YearOne vs OER Snowflake Wheels
 

I seem to be coming across two different manufacturers of reproduction 15x8 gold snowflake wheels: YearOne and OER. YearOne claims a backspacing of 4.5" (0 offset), while OER claims 4.25" (-6mm offset). It's really difficult to tell which ones some resellers carry. Ames doesn't mention brand, but they claim theirs have a 4.25" backspacing, so I assume they're OER. Summit clearly lists theirs as OER. Jegs clearly lists theirs as YearOne. Other sellers don't always list the specs or the manufacturer.

From what I can tell, the OERs cost like $100 less (on average) for a set of 4.

Does anyone have any experience with either of these reproductions? Is there a preference? I'm more inclined to trust Ames' judgment when it comes to part quality, so if they chose OER as their supplier, then that's likely what I'd buy. But I'd love to hear about other people's experiences.

I think they are ALL Year Ones china imports....and don't ever believe anything that you read...in an OER or Classic Industries catalog..

I don't like that many shops don't even list brands, or give their own number to make it look like they had some part in it. It makes it hard to compare prices or quality parts. I've cancelled more sales from not knowing than from trying to save a dollar and go elsewhere. The brands also seem to depend on what is in stock due to production runs and if 15 or 17 diameter, some sellers have have both brands as a result because it's all that is available in that diameter. Based on photos and no comparison of both, it appears the OER Gold is much more pale than the YO Gold. It would be good to see them both. YO also uses the tapered acorn lugnut, OER uses correct snowflake lugnut. Would like to hear if this has changed or not correct, only based on ad listings and stock photos. I don't think there is any question in where the rims are coming from. It would be interesting to see how much they actually differ though between the 2 brands. Often the main casting is onsold to different companies to put their own brand on, with minor or no changes. It could well mean the OER wheels with stock offset and lugnuts, are just 1st Production YO, or same as.

Thanks! That's helpful. I ordered a set of OERs from Summit, they had the best price by far. I also kinda like the fact that they have an extra 1/4" of poke. They supposedly won't ship until the end of the month. I have original 15x7 gold snowflakes that are in like-new condition, so it'll be interesting to compare them

all the 15x8 & 17" snowflake repros use the standard snowflake lug nuts, i wasnt aware any repro snowflakes ever used the acorn nut from the beginning of their availability, but i could be wrong. all pics & info on the YO & OER snowflakes ive seen show & state they use the standard snowflake nuts.

keep your fingers crossed on that ship date, i had a friend try & buy some of the 15x8s recently & they were back ordered everywhere he looked with a ship date that kept getting moved out, took almost a year to get them. with the current supply situations the ship date could get delayed a few times. however, jegs says the YO wheels would ship monday if purchased now so maybe hopefully supply on these isnt an issue.

That brings up a question, are there similar-appearing lug nuts in a M12-1.5 thread? I'm gonna need those for the front wheels.

As mentioned, first run of Year One 17" used standard lugnuts. After that, nooope.

Stock pic clearly shows tapered seat machined in.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/gearbox-yea.../sfw179blk.png

"Must be used with the following Lug nuts. MRG1440 for standard 7/16 -20 thread." -R17

https://www.yearone.com/Product/wheels/mrg1440

Whereas original type only for factory or 15" YO, so good to know their 15" is still the same, just the 17"s then.

https://www.yearone.com/Product/wheels/qj39s

"These lug nuts are only used with FACTORY 15" Wheels and YEARONE 15" Repro wheels."

sorry for any confusion, i was mistaken on the current 17" lug nuts, but the current ad at YO for the 17" do clearly show the standard lug opening in the pic but then note they use the acorn lug nuts...

https://www.yearone.com/Product/1967...2s#prettyPhoto

but being this thread is about the 15" wheels & your comment on lugnuts didnt differentiate between 17 or 15", it just said "YO uses acorn & OER uses standard snowflake lug", i just wanted to clarify that all 15" repros use the non acorn lug nut.

