips.
Good luck
Jochen
75 XJ6L 4.2 auto (UK spec)
Beautiful car and the wheel/tire combination, while not to my taste, isn’t as horrid as I expected. It’s your car, so enjoy it how you want but, of course, the famous XJ ride quality ride will surely suffer as the tire sidewall plays a role in achieving that. Personally, I’d not go to more than the XJS 16" rims. Good luck.
David
Gents!
The squadron blue car ISN’T MINE! It was the example of wheel / tire size I liked. Although not my actual car - this is what mine looks like. SWB series II, RHD.
Greensand paint with biscuit interior. I want to keep the look of the steelies but bigger for better tire options.
I had a 1976 series 2 xj6 with 15 inch tires and steel wheels. It had the best ride and on street handling of any car I have owned. My next 2 Jaguars had 16 inch and then finally 17 inch wheels. The ride got progressively more harsh and less pleasing with each car as the rubber to rim ratio got smaller. I would never think of spending money to “upgrade” to larger rims on a series xj6 for whatever my opinion is worth.
My son is a cricketer. He has me all over the Greater Sydney area on weekends in summer. Bumps in the car register as “steps” on his fitbit. The score for the first week of a two week game was 146 steps in our Subaru Forester. Second week, same route, we went in our '72 XJ6 - step score nil. Smoothest car we have ever owned. Paul
It’s all a compromise…
I love the smoothness of the 15 inch, but very much like the looks of the 16 inch.
I would not go higher than that though, it will destroy the ride and I think it will be out of character.
That one’s a very beautiful car too.
David (S2 lover)
Solo,
that’s a wonderful car - SII are the best anyhow and you have one of the rare perfect proportion SWB cars with immaculate lower section and you even seem to run chrome Turbos! It would be a sacrilege to touch it. Please keep it as it is! If anything it seems to stand a bit on the tall side, so a bit of lowering may be legitimate.
If you insist on changing - as others wrote - I wouldn’t go beyond 7x16" rims either. The only rims available in that size are the XJS lattice rims which seem a bit out of time for a SII, and if you want to have the steel rims welded bigger it would be a hell of a lot of work to get them technically perfect, look good and get them registered for the car (at least in this part of the world).
BTW, the otherwise wonderful Bimmer - parents once had an E28 520i - looks pretty ugly with that wheel/tire combo - rim centers way too big, rubber too narrow.
Good luck
Jochen
75 XJ6L 4.2 auto (UK spec)
I’m loving all of the feedback from you guys. You collectively managed to steer me away from bigger inch wheels. If anything i may pull the trigger on a set of 16” steelies.
I am logging on via iPad and i don’t have any of my car pics on it or the cloud - they’re all on my laptop.
I have an idea…
This my actual car - greensand SWB series II with the BRG parts car I bought at my house in Ocean Reef Western Australia. Stripped the green one, shipped the greensand one - back to Canada with me.
That tire/wheel combo looks perfect to my eye. If it is not broken don’t fix it!
These guys make an upgrade option which lowers slightly and stiffens.
http://www.xjrestorations.co.uk/services/upgrades.html
I found them when looking at options for my XJ6C, saw them on Harry’s Garage XJ12C (YouTube it)
I’m also for keeping factory sizes…
