Ive been considering going back to a 15 inch wheel. I currently have 17x8 and 17x9.5 TTIIs on my chevelle. I'm kind of over the whole pro touring look and want to get back into a more street fighter/weekend drags type look which is ironically what my Chevelle was like when I first bought it 15 years ago.
I never cared for how the Chevelle handled with 17s. The ride felt more stiff and I don't have big breaks or tubular arms to compliment the bigger wheels.
Am I crazy for wanting to go back to 15s with some white lettering BFGs?
It's a matter of preference (especially if your brakes don't mandate larger wheels) , if you prefer the look go for it!
As for the white letters.... Again personal preference but I absolutely can't stand them. To me, they draw attention away from the car and to a manufacture's name. Sort of like putting a billboard on your car. Feel the same way about bumper stickers with the exception of one or two tasteful to match a build looks good; like old drag strip stickers on a old school build. I have a friend who would never run a tire without raised white letters on his hot rod, again... personal preference.... so go for what makes you happy and ignore the comments from others (including me) :grin2:
I would go 15s all day long, and if an attractive Malibu, I would go white walls, if a SS or customized, RWL (or redlines if you have the cash).
I'm rocking some 14s, and love them, love the ride and look, BUT, I would never suggest it to someone unless you want totally stock OEM look (mine isn't). The tire choices are limited in 15 now, but probably 5-10 times more than 14s.
If I was buying brand new wheels for a specific look, and was custom ordering everything. I would consider going 16 just for the wheel and tire choices.
Without the whole modern suspension those big wheels with short sidewalls are dangerous! Half the tire lifts off the ground and looses contact during a panic stop with the stock suspension!!
You are making a very wise choice going back to the 15" wheels. A nice 225/70r15 tire with a 15x7 wheel with a 4.25 backspace is perfect.. It will ride, handle and stop much better..
Without the whole modern suspension those big wheels with short sidewalls are dangerous! Half the tire lifts off the ground and looses contact during a panic stop with the stock suspension!!
Very nice combo there Kirk!
Thanks for confirming that I'm not crazy everyone. Now all I need is to find someone that is willing to trade wheels. Shouldn't be too difficult with the big wheel obsession that's going on these days.
I think the classic Chevelles look the best with a high side wall and white lettered or red line tires. Black walls, yuck!! Sorry guys but I love white letters and red lines. 14's are just too small and most of us back in the day that had real engines got rid of those small diameter and skinny wheels. I have 15 inch rally wheels on my 68 Chevelle with 235/60/15's and love the fit. A bit bigger is cool but the wheel and tire has to fit the wheel house and 18's and up just don't cut it. A 17 with the right tire may make it in my book but I would say 16 is max....
In 2007 first bought a set of WELD Racing Drag Lites 90 Series Wheels 15 x 8 with a 4.5”BS for my Track Tires
hated them from day 1 for the Weight since we put them On & take them off every time at the Track
then there is the noise the centre piece makes
2011 bought a set of Summit Fast 5 Wheels 15x8 for the Track Tires
which are basically the same as the Jegs Sport Stars
Bought another set of the JEGs 15x10 for the Track & 4 more for the Street 15x7 + 15x10
which I love as they are a 1 piece Alum Wheel,
the only thing is you will have to put Longer Wheel Studs on the Front
and Back since the Centres are much Thicker than regular Steel Wheels
also I use a ET Lug Nut instead of the regular Acorn Lug Nut
Thanks for the response. I just ordered a pair for the rear. I think they look enough like the Prostars that I can run my Weld fronts with them for a while and probably not ever notice the difference.
I am thinking of changing to 17” wheels the tire selection for 15’s is about 7 mean while the selection for 17’s is about 700. Just an observation from what the market place provides, I for one want a selection of tires not to be told what I can buy because there are only a handful of choices.
I just went from four 235/70/R15 Rallys
to four 245/45/R17's AR TT2's
to finally four 255/50/R17's AR TT2's
Its only been about a 2 months and 1K miles but i'm loving them.
The car feels a lot more planted.
Now i'm looking at getting a big break kit
Those 255/50s on the front look GREAT!!! I was about to order some 15s but now you have me second guessing myself......... I have 17x8s in the front of my Chevelle. Im sure I can pull off those 255/50s
This'll be the last time I drift your thread. I mounted my new tires to the new Vision wheels today. They look close enough to the Weld wheels that I'm not concerned with running them for a while with the Welds up front. There are certainly subtle differences but I doubt that many folks will notice the mismatch.
Hopefully now someone will chime in with their own 15" retro suggestions.
Hi there - I just picked up a 70 SS tribute and it came rolling on ridler 18" chrome 18x9.5 and 18x8 w Nitto tires. The car drives very nice with them and I get tons of compliments, but just not my thing. I cant wait to put some 15" SS wheels w center caps, trim rings and BFG radial TA's. Probably going to compromise the ride quality a bit, but it'll definitely look right again! No offense to anyone, im just not a pro touring, bling wheel kinda guy.
I have a modern suspension front and rear but stayed with the 15 x 7 Rally wheels. The suspension upgrades made a tremendous difference..
People say they need the bigger wheels for brakes, this isn't true at least on a street cruiser it isn't true. I stayed with the stock disc/drum brake system but installed Porterfield pads and rear shoes. Porterfield is the only company that sells there street performance compound on shoes to, that way you have the same compound on all fours.
I also removed the rear self adjusters and manually adjusted the rears, I have side to side bias set perfectly now. The car just stops straight and positive.
I used the SC&C Stage III system on the front along with a big Hellwig bar and a Lee 14:1 box set at 30 pounds for a manual steering feel..
Rear I used Spohn Del-Sphere rear control arms..
Set the alignment to 8/7.5 positive caster, .25 negative camber, 1/32 toe in. Wow what a difference..
I stayed with the stock disc/drum brake system but installed Porterfield pads and rear shoes. Porterfield is the only company that sells there street performance compound on shoes to, that way you have the same compound on all fours.
Just as an aside, Carbotech brakes can put their own specialized compounds on *any* brake shoe or pad. If they can't get the shoes/pads from the parts store for the base, you'd have to send them yours for re-lining, but its one of their regular services. We use Carbotech on our Champcar Endurance racer with excellent results. The owner is a HS classmate of mine.
I went from 15"s to 20's and 18's and never regretted it. :noway: I really didn't have much choice to go with bigger wheels because I installed some disc brakes at the rear and now the 15's wouldn't fit anymore as they were rubbing against the calipers… and also… I like BIG wheels! :thumbsup:
Below are "before" and "after" pics...
I went from 15"s to 20's and 18's and never regretted it. :noway: I really didn't have much choice to go with bigger wheels because I installed some disc brakes at the rear and now the 15's wouldn't fit anymore as they were rubbing against the calipers… and also… I like BIG wheels! :thumbsup:
Below are "before" and "after" pics...
Claude.
Am I the only one that has different sets of wheels for my cars? You guys are talking about wheels as if it's permanent modification.
I have 15's, 18's and 20', switch them out as the mood hits. For my Impala I even have 14's with hubcaps.
It takes me about 10-15 minutes to swap them.
I don't see much difference between the 15" and 17" wheels, except for the lack of "white-letter" 17's.
The better brakes and handling made me switch. Plus I didn't want to be forced to buy the mediocre "SR" rated radial TA's. I like the look of 15's but can't put up with the lack of choices in tires.
Below is a pic of my 17's , no engine in the car so it's sitting high
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