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#1
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Rally II wheels on '67 LeMans with 4 piston caliper disc brakes
Well, I learned something today. I can't just throw a set of 15" x 7" rally II's on my '67 LeMans with disc brakes. The back of the wheel center hits the caliper. Dang. We just got a great deal on some Rally II's with tires, center caps, trim rings, etc.
I was on Rich's Pontiacserver and found that only a certain Rally wheel will fit the car, and they were 14" anyways. I'm not keen on switching out the calipers. The car stops on a dime. So I guess that aftermarket is my only choice? You can see on the original wheel that they made a lot of room for the caliper behind the wheel. The Rally II stamping doesn't provide the same clearance. I'm assuming that the single piston caliper does not have the same issue. |
#2
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I just ran into the same issue dragging a complete running 68 YZ GTO home with factory 4 piston discs
the fronts on the beater were flat ... no problem I have a nice set of KS 14" rally II I use just for this ... get there jack the car up Pull the undated JA rally II off toss the KS on WTF ??? had to stack doubble washers on 3 studs to get em to clear crazy .... I love my manual 4 piston discs on my other 4 speed 68 GTO .. like you say they stop great !! Scott 14x6 JA 67 68 69 |
#3
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There is a 14"slotted Rallye Wheel that was required to fit over the 4 piston calipers. My 67 GS400 has this original factory set up . The brakes are terrific. Have a spare set of these wheels. I do not know whether or not the Pontiac center cap for Rallye I wheels would fit. If it would ,this could be an option.
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#4
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It seems that even 1/8" would make a difference. Dare I try to space them out? What clearance between the caliper and the wheel is acceptable? There's about 1/4" of wheel stud sticking out beyond the lug nut when the wheel is installed.
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#5
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Wheel spacers are pretty common. As long as they're not too thick and your wheel studs are long enough (and you have fender clearance for the spaced out wheels) I think you should be fine. In addition to the bolt pattern and thickness of the spacer, the center bore will need to match up to your hub. Summit Racing and Jegs have quite a selection of them, among other sources.
Last edited by Stuart; 05-23-2021 at 09:40 AM. |
The Following User Says Thank You to Stuart For This Useful Post: | ||
#6
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take a little off the caliper with the grinder
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#7
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If you have the '69 and up disc brakes with 15" Rally II's: how much clearance is there between the caliper and the wheel on your vehicle? A good margin, or is it right down to 1/8" or so?
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#8
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You might be able to mock up a potential spacer setup by using a stack of appropriate sized fender washers, to ONLY check the clearance, then buy the proper spacer. A Stuart mentioned, nothing wrong with spacers, as long as there's enough thread engagement of the lug nuts.
__________________
1977 Black Trans Am 180 HP Auto, essentially base model T/A. I'm the original owner, purchased May 7, 1977. Shut it off Shut it off Buddy, I just shut your Prius down... |
#9
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My experience with the 4 piston disks on a 67 Camaro did not requires anything special as far as wheels, the 72 Pontiac wagon did have caliper clearance issues. Cad CTS is the worst I ever saw.
In general you can add 3 mm spacers on a stock hub but 5mm is marginal. Gorilla makes a 7/16 Acorn nut with an extended shank, I cracked some foreign junk. 7 turns is OK, 5 are marginal. |
#10
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I've got those brakes too on my 67. In the early years before internet, I didn't know which wheels would fit and the Rally II's I had didn't fit. I made a 1/4 inch spacers out of aluminum and used them for years with nary a problem.
Later I found out that JA or JC Rally II wheels will fit those brakes. (Those are 14 inch wheels though...) The early Rally II wheels (JA and JC code) lug pockets are deeper than later Rally II wheels, giving a bigger offset for the fat 4 piston calipers. Something like (you guessed it) 1/4" deeper lug pockets. If your 4 piston disc brake GTO or LeMans came originally with steel wheels they also were "special" code...with deeper spacing. Hard to find. There are a couple other codes from the late 60's that will fit too...not sure which ones...(maybe JL code?). But if you like the 15" Rally II's, try spacers first, you might be totally fine.
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Dave http://www.squidsfabshop.com/? (updated January, 2013, Pypes exhaust installation) |
#11
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The A-body Grand Prixs 1969-1972 had 15x7 Rally IIs and disk brakes.. Personally like 15x8 snowflakes.
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#12
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FWIW, if you find one of the third gen F body, with rear drum brakes, with cast iron drums, and alloy wheels in a wrecking yard be aware that GM used an aluminum factory spacer that is .187 thick and fits a 4 3/4 inch bolt circle. If you can find a pair of these then you'd most likely be able to use any wheel on the 4 piston setups.
Pictures and posts about the third gen factory wheel spacers: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/hist...el-spacer.html I first encountered them on an 82 Firebird years ago, around 1983-84. Back in 1973 I had a set of American Racing 14 inch torq thrust D wheels that I had trouble fitting on my 1969 GTO with single piston disc brakes because the wheel hit the caliper ever so slightly only on one side. I did what has already been suggested, and just ground enough off of the caliper to gain enough clearance for the wheel to fit that side of the car. I'm not sure if that would work in this case, or not, OP needs to put eyes on the problem to see if this is a workable solution. |
#13
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Well, I put the spacers on the fronts and it worked out. The studs are flush with the nuts, so I’ll just keep an eye on them and check the torque here and there. We’re really happy that we got the wheels and tires with the rings and centers all for 500.00. Those square shouldered trims rings make all the difference. It looks like a much larger wheel with them on, in my opinion.
They’re 235/60/15 on the front and 255/60/15 on the rear, if anyone was wondering. |
#14
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looks good
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