Will 17" Crown Vic rims fit my Polara?

Gabe7g

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Does anyone know if the black police use 17" Crown Vic rims are 5x4.50 and will fit my '68 Polara? I have the stock 14's on it right now with rotted retreads. I just want some cheap rims and tires that will work to get it back on the road.

Thanks,
Gabe
 
Ford uses a slightly smaller center hole on the rim. You may have to use a die grinder to enlarge the hole a bit.

Jeff
 
That's what I've encountered on early 80's full size Ford rims.

In an old MoparStyle thread, a poster put the Ford OEM wire mag allow wheels on his mid-70s Mopar and had to pu.t the wheel into a lathe and enlarge the center hole a bit so it'd fit his car.

On the later wheels, note that the wheel mounting surface is almost to the outside edge of the rim. A "fwd" offset as the later CVs use a front bearing HUB rather than the "serviceable bearing" hub of your Dodge (and other similar Chrysler products). In other words, the bolt circle might be the same, the center hole might need a bit of machine work, BUT the wheels would be way farther toward the side of the car, which might work when the vehicle only goes in a straight line on a smooth road, BUT could have some serious "rub issues" in turns and especially turns with bumps/suspension compression.

Scrounge the salvage yards for some "unwanted" '75 Charger SE 15" Rally Wheels. Which are 6.5" wide. Or some similarly-unwanted 15x6 black wheels from the earlier '70s. Easier to find inexpensive 15" tires than 14" or 17", by observation.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67
 
I think the early 90s Crown Vic steel wheels were more of a zero offset design, before they became like they are today. But, with all the fuss involved with other clearances, might as well just go with a good ol' MOPAR wheel.

I actually have three 15 x 7 steel MOPAR wheels that I was going to use for a trailer, but that project fell through, so I could possibly forward them to a good home. I know who might still have the fourth one in the set too, about 300 miles south of me.
 
I had to open up the center hole of these '90 Town Car rims to fit around the rear axle flange. I could have done it with a die grinder, but since I needed center caps, they needed opened up even more (they are push through). It became a project for a machinist. Add in powder coat and it was pretty expensive. The lug circle was fine.

IMG_2181.JPG


IMG_2138.JPG
 
In an old MoparStyle thread, a poster put the Ford OEM wire mag allow wheels on his mid-70s Mopar and had to pu.t the wheel into a lathe and enlarge the center hole a bit so it'd fit his car.

On the later wheels, note that the wheel mounting surface is almost to the outside edge of the rim. A "fwd" offset as the later CVs use a front bearing HUB rather than the "serviceable bearing" hub of your Dodge (and other similar Chrysler products). In other words, the bolt circle might be the same, the center hole might need a bit of machine work, BUT the wheels would be way farther toward the side of the car, which might work when the vehicle only goes in a straight line on a smooth road, BUT could have some serious "rub issues" in turns and especially turns with bumps/suspension compression.

Scrounge the salvage yards for some "unwanted" '75 Charger SE 15" Rally Wheels. Which are 6.5" wide. Or some similarly-unwanted 15x6 black wheels from the earlier '70s. Easier to find inexpensive 15" tires than 14" or 17", by observation.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67
Thanks, I'll do that. I didn't event think about the center hole so issue so thanks for the reply.
 
I had to open up the center hole of these '90 Town Car rims to fit around the rear axle flange. I could have done it with a die grinder, but since I needed center caps, they needed opened up even more (they are push through). It became a project for a machinist. Add in powder coat and it was pretty expensive. The lug circle was fine.

View attachment 316591

View attachment 316592

Thanks for the info. I'm going to see if I can track down a black steel police car rim to see if it will work.
 
I think the early 90s Crown Vic steel wheels were more of a zero offset design, before they became like they are today. But, with all the fuss involved with other clearances, might as well just go with a good ol' MOPAR wheel.

I actually have three 15 x 7 steel MOPAR wheels that I was going to use for a trailer, but that project fell through, so I could possibly forward them to a good home. I know who might still have the fourth one in the set too, about 300 miles south of me.

Thanks for the info about the possible rims but I'm way up on the Oregon Border and shipping would probably be pretty expensive...
 
I had to open up the center hole of these '90 Town Car rims to fit around the rear axle flange. I could have done it with a die grinder, but since I needed center caps, they needed opened up even more (they are push through). It became a project for a machinist. Add in powder coat and it was pretty expensive. The lug circle was fine.

Interesting and clever choice of wheels. I always thought those were just wheel covers. Never knew they were an aluminum wheel with a hub cap in the center. Now that I know, it's obvious when you look at the wheel weight on the aluminum rim.

1990-lincoln-town-car-900-5340-1.jpg


Jeff
 
Interesting and clever choice of wheels. I always thought those were just wheel covers. Never knew they were an aluminum wheel with a hub cap in the center. Now that I know, it's obvious when you look at the wheel weight on the aluminum rim.

Jeff
I have a set of those hub caps, but they were way too ugly to think about using. I guess back then, the aerodynamics engineers had more say then the stylists. It also happened with the 1982 Trans Am.
 
I remember the Trans Am wheels too. Certainly had a modern, almost sci-fi look to them, but the car looked much better without the caps. I think GM knew they might be going a bit too far with them, since they designed the wheels so that they could also be used without the caps.

I didn't like anything about the 1990 Town Car when it first came out, but warmed up to the styling over time. It also helped that Ford cleaned things up quite a bit in '91 when they changed the trim on the bumpers and sides. We eventually ended up buying a '94, which we still have.
 
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