Gee and here I thought all GM stock wheels used acorn nutz. Even my '11 CTS.

Aah I see how it's my mistake suggesting they may not be all the same.

Are many variations just the wheels all have acorn (60 degree) seats. That is just the shape of the bottom of the lug nut. Are also some extended shaft acorn nuts for use with shims. Strictly speaking some GM wheels (mostly alloy) have bulge acorn seats. See here.

No, 77-81 snowflakes and the 79-81 turbo wheels were specific with their lugnuts. Some repros match this, some don't. Best to check first.

I have some of the 15x8 repops and pretty sure they match up offset to my factory ones I will check tomorrow when I go to the shop.

The first run of YO 17" have a similar offset but being wider more backspace. Also they have too big of a hub pilot which is an issue locating the wheel sine they use the factory .50 lugnut hole but the lug nuts are maybe .710. They flat part of the lug nut hole is a little tighter than factory but still not sure they are close enough to locate correctly. I had custom hubnetric rings made I think 2.870x 2.785. Factory pilot is 2.78 so I wonder if someone flipped the digits when they made them. The repop 15s are factory sized.

Yah, seems the 15x8 have been kept in factory specs all along, which is good but interesting. I was mainly referring to the 17's but thought I'd read that the 15's had changed the same, good to know. Both the OER and YO 17x9 have the changes. They also share some of the stock photos, although that could be the vendor as well, since half show a combination of lugnut machining seats in their pics, showing it's a 10yr-old pic, or not their item at all, depending on brand.

Did someone have one of each brand in gold to compare colours? I remember someone had a YO 15x8 but just picked up the OER 17x9, maybe another site.

As for Goremaker, you changed front brakes and ended up with the metric studs? I'm not aware of a lugnut that fits, haven't looked but many others have done your swap that could comment. It's a situation where you may have preferred the tapered seat. Or offered the 2 options when produced, along with factory bore.

KORE3 billet front hubs on large-bearing 12" rotor spindles. The only stud options KORE3 offers are 1/2-20 or M12-1.5, no 7/16" available

My 17" OERs have Year One cast on the back!

They have metric lugnuts for snowflakes. Probably just drilled and tapped them. I left the metrics in the front rotors of the 1LE I put on the 81 TA. -also had Dutchman drill the rear axles for 7/16 and metric in case having two different sizes bug me in the future!

Thanks for confirming they are the same casting as always thought. I bet they don't show that it the ads. Or they blur it out like they do on items that say another brand or Taiwan. It's false advertising for a start, worse when they purposely try to mislead.

Well mine apparently just shipped, so I should find out within a week!

Going to need pics regardless, it's the law.

Received them today!

They're very good quality wheels, the finish is beautiful and the casting and machining is top notch. No complaints there. These have OER cast into the back:

https://i.ibb.co/c678zjS/IMG-20211130-201645.jpg

As for being reproductions, they kinda fail there. The gold is MUCH too light compared to the originals.:

https://i.ibb.co/1TdRqRD/IMG-20211130-201407.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/wzg3sCQ/IMG-20211130-201541.jpg

The texture of the painted surface is much more coarse on the originals, and finer on the reproductions:

https://i.ibb.co/P99rg7V/IMG-20211130-201752.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/9ZTCjw6/IMG-20211130-201740.jpg

The spokes don't have nearly as much depth, either:

https://i.ibb.co/mqw92K8/IMG-20211130-201928.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/f9KZLMP/IMG-20211130-201918.jpg

At first I thought that might be a difference between 15x7 and 15x8 wheels, but photos of WS6 cars on the Internet seem to confirm that the spokes on these reproductions are a fair bit less deep. This means there's less gold-painted surface. It probably helps with weight a fair bit, and possibly with caliper fitment.

The 15x7 wheels seem to have a dish in the middle, whereas the 15x8 wheels don't, but I'm pretty sure that's true of the originals and not a quirk of these reproductions.

