18" wheels on 1969 Road Runner

[Photon440]

I don't see any wheels, just black circles.

What the...for a second I thought Propwash had come back. You have the same avatar as he did.

 

[RJRENTON]

Ummm, O.K.

Car weighed 3,800 lbs before and after larger wheels so the load changed how... my tires did quit buckling under around turns making it feel much safer? So far over 12,000 miles without so much as a hiccup with 18s and 19s but I do really enjoy blowing by guys like yourself on the twisty roads or cruising by them on the freeway at 80 mph only turning 1,800 rpm while they're screaming at 3,500 rpm doing 65 mph all because I chose to IMPROVE my ride. Opinions are like , I build my cars to drive and build them for me just like you do yours, difference is I don't poke you for your 15s.

It's 2 totally different crowds, there's the guys that like what they grew up knowing and there's the guys that like all around performance and nothing wrong with either one.

I swore this thread clearly said 18s on a Roadrunner... why do so many that disapprove keep opening it just to say how much they dislike it. Oh well, enjoy.

All I'm saying is check the loading of the wheel bearings. Larger tires/wheel combinations on the new cars are DESIGNED with larger bearings and spindles to accommodate the higher forces they develop. JUST BE CAREFUL when installing bigger tires/wheels on the older cars .....bearing failures are no fun. ..especially during high dpeed cornering. I say sgain: CAVIET EMPTOR .
Bob Renton

 

[RJRENTON]

Ummm, O.K.

Car weighed 3,800 lbs before and after larger wheels so the load changed how... my tires did quit buckling under around turns making it feel much safer? So far over 12,000 miles without so much as a hiccup with 18s and 19s but I do really enjoy blowing by guys like yourself on the twisty roads or cruising by them on the freeway at 80 mph only turning 1,800 rpm while they're screaming at 3,500 rpm doing 65 mph all because I chose to IMPROVE my ride. Opinions are like , I build my cars to drive and build them for me just like you do yours, difference is I don't poke you for your 15s.

It's 2 totally different crowds, there's the guys that like what they grew up knowing and there's the guys that like all around performance and nothing wrong with either one.

I swore this thread clearly said 18s on a Roadrunner... why do so many that disapprove keep opening it just to say how much they dislike it. Oh well, enjoy.

My comment has nothing to do with the b4/after weight of the car (static weight). It has to do with dynamic (moving) forces imposed on the hearings by the car and the unsprung weight of the wheel/tire. Since these forces are easily calculated (F = M x A) Force equals Mass x Acceleration (speed or G force generated during cornering) applied to the bearing's maximum axial load capacity. For exampke, during a hard left cornering maneuver at say 40 mph, the left inboard bearing and RIGHT outboard bearing receive the cornering forces less tire slippage (less slippage results in greater loads). Just be aware of what is involved. What you do to your own car is totally up to you.... I really do not care. ...just be aware that bearing life MAY be shortened.
Bob Renton

 

[747mopar]

My comment has nothing to do with the b4/after weight of the car (static weight). It has to do with dynamic (moving) forces imposed on the hearings by the car and the unsprung weight of the wheel/tire. Since these forces are easily calculated (F = M x A) Force equals Mass x Acceleration (speed or G force generated during cornering) applied to the bearing's maximum axial load capacity. For exampke, during a hard left cornering maneuver at say 40 mph, the left inboard bearing and RIGHT outboard bearing receive the cornering forces less tire slippage (less slippage results in greater loads). Just be aware of what is involved. What you do to your own car is totally up to you.... I really do not care. ...just be aware that bearing life MAY be shortened.
Bob Renton

I can see your argument in applications where someone makes these mods for serious hard cornering or racing applications but for most of us we just want improved ride quality. In my case mine is a cruiser, I don't try to see how fast I can push it threw corners but really enjoy cruising a twisty road and having the car feel firm and safe. I've cruised the same roads in my last car with 15s and I can tell you the difference is night and day.

Forgive me if I came off harsh but in all my years on this forum my pet peeve is people knocking others taste and the big rims is always frontline. Myself I don't understand the bicycle looking OEM tires but to each his own.

As for the modern bearings I don't know, seams most fail way prematurely in comparison to the tried and true adjustable dual taper bearings. I've busted some of these bearing assemblies apart just to see what's inside and am not impressed. To me it looks more like they're more focused on building a complete bolt on bearing assembly for production reasons than making them better... one was a double roller bearing which is far inferior to taper? My Dakota went threw both front wheel bearings in just over 100K miles and have replaced many others like them where I've never had a double taper bearing fail yet to this day. Maybe some models are better but from what I've seen they are inferior.

