Any way to search wheels by specs? No option on Tirerack.com?

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MRGTX

MRGTX

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Thanks to lots of trial and error and the generosity of many members here (especially @72bluNblu, @autoxcuda ) we have a pretty well established range of wheel specs that will work on our beloved Abody jalopies.

While we have a good list of wheels that guys have used successfully, many of us have an eye on finding our own taste in wheel style or trying something new...but the path of searching out wheel styles first, then investigating diameters, bolt spacing, offset/backspace...then seeing if they also offer the specs that you want for the other axle makes the job vastly more time consuming.

Does anyone have a resource that allows you to search for a wheel based on specs?

If not, should we at least start a list here to go along with the "show your combo" thread?
 
One thing is certain... TireRack is not the place to be looking for old Mopar wheels.
They might have something that will fit, but typically they don't have listings going that far back in time.
 
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69_340_GTS said:
One thing is certain... TireRack is not the place to be looking for old Mopar wheels.
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Well...if you're looking for OLD wheels, I'd agree but many of us keep a set of old school wheels around but also are looking to maximize traction with modern wheel/tires. 17x8, 17x9 wheels are still plentiful on Tirerack...many of them likely offer offsets that we would need to make these work.
 
When I search for wheels by size I like to use ebay if only initially to see what's out there. Just type in "wheels" and use the search options on the left to fine tune your parameters.
 
69_340_GTS said:
One thing is certain... TireRack is not the place to be looking for old Mopar wheels.
Click to expand...

Can't blame 'em, who would buy those tiny little ugly wheels? They're trying to run a business!

bentdart47 said:
When I search for wheels by size I like to use ebay if only initially to see what's out there. Just type in "wheels" and use the search options on the left to fine tune your parameters.
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I use eBay a lot for wheel searches. The thing I'll add here is that not all the sellers enter the wheel specs in a way that the little check box parameters pick up, so sometimes using those check boxes on the side will eliminate wheels that might actually work. It's a pretty good way to do it most of the time though. Occasionally I'll just search for something like "5x114.3 18x10" which will show pretty much all the offsets then scroll through quickly to see if there's something I like.

Summit racing also has a pretty good search that will let you check multiple width and offset options. They have a decent selection too, but obviously they don't carry everything.

The other thing is that most of the manufacturers have decent websites, so if there's a style you like you can go to the website and see what size/offset options they have. Sometimes you can special order stuff that won't show up on eBay. So if you have a favorite wheel manufacturer that can work pretty well. I also follow a couple wheel shops on my eBay profile, so when they get new stuff it shows up in my feed. :D
 
72bluNblu said:
Can't blame 'em, who would buy those tiny little ugly wheels? They're trying to run a business!
.
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To each his own. IMHO the worst thing you can do to ruin the looks of '60s-'70s cars is to put on oversize (17"-20"+ ) wheels and rubber band tires. Talk about ugly!
 
Not a big fan of "Monster" wheels and rubber band tires .. If they were the fast way down the track .. TF cars would run 30" wheels .. They tried that .. Didn't work
 
69_340_GTS said:
To each his own. IMHO the worst thing you can do to ruin the looks of '60s-'70s cars is to put on oversize (17"-20"+ ) wheels and rubber band tires. Talk about ugly!
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Nope. The worst thing you can do is put a set of 14" rallyes on them. Ugliest wheel in the history of Mopar. And then run a set of tiny little tires, so the average Honda Accord can flog your car in every performance category there is. Boring. Suppose it's fine if all you ever want to do is cruise around town at 25mph, stop like crap, and avoid wet weather conditions for fear of hydroplaning. Doesn't sound like much of a "musclecar" to me.

Unconventional said:
Not a big fan of "Monster" wheels and rubber band tires .. If they were the fast way down the track .. TF cars would run 30" wheels .. They tried that .. Didn't work
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Yeah, because your A-body has 5,000 hp and runs wrinkle wall slicks that are 36" tall and 17" wide. That's a totally legitimate comparison. Those would work great on the street too I bet! Completely irrelevant.