Considering what I paid for these ($695 shipped through Summit), I'm really happy. I wish the gold paint was a better match, but other than that they should look great on my car.

Look good. Interesting with the updated OER casting. The paint is a much closer match than I would have thought looking at other pics, but then your originals also look light so shows photos are hard to tell much from.

That might be because I had the contrast all wrong, with the reproduction sitting on bright cardboard while the OEM has a black tire mounted on it.. Here's a better shot that really shows the difference in color:

https://i.ibb.co/Fqj17Yz/IMG-20211130-212500.jpg

The original matches the gold graphics on the car much better. The reproduction is more yellow. It's still definitely gold, mind you, and I'm not sure anyone would call them out as "fake" unless they had the originals to compare to.

Yep, that's it. Good comparison. I'm not sure about OER but assume the same as YO being powdercoated gold and clear rather than paint for better wear. I'm sure once all on the car it will look perfect. It's mainly if you had one of each that the issue may come up!

Just swapping the tyres over or plans for fresh there also?

Random pic for sake of it. Here's a comparison pic I took 10 years ago of the new YO snowflakes with a Pontiac paint chart, albeit in the shade. It was a spur of the moment pic while dropping them into storage. The top Gold is 55 which they should be, the lower is 56. Yours are possibly closer to 50, which is in another pic I took. I need to retake them in sun.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...43abb959_z.jpgYO Snowflake gold vs 55 Gold top 56 Burnished Gold lower by Aus78Formula, on Flickr

I hate BF Goodrich Radial T/As with a deep, dark passion. With the level of grip they provide, I might as well be running wooden donuts on the wheels. I can't wait to get rid of them. Cooper Cobras are an improvement, but not by much. I've heard good things about Mickey Thompson Sportsman S/T, but they're still a very traditional tread and compound and S speed rated, which means a very flexy sidewall.

I recently discovered new tires that I tried out on my '93 Roadmaster wagon over the summer. They're Vitour Galaxy R1 tires, available in all the same sizes as BF Goodrich Radial T/As, and then some. Those tires have been absolutely phenomenal on my Roadmaster. Modern tread, tons of lateral grip and gobs of brake traction. They're H speed rated (130mph) and have a very nice sidewall that doesn't flex excessively, yet they ride super smooth. The compound is sticky just touching them with bare hands. All that and white lettering, too. I run them in 255/70R15 all around on 15x7 OEM wheels, which is a ton of sidewall. I've put over 10k miles on them so far and they're barely worn at all despite some very aggressive driving in a 4700 pound car.

The reason I bought these 15x8 wheels is to take better advantage of those tires in 255/60R15 front and 275/60R15 rear sizes on the Trans Am. Those sizes are V speed rated (149mph), with an even stiffer sidewall. I can't wait to see how they improve the car's handling.

Haha no argument here. The BFGs look good, and...no that's it really! I have the 255/275 combo on mine from 15 years ago and it's like a steam roller vs bouncy castle in handling! It's come a long way since then with suspension upgrades and different tyres on another set of rims but yeah.

the M/T radial ST tires are not the same S speed rating & old tread design as BFG's. they are T rated & have a little bit newer tread design, i havent used them myself but have seen them on a friends car & they are a much nicer looking & feeling tire than BFGs. & they dont have the common dingy white letter issues that many BFGs can have. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mtt-6028

ive never heard of those galaxy R1 tires, they look like a nice tire & the V speed rating is unheard of for 15"' tires & they are priced a lot less. none of the bigger local places like discount tire or tires plus or summit etc carry them though, looks like only 1 or 2 online places & maybe amazon have them.

also, looking at the pics you posted of your 15x7 wheels, are you sure those are original finished factory wheels? the close up pics sure do look like they have been refinished with the thick powder clear all over & the lug nut seats look like they have gotten into the casting area of the hub, which is common when these wheels get turned down on a lathe. if thats the case the gold is not the original factory paint, its powder coat then powder clear that gives the spokes that overly glossy smoothed look.

