[Rich-L79]

I've become a little frustrated with my odyssey to get wheels on my wagon. In order to fit the largest tires possible, I had to order billet wheels with a custom offset. The offset ranges are well within the ranges the wheel company make available with out any undue fuss.

I ordered the wheels on March 22 with a 60% down payment and made it a 100% down payment on 4/1 when I paid the rest of the bill (which included the costs of tires, mounting, shipping, etc.). Today I finally got a distinct answer when the wheels will be built and when they will be shipped, have tires mounted and shipped to me. The "to me" date will be the week of May 15 (so probably around May 18 or so). For the time being, I'm assuming this will all stand true and I'll have my wheels when they say I will.

Is this typical to get such not-off-the-shelf wheels? Does it really take nearly two months to get someone to whip up a set of wheels? The wheel company's website says they have "an enormous inventory of wheel centers and hoops". I'd think that in this economy that the orders would be fewer and they could jump right on what orders they have and get them out the door in a matter of days or at least weeks. I'm really new to this whole custom billet wheel deal so maybe I'm expecting so much. The bummer of it is that the car has been done since last September but I've been unable to actually really drive it for a lack of trustworthy wheels and tires. It's killing me!

 

[blumont]

Rich, just out of curiosity, what size tires are you trying to squeeze in there?

 

[BillsCamino]

I ordered a pair of custom offset wheels from Wheels Vintiques...took a little over three weeks for delivery.

 

[Rich-L79]

Rich, just out of curiosity, what size tires are you trying to squeeze in there?

255/45-17 in the rear and 234/45-17 in the front.

 

[ToocoolZ28]

A friend ordered custom offset Cragars, it took 2 months for them.

 

[sschevellefan]

255/45-17 in the rear and 234/45-17 in the front.

Thats pretty much what I`m running, 17x9.5 rear with 255/40/17 and 17x8 front with 235/45/17. They are on American Racing torque thrust wheels and from what I can tell they are "off the shelf" wheels. I don`t see why you had to cutom order any. A 17x8 with a 5" backspacing is pretty standard and will clear those tires.

 

[DaleM]

Could be, too, that with the economy slow down they don't have the personnel in house to do things as quickly as they might.

 

[Rich-L79]

Thats pretty much what I`m running, 17x9.5 rear with 255/40/17 and 17x8 front with 235/45/17. They are on American Racing torque thrust wheels and from what I can tell they are "off the shelf" wheels. I don`t see why you had to cutom order any. A 17x8 with a 5" backspacing is pretty standard and will clear those tires.

I couldn't find ANY off the shelf 17x8s that have anything more than a 4.5-4.75 backspacing. If I had, I would have bought them long ago. If I remember correctly, the rear wheels back spacing is actually either 5.25 or 5.5 which certainly isn't available in any off the shelf wheel as far as I know.

Could be, too, that with the economy slow down they don't have the personnel in house to do things as quickly as they might.

Possibly. My personal theory is that someone misplaced the order for a while at one end or the other because it just doesn't seem like it should take 7-8 weeks or more to build a set of wheels.

 

[sschevellefan]

I couldn't find ANY off the shelf 17x8s that have anything more than a 4.5-4.75 backspacing. If I had, I would have bought them long ago. If I remember correctly, the rear wheels back spacing is actually either 5.25 or 5.5 which certainly isn't available in any off the shelf wheel as far as I know.

Here are these, look down about mid way, come in polished or grey center in a 17x8 with 5" backspacing.

http://aewheel.com/wheels_detail_specs.cfm?id=295

And summit has these in a 17x8 with 5" backspacing

http://www.summitracing.com/search/...-Pattern/5-x-4-3-4-in/Backspacing-in/5-000-in/?Ns=Rank|Asc&autoview=ProductName

these are just 2 exsamples, there are tons of other wheel companies out there.


I know mine are the sizes I posted cuz they are on the backside of the wheel but didn`t have time to measure the backspacing. I did see a part number but again, time restraints. I`m pretty sure mine are not a custom wheels either. On my rears, they were on the last 65 el camino I had and the wheel well lip was not trimmed and they cleared fine. Looked like I might be able to squeze a 275/40/17 back there with some trimming. The 65 el camino I have them on now has trimmed wheel well lips and it does look like I can fit the 275`s. That really is a common wheel size and backspacing, I`m surprised you didn`t find anything.

 

[Rich-L79]

Here are these, look down about mid way, come in polished or grey center in a 17x8 with 5" backspacing.

http://aewheel.com/wheels_detail_specs.cfm?id=295

And summit has these in a 17x8 with 5" backspacing

http://www.summitracing.com/search/...-Pattern/5-x-4-3-4-in/Backspacing-in/5-000-in/?Ns=Rank|Asc&autoview=ProductName

these are just 2 exsamples, there are tons of other wheel companies out there.


I know mine are the sizes I posted cuz they are on the backside of the wheel but didn`t have time to measure the backspacing. I did see a part number but again, time restraints. I`m pretty sure mine are not a custom wheels either. On my rears, they were on the last 65 el camino I had and the wheel well lip was not trimmed and they cleared fine. Looked like I might be able to squeze a 275/40/17 back there with some trimming. The 65 el camino I have them on now has trimmed wheel well lips and it does look like I can fit the 275`s. That really is a common wheel size and backspacing, I`m surprised you didn`t find anything.

Guess I didn't look around hard enough. I could have saved a lot of money if I'd found those first. Oh well, just the way this project has gone from start to finish.

