What diameter are the wheels?
Remove wheel weights? [Solved]
I just bought four original Saab aluminum rims with studded tires and there is wheel weights on all four. When I changed the first front wheel I saw the wheel weights hitting the brake caliper, and l could not spin the wheel around with my hands. There really isnt much room between the brake calipers and the rim, and the only option is to remove the weights. Do I really need them? In the back there is not a problem as the caliper is much smaller.
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You probably need smaller brakes or bigger wheels
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They have weights that can go on the outer rim of the wheel (where the tire seats). Those would be the best option for you.
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5*110 185/65R15
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I dont think so, I bought from a Saab collector a couple of years ago. Maybe he put in Viggen front brakes at some point. Its a 2000 9-3 model, no turbo. This is the only picture I have of the front brake caliper
According to wheelsize.com, the OE wheels are either 185/65R15 on 6Jx15 rims and an offset range from 39-41 or 195/50R15 on 6.5Jx15 with the same offset range. For the 2.3T the values are 215/45ZR17, 7Jx17 ET45 and 43 - 47.
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I’ll bring the wheels to a shop today and they will fix it for a reasonable price. The one shop wanted 130$ and the other 15$ 😅
measure the diameter of your rotor , if its 308mm its viggen brakes on there
Can you take a picture of the entire wheel from the front, or provide the part number of the rims? I am guessing they are either #3 or #7, but it's hard to tell.
That is not the caliper, that's just the hub. You can take a picture of the entire wheel/brake assembly. And measure as best you can, the diameter of the brake rotor. It should be pretty easy to tell if it is about 288mm (regular) or 308mm (Viggen).
What size wheels were you using before? 15" or 16"?
By the way, there should be no problem with stick-on weights clearing the caliper! If they don't clear, the caliper is too close to the inner surface of the rim.
Well, that website is wrong. (No big surprise.) Offset of NG900 and OG9-3 (and OG 9-5) rims was 49mm, definitely for 15"-16" rims, and for 17" rims too I think, except for the specific Viggen five-spokes may be 41 mm, I don't know for sure.
And in North America, where even base NG900 usually came with alloy rims, by 1996 or 1997 the only 15" rims used were 15x6.5. (I have owned a set of 15x6 Saab rims; they had winter tires and I replaced the compact spare with those for winter.) And the tire size was pretty much always 195/60-15 by the later models, and on the OG9-3. I don't know where they're getting 195/50 from......NG900 and possibly earlier OG9-3 used 205/50-16 tires, but I have not heard of 50-series 15" used. Maybe in Europe????
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Unheard of for oem Saab wheels not to fit unless you have the larger brakes.
You also need to test your spare tire. Make sure it fits.
It's hard to measure the rotor in place. But you can put a measuring tape around the circumference and measure that. The smaller rotors on these cars is 286 - 288 mm. The larger rotors – the Viggen upgrade – is 308 mm. That should be fairly obvious when you measure the circumference: 904 mm vs 967mm.
You also need to test your spare tire. Make sure it fits.
It's hard to measure the rotor in place. But you can put a measuring tape around the circumference and measure that. The smaller rotors on these cars is 286 - 288 mm. The larger rotors – the Viggen upgrade – is 308 mm. That should be fairly obvious when you measure the circumference: 904 mm vs 967mm.
You can hold something against the rotor edge in a suitable spot, like a pencil even, sticking out towards you. Then measure as straight as you can from the middle of the axle to the pencil. Should be accurate enough to get the radius. Multiply by 2 to get diameter.
If the rotor is off the car, dead easy, of course.
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Not that it matters here, but just to clarify the information: the Viggen had a 42 mm offset on a 7.5 x 17" inch wheel. The double Y 17x7 was 45mm. The later 9-3 SS runs 41mm. All 16" wheels for our cars are 49mm as are the og 9-5. OG 9-5 seemed to also use 49mm for the 17's too although I've seen some variations- might have been factory-dealer swaps. I recall stacks of wheels in the showrooms - they had a lot of options back in the day.
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Thanks for the help and interesting info about the Saab rims! I went to the tyre shop today and they re-calibrated the rims which ended up with removing all the weights on one and on the other they just moved the weights so they wont interfere with the caliper. Now I can drive with a peace of mind on the slippery icy roads here in Norway!
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