New wheels opinions needed

[1980c10]

So the tires on my 15'' turbines are shot and its time for new but... since I will be going big brakes in the future I'm going to go ahead and upgrade to a larger rim. Here is my situation I am trying to keep this thing as factory appearing as possible sleeper style. But I am going to need a sticky tire on the back soon so... I can do the 16'' police wheels for street trim, but there arent really any good tires for a 16'' in the rear in the size I want 275 and about 28'' tall.
So for my sticky tire setup I would run the 16'' stock steel wheel up front with a 15'' stock steel wheel in the back widend to 9'' with 0 offset and a 275/60/15 drag radial on it, to keep some what stock appearance.

Or the other setup would be 17x9 cragar soft 8's with 5'' BS in black, with a 275/40/17 all around for my street setup then for the sticky setup I would run
a set of 295/45/17 drag radials in the back. But the 17's will take away from the factory sleeper look a little. So that is my delima sorry for the long post.
Here are some pics of the 17's so you get a little idea of the looks.

what a 17x9 5'' BS and 275/40/17 tires looks like on a box



this is a 17x9 cragar soft 8



and what they look like on a vehicle





So should I go with the 16's all around for the street then with widend stock 15's on the back for my DR setup

or

17's with 275/40's all around for street and 295/45's on the back for my DR setup ?

[pvillese]

My first thought when opening the thread was that I love the look in the first picture. If you did chrome center caps with the soft 8's I don't think it would stand out that much as not being stock. You could always go with some gaudy chrome rims and then no one would associate that would having power under the hood but that you are just trying to look cool. But being serious, I think the first set would just look like you wanted a nice looking set of rims and not really give away that you have power under the hood. The soft 8's look kind of like you are trying to hide the fact that you needed bigger rims.

[Freshmeat]

Why not find a simple aluminum wheel? Black wheels would give you away in no time. Half the people I talk to think PIs had superchargers in the '80s.

For performance, aluminum wheels would provide an advantage over steel. Especially 17" steel.

I can understand not putting stickers, fancy paint, cowl, etc. to keep a sleeper effect, but everyone changes wheels these days. No one would give you a second glance just because you have new wheels.

[1987cp]

lol ... aluminum is great if you can find a set you like at a price you can afford .....

Wheel Vintiques offers some nice options for stock-ish steel wheels, including but not limited to http://www.summitracing.com/parts/WVI-63-5812042/ and http://www.summitracing.com/parts/WVI-69-5812042/. Only trouble is, the're about $90 each versus more like $50 each for Cragar steelies, which is the biggest reason I don't have a set. And of course, I don't know if you can special-order those models in a 16" diameter, though you could always ask. They do offer other attractive steel wheels off-the-shelf in 16", though, such as this one: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/WVI-66-6812042/

Cragar's black D window is also available in 16x8 in both black and silver, which would be good with something like a 255/50/16 or 255/55/16, and it's much better-looking than those Soft 8s. There's also the Cragar V5 to consider, and they can also be had in something like a 16x8.

And what was this about no wide/tall tires for 16" wheels? http://www.summitracing.com/parts/BFG-51487/

[P72Ford]

I thought I posted in here...

I like the Soft 8s.

They'll compliment the look and handling.

Of course... http://www.summitracing.com/parts/WVI-63-5812042/

I'd be willing to sacrifice big brakes to run OEM style 15" Mopar steelies. But I am goofy like that, and have an unhealthy obsession with A12 Mopars.

[1987cp]

^^^ Copycat! Copycat! That's the exact same part number I linked to first!!!

[Pirate]

Fight! Fight!


The soft 8's are okay, but I prefer an aluminum wheel, simply because most aluminum wheels, should they be machined properly, usually have less runout than steel wheels.

Me personally, I'd look at seeing if the 15x8 version of this wheel would fit on your car (same bolt pattern, I don't know if it will clear the hubs):

[1980c10]

I thought I posted in here...

I like the Soft 8s.

They'll compliment the look and handling.

Of course... http://www.summitracing.com/parts/WVI-63-5812042/

I'd be willing to sacrifice big brakes to run OEM style 15" Mopar steelies. But I am goofy like that, and have an unhealthy obsession with A12 Mopars.

I'm very seriously considering not going big brakes just so I can run some widend and narrowed stock 15" steelies with a dog dish hub cap, I love the look so much. There's nothing meaner looking than and old muscle car with factory steelies widend in the back with a nasty set of drag radials on it. The main problem I have with the 16's is not the rear it's the front, I wanna be able to run a skinny tire up front from time to time and still have stock looking wheels. I am having alot of trouble finding a 26" tall front tire for a 4" wide 16" wheel. I won't be doing any corner carving in it just a cruiser and a straight line killer, so there won't be repeted high speed stops on a road course or anything the brakes just have to be able to stop well on the street and then stop me once at the end of the run at the drag strip then they can cool till the next run. Shit sorry for the long post again lol just thinking out loud.

[1987cp]

Pretty sure the Wheel Vintiques 63 Series is available narrower as well .... yep, they definitely list a special-order-only 63 Series in either 5" or 4" wide. So yep, you could get, say, a 15x10 63 Series out back with 325/50 drag radials and a narrow wheel up front with whatever you like for a front runner. The new Mickey Thompson Sportsman SR radials would probably be worth considering, come to think of it.

[P72Ford]

^^^ Copycat! Copycat! That's the exact same part number I linked to first!!!

Uhhh... I copied it from your post. ???

Hideous.

You should definitely go with 15s.

[1980c10]

Okay so the main question now is, do you all think I will have any stopping problems on stock front brakes with discs out back.... bringing it down from say oh a 130mph run in the 1/4 then time to cool between runs ? Or do you think if im running that fast I should upgrade ? Mustang guys do it with stock brakes why not me ? And yes I do realize how fast a 130mph in the quarter is.

[1987cp]

I don't know, let me go out on the freeway and nail the brakes at 130mph and get back to you ......

Actually, I think I know someone who's done that. Maybe we can ask him.

[91grandmarquis]

I usually just use my foot, or a stick in the spokes.... wait uhh I mean... uhhh....

[Outlaw440]

Okay so the main question now is, do you all think I will have any stopping problems on stock front brakes with discs out back.... bringing it down from say oh a 130mph run in the 1/4 then time to cool between runs ? Or do you think if im running that fast I should upgrade ? Mustang guys do it with stock brakes why not me ? And yes I do realize how fast a 130mph in the quarter is.

9's? Probably 10's somewhere at 130mph though...since its such a heavy car but i dunno exactly what you're planning as far as engine/trans/rearend etc. How efficiently you get it down the track will mean alot also..... I wouldn't want to run stock stuff at either of those E/T's though but there's like a million aftermarket universal brake kits for an 8.8 rearend that'll work with a 15" rim so why not upgrade?

[1980c10]

I had planned on upgrading the rear for sure because like you said there are a million brake kits that fit 15's but the front is the problem anything bigger than stock requires at least a 16'' wheel. Of course I suppose I could just run a big spacer on a 15'' wheel like the mustang guys with cobra brakes do. I dunno the back is not a prob but the front is stressing me out lol.