As much as i'd love to keep the old-school 15" look, sooner or later i'm going to be going far too fast for them. 18"s are inevitable. I was balking about this move, but i recently found a wicked set ov 18x11" wheels, about to come off a new Charger. Some aftermarket brand, but they look sick, and they're pretty light. They've got a 6" backspace. I know the guy and can get them cheap.

So basically, i'll need to space them out about 2 inches, and change to a 5 on 4 1/2" (Mopar) bolt pattern. The car will have flares by then. I've seen bolt pattern swaps on bigger Chevy's (4.75 to 5" i think), so i know it can be done. I've always been wary about actually racing on those aluminum hub-adaptors, even the high quality ones, but i see a LOT ov people doing it, so it must be safe.

Has anyone done this?

 

Not sure if my math is correct but you have a 3" wider wheel which moves the inside of the wheel 1.5" closer to the frame/suspension plus a backspace that also moves it 2" closer to the frame/suspension and no mention of tire size that may also bulge out closer to the frame. So how did you come up with a 2" spacer?

 

He’ll have flares…

I would use really good/strong studs with Loctite. They will most likely cause premature wear on your wheel bearings due to increased leverage/loads.

https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/11...pacers-safety/

 

Did you notice I never mentioned body since he stated flares. I stated frame and suspension.

 

He’ll have 1.5” more clearance between the frame and tires with the 2” spacer. So no issues with frame or suspension. Which is why mentioned flares and not suspension… 😉

 

How do you figure that? 1.5" wider wheel on inside and outside plus 2" more backspace? The 2" more backspace negates the gain from the spacer.

 

Deleted,

realized you are adding flares,

You should be good

Neal

 

My calculation is based off of a 10 wide wheel with a 5.5” backspace or zero offset. Basically the widest wheel you can fit under the stock fenders. So a 6” backspace on an 11” wheel is also a zero offset. Adding a 2” spacer effectively makes the 11” wheel have a 4” backspace or a negative 2” offset. The attachment is in millimeters, but you get the idea.

You probably could do a 11” wide rim in the back as long as the rear sway bar is removed, wheel is 18” or larger and the tire diameter is under 26”.

BTW - This website has a great backspace / offset calculator

https://www.1010tires.com/Tools/Whee...et-Calculator#

 

Okay guys.... geez, this was not the debate i wanted. The wheels WILL FIT. The guy eyeballed the backspace. Its either 6", or a hair less. Thats unimportant here. I'll be buying custom spacers (there is a 4x4 shop here that makes nice ones for a good price), so i can get them in any offset i need. If i need 2", fine. If i need 2 1/4", also fine. Its not an issue. I figure the stock backspace on an 8" is 4". I've seen and heard ov 4.5" working. I had 295/50's on an 8" up front and there was lots ov room to the inside on a 3.5" backspace. I'll get the tire as close to rubbing as possible, then back off a hair. The rest will stick out, and from there, i'll design my own custom flares... since no one makes a flare i like. I'll be running something like a 315 tire up front, and a 335-345 tire out back.

The point ov this thread was that i REALLY like the look ov these rims. They are the only rim i've seen to date in 18" i like to look ov... aside from Forgelines... that are $7900 per wheel. And they are only 22 lbs a piece... which i do believe is goddamn light for a 18x11" aluminum wheel.

I just want to make sure there is no weird, unforseen issue with adapting a 4 3/4" bolt pattern to a 4 1/2" bolt pattern, using a high-quality aluminum hub-adaptor/spacer. I've seen 5 on 5" on a Chevelle before, at a car show, and the guy said it was fine. But he wasn't road racing....

 

Well... i got halfway through reading that before the link **** the bed and wouldn't let me go further...

 

I don't foresee a problem with using the adapter/spacers you've mentioned.
I've looked into doing it on my car, should I find a good deal on wheels in a different bolt pattern.

 

Bearing load only increases if you change the distance from the centerline of the tire to the bearing.

 

If you are using proper adaptors, the CAR won't notice that you are using Mopar wheels. You might get some funny looks, though.

If you were to use C6 wheels, for example, you'd still be using a 2" adaptor that adapts from 5x4.75" to 5x4.75". The bolt circles can be the same, or different. As long as they fit, they work. And if you are getting custom adaptors done, you can make sure that they are both wheel-centric on the car, and hub-centric on the wheel.

 

Yep, that is exactly what’s happening. Going from a zero offset to a negative 2” offset. Effectively pushing the wheel outwards from the frame.

I was told when I bought my 1.65 rockers that I should have just bought a cam that was closer to the cam specs I wanted using 1.5 rockers…

I feel that this falls right in line with that. Not ideal and has some trade-offs, but it still works in the end.

 

Yeah, i've always been a tad teery ov doing this, but i have seen a LOT ov new Corvette rims on old cars, and some ov those are autocrossing. I figure if it can pass road-race autocross tech, its gotta be solid.

Its not optimal, but strangely enough, i'm seeing a lot ov wicked 5 on 4.5 rims these days. This set i'm looking at look awesome, and the size is prefect. And LIGHT! An 18x11" rim, lighter than a stock 15x8 steelie... thats crazy. These rims are HUGE. They also have a nice dish... so they'll actually look right on an old car.

That said... i just found a 15x8.5" Vector, in 4 3/4" bolt pattern, in my stash... my dream wheels. If i could just find 3 more...