None of this has anything to do with the OP's post. Just a bunch of old guys whining about how they don't like anything new.
 
You can't respect anyone's opinion? That's why I said "In My Humble Opinion". I am not complaining, and all I said was the big wheels ruined the looks of the cars, nothing else.
 
69_340_GTS said:
You can't respect anyone's opinion? That's why I said "In My Humble Opinion". I am not complaining, and all I said was the big wheels ruined the looks of the cars, nothing else.
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This thread isn't about your opinion, or even what size wheels to put on a car. It's about looking for wheels based on their specifications on the internet. But since TireRack doesn't carry wheels you like, you had to jump in and offer an opinion that's totally irrelevant to the topic at hand. Like always happens when anyone asks, or even IMPLIES, about putting something other than 14" wheels on their car. Because any time that happens a bunch of old guys start whining about how anything bigger than a 15" is blasphemy. You knew TireRack doesn't carry original wheels, you have absolutely nothing relevant to say about the original question, but you posted up anyway.

And it goes both ways. You can't respect my opinion? 14" rallyes are hideous. That's my opinion. I think they totally ruin the looks of these cars. Equally as valid as your opinion. And equally irrelevant to this topic, which is about how to look for wheels on the internet.
 
I didn't have a clue what MRGTX was looking for. All I said was that TireRack was a bad place to look for old Mopar wheels. I didn't know if he was looking for 12" wheels or 22" wheels. I never said a thing about "tiny" wheel sizes in my first post. You, sir, started the whole pissing match by saying, immediately in reply to my original post: "Can't blame 'em, who would buy those tiny little ugly wheels? They're trying to run a business!". You expressed your opinion first, and I replied with my opinion.

THE END.
 
69_340_GTS said:
I didn't have a clue what MRGTX was looking for.
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Exactly. You had no idea what you were talking about from your very first post. So why post? You had no relevant information to offer.

If you actually read MRGTX's post, you would see it's pretty clear he's not looking for old mopar wheels, so, even your first post isn't useful in any way.

You also edited your first post. Nice try, editing your post doesn't change the text that has already been quoted in someone else's post. The original said only this.
69_340_GTS said:
One thing is certain... TireRack is not the place to be looking for old Mopar wheels.
Click to expand...

Which implies that the OP is looking in the wrong place for wheels, because they don't have old mopar wheels. It's pretty obvious what your opinion is right there, he should be looking for old mopar wheels.

That's what you implied from your first comment, which you've now watered down because you probably went to TireRack and tried to see what you actually got if you did a search. Yes, they don't list wheels for every application, and they don't list choices for A-bodies. But they do have a ton of wheels that would work great on an A-body.

Which MRGTX and I already knew. You can't search for wheels on TireRack by application for A-bodies, so you'd need to search by wheel specs. Which is the question MRGTX originally asked isn't it? So why did you post? To interject your opinion, no other reason.
 
72bluNblu said:
This thread isn't about your opinion, or even what size wheels to put on a car. It's about looking for wheels based on their specifications on the internet. But since TireRack doesn't carry wheels you like, you had to jump in and offer an opinion that's totally irrelevant to the topic at hand. Like always happens when anyone asks, or even IMPLIES, about putting something other than 14" wheels on their car. Because any time that happens a bunch of old guys start whining about how anything bigger than a 15" is blasphemy. You knew TireRack doesn't carry original wheels, you have absolutely nothing relevant to say about the original question, but you posted up anyway.

And it goes both ways. You can't respect my opinion? 14" rallyes are hideous. That's my opinion. I think they totally ruin the looks of these cars. Equally as valid as your opinion. And equally irrelevant to this topic, which is about how to look for wheels on the internet.
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Agree w/ both of you, but bigger than 17' look terrible, unless u have round fender wells, that's why 20" wheels look so much better on a dodge-ram than a chevy ! my favorite are 15', maybe 16' w/ the biggest dam rubber u can put in the rear, the front biggest u can turn w/o rubbing. (which ain`t much on mine), front 205 70 15, rear 295 65 15. A little too much rake for my taste tho !
 
