Aftermarket Wheels For Your XJ6 and XJ-S

Many XJ6 owners (and XJ-S owners as well) have remarked that they have shopped for aftermarket wheels for their Jag but found virtually no vendors capable of providing any alternatives. As a result it is often felt that there must be something very esoteric about Jaguar wheels. In fact, though, there is little mystery at all to this situation.

Firstly, the Jaguar bolt pattern is a very common "5 on 4 3/4". This means five studs on a 4 3/4" circle, a configuration used for generations on many GM cars. Nothing special here, clearly.

Now, the unique aspect to Jaguar wheels is the rather large (about 2 7/8") center hole to accomodate the hubs. This is unusually large and is the sole reason that so few wheel manufacturers offer anything for a Jaguar. So, how do we get around this little Jag anomoly?

Easy. Enlarging the center hole is a veritable "walk in the park" for just about any machine shop. Get out the yellow pages and make a couple phone calls and I'm sure you'll have no problem finding a machine shop to do the job. In fact, a tire/wheel store which really specializes in custom wheels will probably already have a relationship with a local machine shop to do this type of work. Piece of cake ! Give 'em your spare wheel to use for measuring purposes.

Knowing this you'll see how your wheel choices are now almost unlimited. If you have an XJ6 you'll want a wheel with plenty of positive offset (very little "dish" to the wheel). On my Jag I am using wheels which are actually intended for a front-wheel-drive car. If you're like me and wanted something a bit bigger than Jaguar intended you'll find that a 15x7 alloy wheel with 235/60x15 tires fit perfectly - but with no room to spare!

I am sure the above information applies to the XJ-S models as well, at least up until the point when the rear brakes were moved outboard. Incidentally, many of the XJ-S wheels are especially handsome on an early XJ6.

Jaguar XJ-S "Domed Starfish" Wheel