Great thread that I just discovered. Hafta put my .02 in on a variety of things.
While we're on the subject (albeit off-topic
), I came across these two pics.
and this
FAIL:
FWIW, that Impala wheel was a factory wheel included with that option package.
You would never want to alter the bolt holes of a wheel... Aside from the holes being properly spaced(extremely critical), they also MUST have a proper seat for the lugnut to interfere with/bite into... there is typically a 1 degree difference in the angles to provide "bite" and prevent loosening of the nuts. That angle is aluminum wheels it may be less on steel, but still critical.
Whenever buying or inspecting used rims, always look at the seats for damage caused by over torquing the nuts. It is still very common for an idiot and an impact wrench to hammer wheels into garbage... if the lug holes are wallowed out, forget it... it has been destroyed. I know you can straighten a bent wheel in some cases, but I don't know of anyone with a fix for the lug holes... maybe someone else does.
Agreed with this (mostly). If the center register hole matches to the hub of the car, concentricity is maintained. At that point the lugs are only required to provide clamp force. So - if you have a good wheel otherwise, a larger-seat lugnut (ie a 13/16 hex GM lugnut) can be a substitute. You'd need to exercise your own judgment on that based on the wheel. If an aftermarket wheel that is non-hub-centric, then the lugnuts provide more centering of the wheel upon lugnut installation, and that would be risky if lugseats were boogered.
Look back to post #2
in steel wheels its nearly impossible to make one perfect, so it should be no big deal unless they manage to get it way off/out of balance. In machined aluminum wheels it is common to have tire problems if the wheel was made too perfect, because the tire seldom is.
I was told number of years ago by a tire guy that each tire has a heavy spot, and the valve stem should be the rim's heavy spot, so those should be put opposite each other to minimize balance. HE said something about a molding gate being the tire's heavy spot (which makes sense) however something of that size surely has multiple molding gates, so I dunno.
Fitting a road wheel cap to that wheel sounds interesting. FWIW, I don't think they are fitted as straight and centered as you might think. With it being close to the center of the wheel, I don't think it is that important. Don't get me wrong, it needs to be close... and if your guy centered of the hole in the center of the wheel, it should be fine.
I think the centercaps are moutned pretty straight (wobble would be noticeable and bad for company image) but you are right, they are mounted close to CL of rotation and of minimal weight to make a balance issue. My only concern would be any wobble trying to tear the cap apart, so if they are mounted robustly I think they'd be fine.
Just chiming in for what its worth... If you do find a 8 inch rim make sure the tire doesnt rub on the skirts in the rear, if the car your're putting them on has them. (I don't recall you mentioning what they are going on.) My 73 Imperial has 8 inchers on it now and they are very close to rubbing on the skirts. Just food for thought. Watch what tire size you pick.
Agreed on this - make sure to check the fenderskirt latch also, as that's closest to the sidewall usually. And account for sidewall flex in a heavy turn, too.
I'll toss this one into the Road Wheel soup.
8 slot AMC:
Oh Stan...
That's a 14in wheel, my friend. You'd need a 235/105-14 tire for that one.
Other stuff -
Those GM pickup wheels, yes, have a different BP and are not usable as-is, and I abhor adapter plate also. I believe these wheels also have an extra pronounced ridge in them just inward of the 16 slots, although it's been years since I saw one in person. (I think I see it in the pics in an earlier post)
I have seen a number of articles on the internet about homemade wheel widening (and I believe this would be doable for skilled DIY folks willing to invest in some fab-jig stuff). It's kinda like file-fitting rings, involves a lot of time and patience, carefully adjusting, measuring, tapping to/fro and then cautious welding. For someone wanting to attempt it, a set of those wheels might be good donors for outer hoops (but diameters of components need verified). Some precision-ground steel setup pieces would be needed, when I dug into this it looked like about $100 investment @ Mcmaster.
And I would consider any wheel widened via a strip of metal to be inferior to a wheel center welded into the desired-width hoop.
Amazingblue82 -
Keep in mind on your trimrings - assuming same offset, widening a wheel by 1" gives only 1/2" additional gap at the trimring. In the grand scheme you would learn to not see it? You could have the wheel offset adjusted slightly to reduce that gap also, and probably without any clearance issues. But you'd hafta check that, of course.