Thanks to all for the help...
Regarding the debate about modern wheel sizes on classic cars, it's probably a discussion for another place but I hear you guys who don't like it.

The way I see it, our cars light, relatively well balanced, can easily accomodate fearsome V8 motors under the hood, have the potential for nigh-modern handling....none of which means a damn thing if you're rolling on Radial T/As. Modern tires, guys...there's no comparison. These demand 17" or larger wheels and that's a sad fact of life. In any case, wheels can be swapped in a few minutes with a jack and a wrench...why argue about this?
 
MRGTX said:
Thanks to all for the help...
Regarding the debate about modern wheel sizes on classic cars, it's probably a discussion for another place but I hear you guys who don't like it.

The way I see it, our cars light, relatively well balanced, can easily accomodate fearsome V8 motors under the hood, have the potential for nigh-modern handling....none of which means a damn thing if you're rolling on Radial T/As. Modern tires, guys...there's no comparison. These demand 17" or larger wheels and that's a sad fact of life. In any case, wheels can be swapped in a few minutes with a jack and a wrench...why argue about this?
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I'll add that what you can do at TireRack is use a newer car that uses similar wheel specs to what you're looking for. For example, a 2003 Nissan 350z, or a 2007 Mustang coupe (both have the 5x114.3 bolt pattern and some offsets that overlap with what fits an A-body) . Once you've done that you get a list and checkboxes so you can limit the search down by offset, diameter, width, etc to look at just specs that you know will fit. That method could get you to a rim that would fit and you could order from TireRack.

The problem is, of course, that if you're wrong about the specs or run into an issue and the wheels don't fit for some reason, you probably won't be able to return the wheels. Because TireRack only lists wheels they know will fit. So, if yours don't, well, they probably won't be too sympathetic when you try to explain that a wheel that they know will fit, doesn't fit your "350z". TireRack doesn't really do marginal wheel fits, they're pretty conservative with their listings. Heck I bought a set of tires for my wife's Tacoma that were 215's instead of 205's and TireRack called me to confirm before they'd release the order, even though the same truck runs bigger tires than what I picked on different models. They clear by a mile, and I still got a call on the order.
 
This opens up the discussion about rim diameter every time. If you are just talking about putting new 14" or 15" rims on your 40 to 50 year old car, there are a lot of examples of people who have done this over and over again. Just call a rim manufacturer and tell them you want something close to stock and buy whatever they offer. It's really not complicated putting a 15"x 8" wide rim on our old muscle cars... If the salesperson says "This is what came stock on you vehicle. I recommend you stay with that size. Why would you want anything wider than that?", you're at the right place for your rim and tire needs!

Now, if you are looking for rims say in 17"-19" diameter and maximum width, your probably going to have to do some searching and modifying what you do find. The hub centric on our old cars is usually too large for modern rims. You will have to bore them out, or make a custom spacer or whatever. If you're lucky you can use hub centric rings to make the bore smaller. My suggestion is buy what you can afford to have modified at a machine shop or Weldcraft or someone else that can change the rim width.

I'm fitting 18"x 9-1/2" rims w/ 275/35/18 tires on the front & 19"x 12-1/2" rims w/ 355/30/19 tires in the back on the car I am working on. The hole pattern was correct on the rims. I had to bore out the hub centric's on all 4 corners. And the rear's had to be widened 1-1/2" on the outer lip. I could have just bought 3 piece rims, but just one of those cost too much.

I really don't care if anyone likes it or not. It's not your car.
 
oi81b4uu812b4 said:
... If the salesperson says "This is what came stock on you vehicle. I recommend you stay with that size. Why would you want anything wider than that?", you're at the right place for your rim and tire needs!
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I think you meant you're not at the right place for your rim and tire needs!

Anyone that would say that you should not, or can't, put a bigger/wider tire on and still use a 14"-15" wheel is a complete moron.
 
69_340_GTS said:
I think you meant you're not at the right place for your rim and tire needs!

