So trying to figure out what will fit on a GEM with or without a lift kit… Also having a hard time figuring out what the bolt pattern is. Is it 4x100 or 4x4 and the offset, it is 38mm?
I am having a hard time deciding if I want to put larger tires or lower profile tires on my GEM and unsure if I will need to lift it and what’s involved.
Can I saw out the struts and springs to get larger clearance? Or do I need to buy a specific kit to do so? Lift kits for a GEM cost more than lifting a full sized truck and the has to be a less expensive way to do so.
The universal wheels with the 4 by 100mm spacing work fine on the GEM. I bought a used set of 13 inch wheels & tires at a local wrecker’s for $135 but needed to add another 25mm (1 inch) wheel spacer to correct for the narrower track these Honda Civic rims had. Still, for a grand total of under $250 I got 4 relatively new tires and pretty good wheels (with a few scratches) and am happy with the improvement in ride and speed.
As for lift kits - it’s such a small volume vehicle with a tiny niche group of enthusiasts I’m surprised you can find ANY components to lift it at all. The pre-2006 GEMs have the single A-arm front suspension so all you need to “lift” it a little is a spacer welded up to move the top coil-over-shock down a little, thus raising the front suspension. I’ve got to look into that for mine as the left front wheel rubs on the floor-pan on bumps while turning left…
I’m just going to direct all my questions to you Bob.
Any idea what the standard wheel/tire diameter is? I’d like to figure out what would fit properly. I found a pair of VERY nice 15" rims that would look great with how I plan on painting the GEM, just unsure what size tire I can fit underneath without worrying about the inside rubbing wrong.
The 12 inch rims & stock tires are about 21 inches in diameter. My 13 inch rims with 175/70-13 tires are about 22 1/2 inches diameter.
If you do the math, the biggest diameter you can fit (if my 2002 is any guide) is about 22 inches total. With 15 inch rims, a 175/50 tire adds 6.9 inches to the rim width for a total of 21.9 inches which would probably fit without a lift kit. Going to a 45 series tire (175/40-15) would only be 20.5 inches diameter.
Take the tire size (175/40-15) and convert the 175 mm width to inches. 175/25.4=6.89 inches. Multiply by the aspect ration (40%) and multiply by 2 (top and bottom) and you get 2.75*2 or 5.5 inches. Add that to the 15 inch rim diameter and you have 20.5 inches total.
This diameter is approximate. Different rim widths will squeeze the tire or stretch it out a little but it’ll get you in the ball park.
Unfortunately it’s pretty hard to find narrow tires like the GEM needs in 40 or 45 series aspect ratios. The smallest I’ve seen advertised is 195/50-15 which would give you a 21.9 inch diameter. This might hit slightly and require at least trimming the plastic inside the fender wells as I did.
I find it hard to believe that I won’t be able to swap out shocks/springs with minimal welding or bracket manufacturing. Prefer not to have to cut anything, but will obviously if it comes to it.
I had an alternative thought about putting airbags on the car instead… Has enough room easy for an air tank/compressor on the back and I haven’t seen one yet anywhere online like that. Would give a great ride and allow higher clearance when/if necessary.
Well you don’t say what year GEM you have but the pre-2005 or 2006 models have that strange single-A-arm suspension that doesn’t easily lend itself to lifting without special brackets. You might be able to get new springs or get spacers which raise the pre-load on the springs to get some more static height. But to really get an absolute increase in height throughout the range, you need to move the top shock mount downward by about the amount you wish to raise the front end. Same for the rear I suppose.
You could even raise the aluminum frame off the steel driveline sub-frame to get some extreme lift but you’d still need to put spacers between the shocks and the aluminum upper shock mounts. Rear isn’t really hard - you space out the upper or lower shock mounts a bit.
I don’t know how you’d do airbags on a GEM with its coil-over-shock suspension. Good luck with that. I have considered putting in Timbren overload bumpers instead of the second double rear shocks on my eL. They’re pretty expensive though.
I haven’t taken delivery of it yet as the seller lost the title and its taken forever to get proof he owned it (did Friday). But moving the shocks down and reattahching the mount would be real easy provided its welded. If 15s fit with low profile tires, I won’t ned too and think it will look better with the wheel well filled…
I haven’t torn open one of these cars… But will when I get it in my garage next week.
The 2007 will have upper and lower control arms with the coil-over-shock attached to the upper one I believe (at an angle). I think it’s all on the steel tube sub-frame on the newer ones so welding a bracket extension should be relatively easy. I don’t want to mess with aluminum TIG welding as I don’t have the equipment or experience but steel welding is easy with a MIG welder.
I think you may be OK with bigger tires/wheels on a 2007 than you can fit on a 2002 like mine. I’ve seen package deals on Ride-4-Fun.com that are pretty big and they seem to fit fine except for spacing up the rear spat a little.
Post some pictures when you get it. Use the “Go Advanced” button to get the option to add pictures.
I haven’t taken delivery of it yet as the seller lost the title and its taken forever to get proof he owned it (did Friday). But moving the shocks down and reattahching the mount would be real easy provided its welded. If 15s fit with low profile tires, I won’t ned too and think it will look better with the wheel well filled…
I haven’t torn open one of these cars… But will when I get it in my garage next week.[/quote]
i dont know if i can help you any but i put 17 inch wheels and tires on my 2009 ES…i only rubbed alittle on the front driver side so i trimmed the plastic fender abit with a plastic cut off tool…cant even tell it was cut… just search under my name and you cane see the post…
The local ATV dealer and I spent some time on EBay and found some take-off struts for $56 for two that were a couple inches longer than the original E2 rear struts. Work great. But (!), besides length, an important measurement is the diameter of the top of the strut, just below the mounting hole. It must fit between the ear-shaped mounting brackets on the frame or it won’t swing freely, if at all. I had to grind just a bit off the inside edges of the “ears” to get it to work. Still, a very inexpensive, effective lift. Dr J
