Iroc wheels on 85 Regal

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6secondwannabe

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Jun 6, 2009
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East Ridge Tn
a buddy of mine gave me a set of 16 inch wheels from an 87 IROC Z...went to put them on my 85 Regal last night. The front ones fit fine with no rubbing or anything...but the rears rubbed on the frame rails. anyone running these wheels and if so how did you get them to fit?...they have 245/50/16 tires on them right now and that is probably what size tire ill run if i use them. how much of a spacer do i need to get them to clear?
 
It sounds like the backspacing of the rear wheels is to large, what I would do is get wheel spacers for the rear, First I would check to see how close the outside of the tire gets to the wheel well, because you don't want the tire to rub when you hit a bump. A wheel spacers takes the tire and wheel out farther from the frame rail, and makes your whole wheel stick out farther to give it a fatter look. Get some pictures of the wheels on there.
 
SV6 REGAL said:
Are they maked front&rear some of them had a different offset?front to back. You need four fronts(i think) later ones didn't have this.

yes they are marked front and rear....i have about 2 1/2 inches of clearance to the outside of wheelwell but the inside is right against the frame rail
 
I'm going to be running the same wheels on my 79 malibu. I was told that the fronts would work fine, and that the back would need 1inc back spacer
 
6secondwannabe said:
SV6 REGAL said:
Are they maked front&rear some of them had a different offset?front to back. You need four fronts(i think) later ones didn't have this.

yes they are marked front and rear....i have about 2 1/2 inches of clearance to the outside of wheelwell but the inside is right against the frame rail

I would get a 1.5 inch rear wheel spacer for the rear, they are about 75 dollars and you can get any kind of bolt pattern for any car.

http://www.ezaccessory.com/Wheel_Adapte ... 5-5475.htm

Im getting the 2.25 one for my rear.
 
I'm running these rims on my '84 Monte SS. There is approximately 13/16" difference in the offset between the front & rear rims. I have 4 front rims on the car, and I'm using the factory GM rear wheel spacer from an IROC Camaro from about '87-'88 (approximately 1/8" thick) on the rear, just for a bit of extra insurance. I'm using P235/60R16 tires with only minor rubbing on the front at full steering lock.
 
I faught with this issue all last summer, and some $200 of studs and lugs later...

the front wheels have 4.75" BS
the rear wheels have 5.25" BS

So, you need to run them reversed, so fronts in back, and backs in front.

The ones you place in back (front rim with 4.75" BS) may also need a 3/8" spacer, in which case you will need extended wheels studs. And, with extended wheel studs, your nice chrome lugs will not seat properly, so you will need cut them or use open end lugs. I recommend against cutting, because it is very easy to messup the thread.

My recommendation is to run 1" adaptors on all four wheels, it will cost you about $250 new, but save you a whole lot of messing around.

My car is set up with 1" adaptors infront, with 3/8" in back. The back ones are still very close to the frame rail, so I am now thinking of converting the backs to 1" adaptors as well.
 
I've tried to run these wheels more than a few times. khan0165 is correct on the backspacing. I had many problems trying to use regular spacers cause the lug nuts only end up with about a 1/4" or less of thread to screw onto, and they will strip off, trust me. This is a VERY DANGEROUS thing to do as it puts all the weight of the car and side load on the tip of the wheel stud instead of the area where it is mounted in the rotor where it has support. I have also tried the newer style wheel adapters and always had problems with them loosening up all the time. If you have alot of power or like to play road racer all the time, I would not suggest any of these mods, but if you are only using it for a daily driver under normal conditions I have had luck with the following.

I'm not telling you that this is the only way to use these wheels, but it's the only safe way I have ever found to use them. I have done this to three sets of wheels and never had any further problems. One set was used on my Malibu wagon with all rancho springs and sway bars, a built car ground up and I drove the hell out of it without any problems. The secret to using these wheels with spacers is getting enough thread contact on the wheel studs and also getting the lug nut threaded down as close to the drum/hub/rotor as possible. As khan0165 said use the wheels marked rear on the front. Use an 11/16" drill bit and drill out the lug nut holes on the wheels. The drill bit will center itself in the taper where the factory lug nut seats. Take it slowly and gently with the drill bit cause the aluminum is soft. Next install the wheel and you will need at least two 1/4" spacers, or one 5/16" and one 1/4" spacer PER WHEEL. Check clearance at the tie rods and tip of the upper control arm, they may need clearancing. Now for the lug nuts. This is the reason for drilling out the lug nut holes. Use the mag style lug nuts with the medium shank and thick washers. These should extend beyond the rear mounting face of the wheel and protrude into the wheel spacers. There are a few different length style lug nuts you can use depending on how much spacer you decide to use. You will have to retorque the lug nuts a few times as the washers flex and mold themselves to what's left of the taper im the lug nut hole. Also remeber, these are aluminum wheels and should only be torqued to 75-80 ft-lbs.
 
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