Anyone that would say that you should not, or can't, put a bigger/wider tire on and still use a 14"-15" wheel is a complete moron.
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More power to your quest of rolling on 245/60/14's BFG's!
 
So you are telling me that I'd be better off using stock 14x5.5 wheels with E70-14 bias tires than with my present 15x7 wheels and 225/60R15 tires?
 
72bluNblu said:
I'll add that what you can do at TireRack is use a newer car that uses similar wheel specs to what you're looking for. For example, a 2003 Nissan 350z, or a 2007 Mustang coupe (both have the 5x114.3 bolt pattern and some offsets that overlap with what fits an A-body) . Once you've done that you get a list and checkboxes so you can limit the search down by offset, diameter, width, etc to look at just specs that you know will fit. That method could get you to a rim that would fit and you could order from TireRack.

The problem is, of course, that if you're wrong about the specs or run into an issue and the wheels don't fit for some reason, you probably won't be able to return the wheels. Because TireRack only lists wheels they know will fit. So, if yours don't, well, they probably won't be too sympathetic when you try to explain that a wheel that they know will fit, doesn't fit your "350z". TireRack doesn't really do marginal wheel fits, they're pretty conservative with their listings. Heck I bought a set of tires for my wife's Tacoma that were 215's instead of 205's and TireRack called me to confirm before they'd release the order, even though the same truck runs bigger tires than what I picked on different models. They clear by a mile, and I still got a call on the order.
Click to expand...

So this is a pretty great tip, actually. I found a 17"x8" - 17"x9" wheel recommended for a 350Z that I like well enough that looks pretty sharp and not overly modern...I didn't see center bore specs though. Does anyone have that measurement handy for the various brake options on our A-Bodies? This question could be cleared up pretty easily with a call.
 
Summit and Jegs let you search by wheel specs. When I bought mine, I just looked on the manufacturers website because I had to get them special made due to the backspacing I needed.
 
MRGTX said:
So this is a pretty great tip, actually. I found a 17"x8" - 17"x9" wheel recommended for a 350Z that I like well enough that looks pretty sharp and not overly modern...I didn't see center bore specs though. Does anyone have that measurement handy for the various brake options on our A-Bodies? This question could be cleared up pretty easily with a call.
Click to expand...

The +73 disks and their 11.75" cousins have a center hub of ~71mm, it depends a little bit on who makes the rotors because some finish them better than others. That's about in line with the center registers on the rear axles, the stock one's I've measured are usually 71.5- 71.7mm. The Dr. Diff BBP axles have a center register of 71mm.

The Dr. Diff 13" brake kits have a hub with a ~68.5mm register (2.7").

A lot of aftermarket rims have a 73.1mm hub bore. Or at least they start out at that, and then will taper down to a smaller wheel cap. The problem, and I was just having this conversation with MuuMuu101, is that the mopar hubs are a lot taller than most modern cars. Meaning, on a lot of modern rims, the mopar hub will stick out past the front surface of the rim. So, to use my Enkei RPF1's as an example, they have a 73.1mm hub bore. That's what's listed as the hub bore spec. But, the wheel cap on the front side of the rim is only 64mm. So, even though my Dr. Diff hubs are only 68.5mm, the have to pass completely through the rim. So, I still had to have the hub bore on my RPF1's machined. I just made it 73mm all the way through, so it was an even surface. But I had to do some custom work to fit a set of wheel caps. The problem then is, just because the hub bore spec is 71mm or larger doesn't necessarily mean the rims will fit without having some work done on the hub bore, because a lot of them taper down. It just depends on the design of the rim. The Legend 5's I run on my Challenger have a huge hub bore, but it wouldn't matter because the rims are thick in the center, the hub is still well within the wheel. The enkei's, not so much.

This is the problem. The hub comes completely through the rim. Used to be common, but not anymore.
img_5297-jpg.jpg


And you can see the machine work I had done here. Left side is machined, right side is off the shelf.
centerbore-jpg.jpg
 
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