 

[RJRENTON]

The purpose of the posts was to just make people aware of what may happen if the wheel bearings are overloaded. Today's tires are light years ahead of what was OEM supplied in the 60's & 70's. Firestone "wide oval" 4 ply rated 2 ply were horrible in both performance snd longevity. My '70 GTX came with Goodyear G6015 polyglas tires....much better than the Firestone tires, but now has BFG 275-60-15 radial tires.
As far as wheel bearing designs, the original TIMKEN tapered roller bearings are the gold standard. GM used the Delco New Departure equalivant but not as durable as the Timken dedign. Later manufacturers began using a duplex angular contact ball bearing design, capable of both radial and axial loads but, in my opinion, not as good as Timken. I'm sure costs were the determining factor.
Bob Renton

 

[rlem1977]

I'm old school.....I cannot understand the infatuation with the large diameter wheels and tires. To my taste, i prefer the 15" wheel tire combo that came with the car.
There is one aspect that none of the "big tire/wheel" proponents seem to take in considerstion is wheel/axle bearing loading.....larger wheels and tires add considerably to the radial and axial forces the front wheel bearings (especially the outboard bearing) must carry. True, tapered bearings are great for radial and axial loads (and to a lesser degree rear outboard axle bearings) but bearings have limitations to their capacities. The bearings will run hotter perhaps to the point of lubrication failure. Years ago, while commuting to work, I experienced an front outboard wheel bearing failure.....ruining the spindle, both bearings, brake drum, brake backing plate, shoes.....the right front tire and car parted company......all without warning. It would be my opinion to review your wheel/tire combination to make sure the respective bearings are not overloaded. BTW..I was using a high temp synthetic bearing grease when the bearing failed. CAVIET EMPTOR. ..definitely applies....
Bob Renton

I'm from the Whatever Makes You Happy With Your Car, Do-it School. I owned a '71 'Cuda in '73, a '72 Charger in '74. First things we did back then were wheels/tires and headers; the intake and carb; maybe air shocks and traction bars; whatever else you could afford. We did all that with what was available at the time. That was the thing to do with hot rods. Now there are many performance handling options available for the muscle era cars. Tires have never been better, wheel selection is almost limitless. If you want to try and make these big 'ol things handle better, go for it. 17's, 18's, 20's, whatever your taste, it's your car.

As RJR sort of stated above, do it so it all works together. I used to see, and still do, wheel offsets that do place extra load on wheel and axle bearings, so you have to be careful with that. DO THE 18s!

 

[Grabinov911]

Nice, who makes the wheels?

They were custom made by a manufacturer named Bonspeed in Orange County, CA. The guy who made them is named Brad. I wanted a wheel that looked like a Panasport or a Mini Lite - a genuine racing wheel not a show wheel. I looked at every manufacturer I could find and no one had what I wanted. Finally I convinced Brad to put in the time to program the CNC to build them for me. Apparently the amount of machine time required for a wheel center like this (the wheel hoops are all the same - welded to the centers) is much greater than what a normal CNC wheel is because they have to machine the front and then turn the wheel over and machine the back as well to get the share right. They were expensive, but not as expensive some of the wheels I compared them to - $3,000 a wheel for the big racing-wheel names, and that's for a wheel out of the catalog.

 

[snakeyes]

View attachment 569897

had to bring this back up

 

[Sweet5ltr]

Bumping an old thread, to prove the value of shopping around. One 18" wheel costs $169/ea the other wheel costs $1,009/ea. They look 90% identical, other than the center hub, I don't know the weight of the Weld wheel but I just sent an email to see what you get for $840 additional dollars:

 

[747mopar]

Same construction, forged, cast, billet?

 

[Sweet5ltr]

Same construction, forged, cast, billet?

Probably not, Weld Racing wheels are forged, that's why they're $1,009/ea. The SVE's are one-piece, cast aluminum with a lifetime warranty (23#/ea - 18x9). I'm really interested to see the wheel weight on the Welds, they haven't gotten back with me yet. I don't think the forged vs. cast argument carries as much weight as it may have, ten - twenty years ago.