 

[sschevellefan]

Guess I didn't look around hard enough. I could have saved a lot of money if I'd found those first. Oh well, just the way this project has gone from start to finish.

I know what you mean. I always find exactly what I`m looking for after I buy something that will work ok. I hope you dont think I was coming off like a smart a** on my last post. After I posted it I thought it might have seemed like I was taking a shot and I wasnt. I don`t even know what type of wheel you were looking for but coming from wheel vintiques I`m guessing a rally wheel right?

The funny thing is I was looking for 17" rims for my last 65 chevelle a few years ago to replace the rallys that were on it.and found a bunch that I liked and then got rid of the car before I could buy any. then I picked up this 65 el camino almost 2 years ago and it came with 17" americans but now I want to put rallys on it, lol. Good luck with the build. always loved your L79 car so I`ll be checking this one out when its done.

 

[Rich-L79]

I know what you mean. I always find exactly what I`m looking for after I buy something that will work ok. I hope you dont think I was coming off like a smart a** on my last post. After I posted it I thought it might have seemed like I was taking a shot and I wasnt. I don`t even know what type of wheel you were looking for but coming from wheel vintiques I`m guessing a rally wheel right?

The funny thing is I was looking for 17" rims for my last 65 chevelle a few years ago to replace the rallys that were on it.and found a bunch that I liked and then got rid of the car before I could buy any. then I picked up this 65 el camino almost 2 years ago and it came with 17" americans but now I want to put rallys on it, lol. Good luck with the build. always loved your L79 car so I`ll be checking this one out when its done.

No, your comments were no problem.

I went with Billet Specialties Mag Gs for the wagon.

 

[F1 Speed]

I've become a little frustrated with my odyssey to get wheels on my wagon. In order to fit the largest tires possible, I had to order billet wheels with a custom offset. The offset ranges are well within the ranges the wheel company make available with out any undue fuss.

I ordered the wheels on March 22 with a 60% down payment and made it a 100% down payment on 4/1 when I paid the rest of the bill (which included the costs of tires, mounting, shipping, etc.). Today I finally got a distinct answer when the wheels will be built and when they will be shipped, have tires mounted and shipped to me. The "to me" date will be the week of May 15 (so probably around May 18 or so). For the time being, I'm assuming this will all stand true and I'll have my wheels when they say I will.

Is this typical to get such not-off-the-shelf wheels? Does it really take nearly two months to get someone to whip up a set of wheels? The wheel company's website says they have "an enormous inventory of wheel centers and hoops". I'd think that in this economy that the orders would be fewer and they could jump right on what orders they have and get them out the door in a matter of days or at least weeks. I'm really new to this whole custom billet wheel deal so maybe I'm expecting so much. The bummer of it is that the car has been done since last September but I've been unable to actually really drive it for a lack of trustworthy wheels and tires. It's killing me!

FWIW, It took 9 weeks to get the custom B/S 18" Kinesis wheels I ordered 5 years ago.

 

[Rich-L79]

Frustration continues. The retailer I'm doing business with never seems to return my calls even when they promise to do so. Still no word whatsoever whether my wheels have even actually been built yet. Waiting for them to call me back and inform me of the status.......(not holding my breath)

At this point more frustration stems not so much from the time frame but the inability to get a solid answer as to what to expect.

 

[Rich-L79]

Here are these, look down about mid way, come in polished or grey center in a 17x8 with 5" backspacing.

http://aewheel.com/wheels_detail_specs.cfm?id=295

And summit has these in a 17x8 with 5" backspacing

http://www.summitracing.com/search/...-Pattern/5-x-4-3-4-in/Backspacing-in/5-000-in/?Ns=Rank|Asc&autoview=ProductName

these are just 2 exsamples, there are tons of other wheel companies out there.


I know mine are the sizes I posted cuz they are on the backside of the wheel but didn`t have time to measure the backspacing. I did see a part number but again, time restraints. I`m pretty sure mine are not a custom wheels either. On my rears, they were on the last 65 el camino I had and the wheel well lip was not trimmed and they cleared fine. Looked like I might be able to squeze a 275/40/17 back there with some trimming. The 65 el camino I have them on now has trimmed wheel well lips and it does look like I can fit the 275`s. That really is a common wheel size and backspacing, I`m surprised you didn`t find anything.

As it turns out, the problem is moreso with the fronts where I am limited to a 17x7 but need a minimum of a 4.75" backspacing which is not available in any off-the-shelf wheels I've yet to find. I refuse to run a skinny or super low profile (thus small diameter) tire just to get it to fit and I demand a full turning radius and suspension travel without any rubbing. Thus, the 17x7s up front.

 

[GenPac]

Took a little under 4 weeks for my BS Street Lite 17s in 17x9.5 and 17x11. This was two year ago, though.
They were dropshipped directly from BilletSpecialties.

 

[Clint44]

PS Engineering took around two months to deliver my 17x9 & 17x13 Kidney Beans w/pin drive knockoffs.

 

[Rich-L79]

Well, I did get a call back yesterday with a confirmation that the wheels are soon to be in production. They will be in the retailer's hands by the end of this week or early next which means out to me (hopefully) by the end of next week. If that holds true it will have been about 9-1/2 weeks from initial order to delivery.

 

[Barista]

Can't wait to see these babies on the car Rich.

 

[Rich-L79]

Can't wait to see these babies on the car Rich.

You and me both.