MAX Update No. 76: Wheels Are Turning

Reader Contribution by Staff
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Now that MAX is getting streamlined, we can handle taller gearing, but we’ve pretty well gone through the inexpensive options for the differential gears, and we already have an overdrive transmission, so what’s to do? Easy — we go to larger diameter wheels and tires.

Larger than the 13″ wheels that came with the Corrode Warrior (the ancient Toyota wagon that contributed so many of the driveline parts) or the 14″ “snowflake” wheels (equally ancient) saved from a foundry scrap bin. It’s time for 15″ wheels.

The problem is, as wheels get bigger they tend to get heavier, and suitable fifteen inchers aren’t cluttering up the scrap bins. Fortunately we still have some budget left, so I decided we’d invest $400, and if we had to, up to $500 on a set of wheels.

Wow, that’s five percent of the whole budget, but wheels are important, and as we’re closing in on our 100 mpg line-in-the-sand, these are the details we need to address. So I put out the word: I was looking for the best 15″ wheels I could find, to fit MAX and MAX’s budget.

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