 

[747mopar]

That's what I figured, forged is a more costly process and a much better product where once the molds are made cast is very cheaply produced. I myself won't buy cast rims, cast has a tendency to loose it's finish and isn't easily brought back where forged and billet can always be buffed back to shiney new. You get what you pay for, would you put cast or forged pistons in a high output motor? I know not really the same but you get the point.

I paid a pretty penny for mine and already bent one and scuffed another pretty badly but not being cast I was able to pound out the ding vs it being cracked and polish them right back up.

 

[Sweet5ltr]

That's what I figured, forged is a more costly process and a much better product where once the molds are made cast is very cheaply produced. I myself won't buy cast rims, cast has a tendency to loose it's finish and isn't easily brought back where forged and billet can always be buffed back to shiney new. You get what you pay for, would you put cast or forged pistons in a high output motor? I know not really the same but you get the point.

I paid a pretty penny for mine and already bent one and scuffed another pretty badly but not being cast I was able to pound out the ding vs it being cracked and polish them right back up.

If my cast wheel gets destroyed, I'll gladly just pay the $169/ea to replace with a brand new one

No one is questioning the forging process produces a higher strength wheel, just, is it actually beneficial for most vehicle applications? The primary benefit is going to be a reduction in unsprung weight, as a modern cast wheel from a reputable manufacture is going to be incredibly strong regardless. I'm not Randy Pobst, so I doubt I'll notice either way.I just responded to a FB question this morning concerning an individual requiring a 17" (4") wheel for a spare tire that would clear larger brake calipers on his Mopar. I sent him a link to the SVE drag wheels, 17 x 4.5" that are listed to clear larger (GT 500 Brembo calipers) for only $180/ea, his response, "wrong brand" . Just have to get a good laugh sometimes, it's a wheel, if they're the same bolt pattern, it's simple measurements for the required backspacing and offset, doesn't matter what manufacture it's originally intended for.

 

[rlem1977]

Bumping an old thread, to prove the value of shopping around. One 18" wheel costs $169/ea the other wheel costs $1,009/ea. They look 90% identical, other than the center hub, I don't know the weight of the Weld wheel but I just sent an email to see what you get for $840 additional dollars:
View attachment 605897 View attachment 605898

I had never heard of SVE, or many of the other dozens of wheel manufacturers now. If you buy 'em, post a review. They look nice.

 

[Sweet5ltr]

I had never heard of SVE, or many of the other dozens of wheel manufacturers now. If you buy 'em, post a review. They look nice.

That's because they're primarily market is for (please sit down if you aren't already) . . . FORDS!

Blasphemy I know, but Late Model Restoration (LMR) has been around for awhile and have always been at the top of the list in terms of replica / aftermarket Ford Mustang wheels. They don't manufacture the wheels, I believe all the wheels are outsourced and placed under the SVE name (exclusive to LMR). Outsourcing is generally in China, I've read online, that SVE Wheels were (maybe still are?) built at the same facility as American Racing Wheels.

 

[Slowride 262]

This is my 70 v code with 17" all around

 

[biomedtechguy]

I know the OP asked about 18" wheels.
I bought the Year One 17" aluminum Rallye wheels. 8" x 17" front with a 4.5" offset and 9" x 17" rear with a 5" offset. That's how they come. I did this for appearance and because I was desperate for traction. I took a guess that worked out great and got Toyo Proxes TQ drag radials for the rear 315/35/17. They fit like Chrysler should have equipped the 70 Roadrunner with them out the door!
I may try a set of M&H Racemaster drag radials in a 325/45/17. No issues with the Toyo Proxes TQ drag radials, but I may want a "taller" sidewall since I went from a 3.54 to a 4.10 R&P
The 17" Rallye wheels are so TRUE to the styling and appearance of the 15" steel Rallyes that came on my car.

 

[Ron H]

I went from 14 to 15 wheels and actually if I had a do over might have done 16. But then I'm not a fan of getting much beyond where the wheels stand out diminishing the astestics of the old car. Not knocking any ones preference larger wheels are what's popular on new cars and this transfers to modifications on older. Some like the color red others blue. What I agree is a bit larger wheel on the old rides look nicer.

 

[MOPARENT]

12th commandment: thou shalt not install anything over a 15 inch wheel on thy Mopar.

 

[Ron H]

I thought that was the 15th commandment...for 15" wheels? Or am I confusing it with "those who claim their wiener is longer than 15 inches" is violating the commandment that says "thou shalt not lie"? I get them all mixed up...