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I've always liked the look of your car...not sure I'd change a thing! That said, I don't think you could go wrong with any of your options. I probably like option #1 best of the three.
I like the Vision Wheel in Gunmetal Grey with the polished Rim.... It gives the Vette an entirely Tuff Look, from the Original. With my old '62, I had a set of Cragars, to interchange with the Stock Wheels/Caps. What a Difference.... .My '64 GS has the Vision Gunmetal Rims.....
Doug, I like the more old school look of the Torque Thrust IIs. The others start looking too slight and spindly for my taste. I do agree that a 17” wheel is the way to go more for the tire options than anything else, but I also think they look great on our C1’s. On your car, the gray centers would also look awesome!
Neither one or both. I don't like the "flat lip" of the Vision Wheel. IMCO it looses the "old school" look. So I vote for a 17" American Racing TTII with gray spokes. I think that's an "old school" look that never goes out of style (that's why they are so common, I realize that). A 17" allows lots of tire choices and depending on what profile tire you choose doesn't have the dreaded "rubber band" look.
What ever you choose I'm sure will look great and compliment your car. Good luck deciding.
Not doing rubber band tires.
I currently have MT SR 26" tall tires on the 15" wheels. 10" wide tires in back, 8" wide tires in front
Looking at 27.5" tall tires for the 17" wheels, Goodyear Eagle 225/60R17 or similar.
The taller tires will go up into the fender well further, by 3/4". So, to keep same ride height I need to lower the car 3/4", that is not a problem.
The potential problem i want avoid is tire/fender contact. That is why backspace is so critical.
This is current stance.
The new tires, after lowering the car will be 1/5" farther into the fenders.
The M/T tires have to go, they are almost 11 years old, though not more than 6000 miles.
I like the look of the MT S/R but some tend to not be as round/concentric as they could be. I don't want to get tires that are not round, again. You can do an internet search, i am not the only one that gets the shakes over 70 MPH
I need a larger diameter tire to fill up the wheel well a bit more. OEM tires were about 27.5" OD, so thats what I am shooting for. And wide enough that the 427 small block doesn't instantly turn them to smoke. But not so wide they crack the rear fenders....
Cragar doesn't make an S/S in 17" with anywhere close to the 4.25" backspace that would allow the 225/60R17 tires to fit under the rear fender. Cragar used to do custom B/S but no more...Gonna have to take what fits, within reason....
The M/T tires have to go, they are almost 11 years old, though not more than 6000 miles.
I like the look of the MT S/R but some tend to not be as round/concentric as they could be. I don't want to get tires that are not round, again. You can do an internet search, i am not the only one that gets the shakes over 70 MPH
I need a larger diameter tire to fill up the wheel well a bit more. OEM tires were about 27.5" OD, so thats what I am shooting for. And wide enough that the 427 small block doesn't instantly turn them to smoke. But not so wide they crack the rear fenders....
Cragar doesn't make an S/S in 17" with anywhere close to the 4.25" backspace that would allow the 225/60R17 tires to fit under the rear fender. Cragar used to do custom B/S but no more...Gonna have to take what fits, within reason....
Doug
Yep...I just called to try and get some for our GTO a couple of weeks ago with a biger back space.. No dice..!
That really sucks after all these years. Cragar isn't Cragar any more...and the company that bought them could care less about the old school back spacing. Or anything else that I could tell (from the person I talked to) .
I guess we could always get Evod to whip us out a set of Cragars for a price..lol!
Anybody have any experience with the quality of wheels from Rocket?
Doug
Wow...I didn't know they still made Rocket wheels.
I don't know about the quality these days...but I used to have a pair on the front of a 55 chevy in the early 70's. I had Cragars on the back with an offset to get 11 inches of tire under the fenders if I dopped the axle down to mount the wheels.
I wanted 4" front runners on that car, and for some reason I couldn't get what I wanted in a Cragar. So I bought a pair of Rocket front runners and modified a set of Cragar SS center caps so they would match the Cragars. They looked good and no one but me noticed the difference...or they said noithing about it if they did.
I liked those Rocket wheels back then, and would buy a set again ...in fact I may just do exactly that if they have the backspace I'm after on the GTO.
Thanks for the link...
Stan
Had some time to try the new Rocket racing wheels and tires at speed.
I never liked that the old MT Sportsman SR tires had vibration over 70 MPH. I like the way they looked, but.... It wasn't balance, it was a tire that wasn't round. Did some research and it seems a lot of those tires were egg or oval shaped. I am sure the multi fit Cragars didn't help.
The new 17" rims with the Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring 225/60-R17 tires (a V rated tire), exhibit NO vibration , just a nice smooth ride up to over 100 MPH.
08-04-2018, 05:32 PM
New wheels for teh '61