I bought mine from Performance Plus Tire last spring, and I just ordered the new set for the Trans Am a couple weeks ago. That's the only place I could find them, but they delivered fast

yeah thats the only place i found them online, let us know how you like them.

& i edited my post with a question on the 15x7 wheels if you missed it.

I haven't removed the wheels from the car yet to give them a proper inspection. I do know they haven't been touched in over 13 years. The car has been driven like fewer than 3000 miles in that time. They do look clear coated on the machined surface, is that not how they're supposed to be?

You prob could have had a orig set redone. For around the same price There’s a guy in the area here that does snowflakes, (Fred) but he doesn’t do the lathe skim, also there’s a rim place that paints them first, then does a skim on a lathe. Gm didn’t clear them. If you seal the alum it slows down the oxidation, j&j paste wax works well. If that clear coat e er yellows or starts to peel, your going to have a mess.
I don’t like putting the orig cast marks in, talk about counterfeiting,

There's nothing wrong with the 15x7's that are on there now, they're in fantastic shape. I wanted the 8" wide wheels so the wider tires don't bulge out so much at the sidewalls and the tread lays flatter for better grip

I have 6o’s on my 7” and there’s no bulge. I’m just not a fan of the 8’s. They always called them disco wheels, I just just don’t like all the flash. My 7’s are now a table, I put gold rally’s on. Found a mint orig set at the swap.

It's not the aspect ratio that does it, it's the 275 width. I dislike how much the sidewalls get pulled in on 7" wheels, it prevents the entire width of the tread from sitting flat on the road surface. Technically, 275 tires aren't even approved for 7" wheels, they call for at least 7.5", although I know plenty of people run them on 7" wheels anyways. And this is also a step in getting WS6 bits retrofitted onto a '77 that was never available with that package. I personally prefer the look of the 8" wide wheels over the 7".

My Roadmaster has 15x7 wheels, and the 255/70 tires are about as wide as I'd go on there. The sidewalls bulge noticeably. I'm considering getting those wheels widened to 8" to run the same 255/275 setup.

i looked at the pics again closer, those are definitely refinished wheels with the thick powder clear & have been turned on a lathe. if you compare them to originals you can see the ring of the lug nut seats are much bigger & protrude into the area of the hub edges. they looke nice but have tell tale signs of refinishing. can also see some discoloration or staining in the gold & spoke areas. just wanted to mention that for comparing the gold colors since the powder gold used by the refinish companies isnt always factory correct.

from what i have read & seen the factory did clear these wheels, but it was a very thin lacquer based clear that wore off over the years. if they werent cleared they would have oxidized & dulled within a couple years.

disco.... :rolleyes:

I did notice that there was a significant amount of machined surface around the center cap on the original wheels compared to the reproductions. Wasn't sure if that's original, but your explanation makes sense.

I'm not sure where this "disco" thing comes from. The fact that the 8" wheels have a machined lip around the circumference? To each their own tastes and opinions. In any case, I kinda like that part of it.

ive been through some nightmares with refinishing these snowflakes, had 3 sets done before finally finding a place that did quality work, i ended up having my recent set of 15x8s NOT powder cleared due to how thick they do it & how unnatural it looks, first sets had debris in the clear & terrible orange peel, when they redid them the 2nd time they removed so much metal that the lug seats looked like yours & the outer edge where the tire beads up was super thin, so bad my tire guy said he wouldnt use them like that.

the disco thing gets repeated quite a bit on here lately but always by the same guy.... the vast majority of people prefer the 8" wheels over the lame 7", they look way better & allow for wider tires for better performance if/when desired. funny how everyone wanted the 8" for their non WS6 cars back in the day & still prefer them today, theres a reason why the 7" wheels arent repro'd.

My T/A drives, corners, and rides BETTER with the repro Goodyear Steel Belted Radials than with the BFG's they replaced. The main downside to the repro tires is the cost. But BFG's are far from cheap either.

