Corvette Wheels

[blake_sandman]

Does anyone have Corvette wheels on their van? If so what size are they and how thick are your wheel adapters? I have 17x8 1/2" wheels. Offset is about +56.80mm and backspacing is 6 7/8" from mount surface to inboard rim flange. I want to get the correct size wheel adapters the first time. Thanks.

[peter]

I strongly suggest you go with rims that'll fit your bolt pattern. Adapters are often a nuisance and some people I know don't trust them in a high impact situation. If vette rims don't bolt right on (which I'm sure they don't), you can find cheap repros on E-bay that are made using your bolt pattern of 5 on 5.

PS: I f you do insist on using adapters, it looks like your present rims will handle them well. You have close to 7" backspacing. A 2" thick adapter would bring you out to the equiv. of around 4-5" backspacing, which is just about right. It'll all depend on the size of tires, though.

[Rebel]

There are some universal pattern Vette wheels around but can't help you on where to look. I know Bob's Tire in Florence, Al. had a new set and if you're interested I can put you on a guy in Florence who has a set of used muti bolt pattern.

[blake_sandman]

Well I got 5 brand spanking new Corvette wheels for free, never even mounted on tires yet. So i don 't really want to buy new wheels. I was thinking about ordering wheel adapters from http://www.skulte.com . They use grade 8 bolts and have never had an adapter fail even on their twin turbo Camaro. Even if I bought Corvette wheels with the 5x5 bolt pattern I would still need the adapter to correct the backspacing because the wheels are so wide. Looks like I have some measurements to take.

[Rebel]

Understand since you have new wheels. I'm running adapters on the rear,,4.75 to 5 on 5 and they are 1.5 in. thick and have had no issues with them but do re-torque ever so often. As Peter will tell you though, I don't have alot of miles on the adapters.

By the way,,the Vette wheels are some of the best looking GM has ever made. Had um on several of my past rides.

[skippy]

with them being 17 x 8 1/2 " wheels larry i doubt hes talkin about the old vette ralleys like you & i are so fond of .

[Rebel]

Oh, I thought he was talking about the old style. I've seen them this wide from time to time on Ebay and guess when I hear Corvette wheels I automaticly think about our old time favorite, the ralley.

Here are the ones I was thinking about.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-Corv ... 0036026280

[T.Low]

Which vette wheels? Enquiring minds want to know?

Are they on yet?

Pics, pics!

[blake_sandman]

Here's a pic of the wheels on the Corvette: http://www.theautochannel.com/cybercast ... rvette.jpg

I'm waiting for centercaps to come in the mail right now and I have to decide what color I want to paint them cause i'm definatley not driving around with yellow wheels. I don't have a job right now so they won't be going on until I can afford decent tires.

[Rebel]

Nice wheels and yes you do have an issue with backspacing don't you ?

[rlsllc]

If I had a nice, new set of wheels that didn't fit my van, I'd sell them to buy a set that did instead of fooling around with junk adapters. (No offence, Larry. At least you only have them on the rear.)

My $.02

[Rebel]

No offence taken Roy. I really didn't want to use them myself but it looked like the only way out for me other than buying two different off sets for the rear due to the dif. offset I first had when I set up the rearend. I would have needed one wheel with an offset like yours and the other would need around a 5.5 in. thick adapter/spacer. That is if the wheels had the same deep offset. I, with the help of others here decided to center the dif. which alllowed me to use my wheels with a 1.5 on each side.
If you go with adpaters, just keep an eye out on their torque and when you first put them on, check torque often. I don't know if it helped but I used thread lock on all the adpater nuts.

Here Fred Goeske's site. Makes adapters and you might check out who he is if you're in to drag racing history. Very nice guy,,he loves for people to call him up and talk and doesn't mind answering questions you may have. If you fill out the quote form,,Fred will give you a call. Super guy.

http://www.wheeladapter.com/