[JLMounce]

Originally Posted by chiphead

Lots to talk about. The issue with the cast 18" wheels is that they all have 4.5" backspace. That isn't going to be deep enough to fit a lot of tire under a '67. I assume most of them don't have the spoke clearance for the C5 brakes. From the research I've done, you need a 18x8" wheel with 5" of BS in the front for 245 tires, and a 18x9" wheel with 6-6.5" of BS in the rear to fit 255-275 tires. The only wheels I can find that fit that bill are $750 from Billet Specialists. There may be others, I haven't found them yet.

I spoke with another guy at GW when I ordered the uppers. He road races a '65 GTO. He said I'll be so surprised by the arms, springs and sway bar, I'll likely not need the AFX spindle unless I road race. I didn't ask about the tall ball joints, I assume I'll just add them myself. He did recommend a S20 spring, which is 500 lb/inch. He said it'd be correct, even with the del a lum bushings. I pressed him on it and he said its the right spring, the first guy recommended a BBC chevelle spring. The road race guy recommended the DA shocks on the street.

Will I get the same life and features out of offshore lower arms? Don't want to put all this effort into it and then cheap out.

I looked at the non-adjustable varishock, and it's more than the Viking DAs. I'm looking for that perfect balance of aggressive cruiser without the harshness. Why would I buy a non adjustable shock that's the same price as a DA? I'm out of my depth here, so edumacake me... What's the best non-adjustable shock for a street corner carver?

I did drive the new Borg box around a bit. Very tight, very responsive. I like it, except that it highlights how bad the suspension is. No strange noises or complaining with a stock rock-auto replacement pump. Am I good on pump output?

Remember that with backspace, you're taking in to account the outer edge of the bead seat. The True width of an 8" wheel is closer to 9" total when measuring outside to outside of the bead seat.

It's really important to actually measure the wheel wells front and rear, then measure both your front and backspacing available. You can then use a calculator to get your offset. More than likely you're offset on an 8" wheel to get it to fit properly is going to be around 5-10mm. Mine came out at 7mm on the fronts for my current wheels.

There are some cast options that are a bit cheaper. You can get into the torq thrust custom line for around 450 per wheel in any color and offset you need. The Rocket Racing Attack also comes in offsets that are designed to get the wheels inside the wheel wells on these cars.

As far as shocks, the Verishocks aren't the cheapest out there, but their valving and construction makes them a top tier shock. Here's the datasheet.

http://www.cachassisworks.com/Attach...324.1702394051

Viking does make a good shock as well and they are known for good ride quality.

What specific shocks did Global West recommend with the pieces you purchases? That's probably the shock I'd go with, whatever it ends up being.

[HWYSTR455]

I know the 'correct' way to measure a wheel width is inside lip to inside lip, but I have actually seen where that is not the case. There really is no industry 'standard', especially once you go offshore.

I have personally measured wheels that were 8.5 and 9.5 and it turned out it was actually outside to outside measurement. So it's best to measure when you get them, before you mount tires on them, regardless of how they are listed.

I think a half inch per side for the wheel bead wall is a little big, maybe some are like that, but I've seen them closer to a quarter inch per side.

Regardless, what really is going to matter is the TIRE section width, since most tires bulge beyong the lip. And, some tires have a 'wheel saver' feature too, further adding to the confusion.

Anyway, on the US MAG wheels I posted, neither are more than 4" from the mounting surface (offset), and that is the key.


.

[JLMounce]

Originally Posted by HWYSTR455

I know the 'correct' way to measure a wheel width is inside lip to inside lip, but I have actually seen where that is not the case. There really is no industry 'standard', especially once you go offshore.

I have personally measured wheels that were 8.5 and 9.5 and it turned out it was actually outside to outside measurement. So it's best to measure when you get them, before you mount tires on them, regardless of how they are listed.

I think a half inch per side for the wheel bead wall is a little big, maybe some are like that, but I've seen them closer to a quarter inch per side.

Regardless, what really is going to matter is the TIRE section width, since most tires bulge beyong the lip. And, some tires have a 'wheel saver' feature too, further adding to the confusion.

Anyway, on the US MAG wheels I posted, neither are more than 4" from the mounting surface (offset), and that is the key.


.

All correct, everyone is a bit different depending on how the wheel is constructed.

I just ordered a set of BC Forged wheels. Hoping to have those late next month. The barrel they use is 1/4" outside bead seat. So a 9.5" wheel measures 10" outside rim to outside rim.

My car is very low and the tires sit well into the fender wells. I've found that stretching the tire on a wheel on the higher end of the tire's recommendation works a bit better for clearance sake. I run a 275 on a 9.5" rear and a 245 on an 8.5" front.

[HWYSTR455]

When I had 17s on the lemans, I had an 11" wide on the rear, and a 9" on the front. 275s would rub on the sway bar if I was near full lock, so after that set was done I went back to 255s.

I ran 305s on the back at one time, but the 'bulge' would rub the lower control arm around turns. At speed, that made me very nervous, and dropped back to 295s.

It got hard to find matching tires trying to run a 295 in back, and since the rears didn't last long, I gave up and dropped back to 275s.

It was pretty slammed. I had to remove the inner wheel well bolts along the top, and in the rear I had to roll the lip some and trim the wheel opening molding.

Hard to tell in this pic, but those are 295s on the back, 275s on the front. If you look next to it, there's a 2004 or so GTO, it has a drop kit on it, and the LeMans is still lower.

That pic was from a Sunday I was taking a ride in the Cumberland mountains, and came across the Burdette Pontiac annual car show. Parking lot was a good 1/2 mile walk, so I entered the show and parked on the field. I nabbed 1st in the driver class.
*
Headers were 'sacrificial' when it was setup that way. My T/A is even lower.


.

[HWYSTR455]

At the time, Centerline wheels were very affordable, less than $200ea. You could order any back half and pick a backspacing you wanted.

Only problem with them was that you hit a good pot hole, and they dented. I would use a piece of 2x4 and just hammer on them, would usually get 90% of the dent out.

Got tired of polishing them too, so went to cast wheels.


.