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curtis73
curtis73 GRM+ Memberand UberDork
2/19/15 12:08 p.m.

As part of the brake upgrade on the LeMans, I'll need bigger wheels. I tried Summit and they offer surprisingly little in the size I need (17x9 or 9.5) with the right backspacing. I tried Tire Rack, but once I put in 67 Lemans, it only offered me direct-fit wheels and only offered 17x8. Even after clearing cookies to sort by size, it still makes me add a vehicle.

So... good place to look for wheels?

GameboyRMH
GameboyRMH GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
2/19/15 12:12 p.m.

I've used Tire Rack, there are three ways to search without being restricted to your vehicle's standard size:

  1. Through Google
  2. Find a car that came with the size you want and put that in
  3. Call them up and tell them you want wheels for a kit car, then give them the specs.

Other than that, I'd basically just Google and shop through wheel manufacturers' websites or online tuner shops.

bigev007
bigev007 Reader
2/19/15 12:13 p.m.

Try the online chat on Tire Rack, or give them a call. They're pretty good, and can make better decisions than the computer.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid
SyntheticBlinkerFluid PowerDork
2/19/15 12:19 p.m.

Check this place out:

http://www.performanceplustire.com

I haven't bought anything from them (but proabably will), but they have pretty good prices and have a huge selection of wheels for Classic cars. They may not have your particular car in the search, but it's not hard to search through the wheels.

Dusterbd13
Dusterbd13 SuperDork
2/19/15 12:23 p.m.

Hmm....

Im using vette wheels with spacers. 17x9.5 fit pretty good with six inches of backspacing

codrus
codrus GRM+ Memberand Dork
2/19/15 12:23 p.m.
GameboyRMH wrote: 3. Call them up and tell them you want wheels for a kit car, then give them the specs.

Yeah, I've never understood why Tire Rack will let you look at any size of any tire you like, but if you want to look at wheels then you have to know what car it's supposed to fit first.

drdisque
drdisque New Reader
2/19/15 12:27 p.m.

It's so they don't show you wheels that don't come in your car's bolt pattern (this is coming from a guy who has had two cars with weird bolt patterns).

Duke
Duke UltimaDork
2/19/15 12:30 p.m.

It's also to make damn good and sure that you don't buy something radical and then get pissed off at them when it doesn't fit.

Anything but Boyds, I beg you, Curtis. Bullit wheels would look cool, with the PMD center caps.

G_Body_Man
G_Body_Man Reader
2/19/15 12:42 p.m.

I found my Super Stocks on Kijiji (canadian classifieds). YMMV. Also, look at Cragar Bonnevilles. They're beautiful.

SEADave
SEADave Reader
2/19/15 12:53 p.m.

Year One makes 17" aluminum replicas of Pontiac Rally II's. I wouldn't look any further.

Duke
Duke UltimaDork
2/19/15 1:12 p.m.
SEADave wrote: Year One makes 17" aluminum replicas of Pontiac Rally II's. I wouldn't look any further.

If they're wide enough. If so, /thread, IMHO.

G_Body_Man
G_Body_Man Reader
2/19/15 1:18 p.m.

With wheels you pick 2. Light, Durable, Cheap. You can never have it all.

Mr_Clutch42
Mr_Clutch42 Dork
2/19/15 1:35 p.m.

I also check the wheel manufacturer site when I see a specific wheel I like.

GameboyRMH
GameboyRMH GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
2/19/15 1:40 p.m.
G_Body_Man wrote: With wheels you pick 2. Light, Durable, Cheap. You can never have it all.

The light & cheap wheels are durable enough as long as you slow down over the potholes and don't expect them to survive an accident.

captdownshift
captdownshift GRM+ Memberand Dork
2/19/15 1:43 p.m.

I wouldn't LeMons a 67 Pontiac unless it was in really rough shape, they have to have some value. you're going to be fighting an uphill battle with brakes and rubber that are up to track duty in a car that size as well.

06HHR
06HHR HalfDork
2/19/15 1:52 p.m.

How about these? Bandit Wheels

G_Body_Man
G_Body_Man Reader
2/19/15 2:12 p.m.
GameboyRMH wrote:
G_Body_Man wrote: With wheels you pick 2. Light, Durable, Cheap. You can never have it all.
The light & cheap wheels are durable enough as long as you slow down over the potholes and don't expect them to survive an accident.

Where I live, the roads are practically made of potholes.

mr2peak
mr2peak GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
2/19/15 2:41 p.m.

Use google. Find the bolt pattern you want, then size, offset, etc. Takes some digging but you get al the options.

JohnRW1621
JohnRW1621 UltimaDork
2/19/15 3:05 p.m.

I think some large stock wheels from a Trans Am of the 2000 era would look good if they would fit.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid
SyntheticBlinkerFluid PowerDork
2/19/15 3:29 p.m.
captdownshift wrote: I wouldn't LeMons a 67 Pontiac unless it was in really rough shape, they have to have some value. you're going to be fighting an uphill battle with brakes and rubber that are up to track duty in a car that size as well.

You read that wrong, it's a '67 Pontiac LeMans. It's what the GTO is based off of.

Dusterbd13
Dusterbd13 SuperDork
2/19/15 3:31 p.m.
JohnRW1621 wrote: I think some large stock wheels from a Trans Am of the 2000 era would look good if they would fit.

Whatever spacer is required. I think 2.5.

captdownshift
captdownshift GRM+ Memberand Dork
2/19/15 3:35 p.m.

In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:

I definitely wouldn't LeMons a GTO, plus I don't think there's enough liquor in the world to avoid the penalty laps on the value.

digdug18
digdug18 Dork
2/19/15 3:44 p.m.

I went to a local wheel shop, then asked if they could match prices with online, which they did. The balanced, replaced stems, etc all for free as well. I left them positive feedback on yelp/google as well. I had one wheel go bad, factory defect in the casting, behind a spoke, that was literally a pinhole in size. They dealt with the manufacturer to get it replaced, which they did. So all in all I'm happy with my local place.

Another option is to troll craigslist. I shop local u-pull-it yards in the winter time often because they are dead, and happy to wheel and deal on items that other times would cost more.

Andrew

chaparral
chaparral GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
2/19/15 4:42 p.m.

I like using wheels that were stock on something somewhere. The tooling and engineering costs of a stiff, durable, light wheels are easier to amortize over 300,000 wheels than 3,000. So I'd look up what your bolt pattern, size, and backspacing correspond to and find my wheels on car-part.com.

curtis73
curtis73 GRM+ Memberand UberDork
2/19/15 4:45 p.m.
Duke wrote: It's also to make damn good and sure that you don't buy something radical and then get pissed off at them when it doesn't fit. Anything but Boyds, I beg you, Curtis. Bullit wheels would look cool, with the PMD center caps.

Don't worry, not a Boyds fan.

Here are my top choices so far in a rapidly expanding list:

Torq-thrust M

Haven't ruled out Minilites

MB Old Schools

US Wheel 700s

They would look something like this:

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