While the 8" are preferred by most for aforementioned reasons listed above, everyone and their brother run them on so many '77-'81's that I have grown to dislike them. I'll stick with my 7" wheels.

NOS snowflakes definitely show clear coat after machining.

Those rims still look pretty good, some aren't quite as neat when 'restored'. Also with snowflakes, it can be more obvious as they have the multi-angled facing to the spokes and the change in angles aren't always in the centre of the spoke casting like originally.

Rumour has it the designers of the late 70's Firebird and snowflakes were listening to Boney M on repeat and wanted a 'disco-ball' rim, the larger Fisher T-Tops were purely for afro clearance. But still offered Rally rims for those closet disco fans in denial publicly.

The Disco thing comes from these cars were out during the Disco era . The flakes are about as flashy as you can get. Funny thing, I saw more cars with rally’s than flakes.
Now, it’s like, PUT SOME 8” flakes on your ta. And BFG’s. My 78 came with Firestones on. Not a fan of the BFG’s
I used to love 8 lugs, now everyone puts them on. They must come with 421 badges too. Lmao
I have a nos flake wheel from Kelsey Hayes, no clear coat. I repainted my flakes in the 80’s, no clear coat.
I doubt in Iowa you saw a lot of F body’s, lol. I saw alot here, and they called the 8”ers disco wheels.

yeah there aren't many fbodies in iowa, ive only seen like 2 or 3... :thumbup:

But still offered Rally rims for those closet disco fans in denial publicly. LOL!

I found adequate lug nuts that will work for my needs. Gorilla makes an M12x1.5 lug nut intended for Jaguar applications that's perfect. The shank diameter and depth is identical, as is the flange diameter. They use the same 3/4" socket. They have a similar shape, but they're a fair bit longer to accommodate longer studs, and they use a washer seat rather than just a flange. They're threaded for their entire length. The washer makes them look a little bit different than stock, but it also helps prevent any gouging of the wheel, especially if I lube the space between the washer and the lug nut before tightening.

https://i.ibb.co/7pvMLj9/IMG-20211207-113224.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/4ZphQkQ/IMG-20211207-113218.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/k2N4x8d/IMG-20211207-113209.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/gmVwtbM/IMG-20211207-113544-2.jpg

Part number is GOR73138J. They're typically available individually, and they're NOT cheap. I found a set of 20 at an online store I've never bought from before for $120, and they arrived quickly. I've had both positive and negative experiences with Gorilla lug nuts, but these seem like a very good quality.

Nice find, they are a similar appearance to stock too.

I don't think anyone would call them out as unoriginal when they're installed, especially with the center cap in place

Since originals were 7/16-20 AFAIK no Pontiac that had snowflakes originally had metric threads (M12x1.5). What is the application ?

BTW Snowflakes use the cylinder tyle lug nuts. Acorn flange was for a steel spare wheel.

KORE3 front hubs mounted to OEM-style spindle.

There are also some Toyota lugnuts that are metric with a hair longer shank.

I got some factory style converted to metric I have on the 12" 1LE rotor on the front of the 81 TA.

I considered those, and they're much less expensive (like 1/4 the price). What I didn't like about them is all the ones I found had a round domed tip rather than a flat hex end, which to me kinda clashed with the whole snowflake look.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/02...pg_652x576.jpg

BTW don't ever rely on extension threads for strength.

Yikes! That's scary! But I wasn't referring to the threads in the shank, these don't actually reach down any deeper than the OEM lug nuts. I was referring to the threads inside the lug nuts, they're threaded all the way into the bore. Many lug nuts I've come across only have the first 12 to 16mm threaded and then the inside opens up with no threads at all. I run extended-length studs and I like having as much thread engagement as possible.

I replaced the metric lugs studs for standard ones in the 1LE rotors that I put on my 1976 Firebird. Dorman had a stud that was the same length and diameter with the correct shank in 7/16" size.