Wheel and tire saga continues

[mikester]

Still didnt buy wheels and tires for the wagon. With all the things going on with my house it became less of a priority but this past week I spent some time looking at wheels again.
Of course one of the rims I really liked has been discontinued.

I had the DragLite from the coupe on the front of the wagon and it was a really good fit at 3.50 BS on a 15x6 wheel. Downside is not many wheels are made with that BS these days. I guess the popular BS is 3.26. Im thinking thats not even going to be an issue. Then I called a place called Wheels For Less. Spoke to the customer service guy. Told him what I have. Told him it was dropped 2". The guy said the 3.26 wont fit. Its going to rub. Me being a hardhead had to see for myself. Took the Draglite and put a 1/4" spacer behind it. I gotta say, its pretty close. Not to the inner, to the fender on turns. Thats with a 215 65 tire. Without the spacer it seems to be fine. The guy might be right.


The rims on the rear are 15x7 rallys with a 4" BS. I used the 1/4" spacer with it and that brought the tire out enough to get my fingers in between the tire and the frame. Plenty of room to the wheelwell opening.
REV wheels look pretty close to the Torque Thrusts in design. They make a 6" with 3.50 BS and a 7" with 4". Anyone using REV wheels ? It looks like they were owned by AR at one point. Now Holley owns them. What about using a 1/4" spacer on the rear to get them out away from the frame a little more ? Longer studs hard to find with the right size knurl ?
This might solve my wheel hunt.

 

[78Delta88]

Sometimes. If you can't find SAE convert to MM. NAPA and O'Reilly have books/listing for this.

Add 1/4 = add 6 MM to stud. The Chrome/Black locking set that O'Reilly has will work. 20 lug nuts with key, approx $30.00

 

[Rt Jam]

Close to the frame is not much clearance. These 4 arm suspensions move sideways alot under spirited driving and articulation of the axle will also move the tire in.

 

[mikester]

Sometimes. If you can't find SAE convert to MM. NAPA and O'Reilly have books/listing for this.

Add 1/4 = add 6 MM to stud. The Chrome/Black locking set that O'Reilly has will work. 20 lug nuts with key, approx $30.00

The car has metric studs from the factory.

Close to the frame is not much clearance. These 4 arm suspensions move sideways alot under spirited driving and articulation of the axle will also move the tire in.

To be honest I cant understand how folks run wide rims on G bodys. I have 275 60s on 8" Draglites with a 3.50 BS on the coupe and they just fit. Theres no way they would fit on the wagon. A 7" is the largest I would use. Again 3.50 BS would fit really well. One company makes a perfect size for the front, another makes it for the rear. I asked about getting a TTll for the front with 3.50 and was told the barrel size prevents it from being made. Hard to understand since the REV 6" comes with 3.50 and it looks very similar. This tire crap is a pain in the butt.

 

[78Delta88]

Yeah I hear you. I was thinking you were already metric, wasn't sure. But if needed the info is out there, sometimes just have to dig.

I have 2x Vintage Crager 14x6 5x4.75. Your welcome to.

I'm doing same search to my 91, finding hard to find what's needed as well finding anyone (vendor) that knows anything.

 

[mikester]

Yeah I hear you. I was thinking you were already metric, wasn't sure. But if needed the info is out there, sometimes just have to dig.

I have 2x Vintage Crager 14x6 5x4.75. Your welcome to.

I'm doing same search to my 91, finding hard to find what's needed as well finding anyone (vendor) that knows anything.

Appreciate the offer but Im sticking with 15" rims

 

[565bbchevy]

Appreciate the offer but Im sticking with 15" rims

I am curious why you don't run a 7"/ 8" rim combo instead of running a 6" / 7" it would open up more options for rims and tires

 

[78Delta88]

I found this one under S10. I was curious because the cragers were on my 86 2WD.

 

[78Delta88]

And their description is jacked up a bit. Where it says mm, I'm pretty sure they meant inch.

They might have something close to the look you are going for.

 

[mikester]

I am curious why you don't run a 7"/ 8" rim combo instead of running a 6" / 7" it would open up more options for rims and tires

I tried to put the 8" Draglites on the back just to see how it would look. Wouldnt clear the wheelwell opening when I started to lower the jack. Im sure the tire size and the 2" drop didnt help. As far as the fronts ? The 215s fill the wheelwell opening and dont hit the inner fender. The previous owner had 205 60s on the front. Both inners had holes worn through from tires rubbing. He didnt remember the previous size but they were on 7" rally wheels. Thats why he went with the 6" and small tires.
Ive been told in my other thread to use longer ball joints. Also to use different springs. Changed the spring and spindle on the left side. Gave me the same height at the opening so I changed back to what I had. I really dont want to take the front end apart again. Its getting to be a pain in the *ss.