#1CutlassSupreme

The car is coming out of the paint shop next Monday and I picked up the rims early to put some new meats on them.

I have a 72' cutlass supreme and I've upgraded to SSIII JJ 15' x 7' wheels. I went with Eibach springs and IAS Edelbrock shocks. The springs indicate that they are a 1.3" drop.

Any ideas on tire size without rubbing?

I was thinking of going with BFG 225/60/15, but those seem like they might be a bit small. Can I go a little bigger and keep it from rubbing?

gearheads78

Are you taking about the same size all the way around. If so I would say 245 60 15 would look OK but personaly I would do 255-60 / 235-60 front and rear. 225-60 is too small and you will hate it

csouth

Let me know how this setup turns out. I just purchased a set of those same springs off eBay last week. They should be arriving shortly. I'm looking at putting 20" wheels on my 72 when the weather breaks next spring...

joe_padavano

I second this. On my 69 H/O (stock height) I run the 255/60-15 BFGs on all four corners on the stock wheels. I don't think they will clear the lowered front, however. Probably 235s are your best bet there.

#1CutlassSupreme

Hey Joe/Hey Rich,

Thanks for the recommendations. I was thinking that the 225s were a bit small. I'll give those 235s a try, see what happens, and post back the results.

Regards,

Roman

#1CutlassSupreme

CSouth,

I'll be posting back here once I get the tires on and I'll let you know how it works out with the suspension. I'm also considering picking up some bigger Boyd Coddington Smoothie II wheels. I'm thinking about 20"x8.5" in the back and 18"x7" in the front for that pro tour look.

gearheads78

20 x 8.5 will look like bicyle tires. If you must do 20's in the back consider 20 x 10 19 x 8 in the front. Personally 19/18 or 18/18 makes a better combo. 2" difference is too much and 1" or the same diameter looks just right.

scubastever

when in doubt....post pics!


lets see what youre working with

csouth

Hey Rich,

Do you think I could run 20's all the way around with the same setup? I was thinking 20x8.5 up front and 20x10 in the back.

Chris

gearheads78

Its your car you can run whatever you want. My personal opinion is mid size car like a-body 20" don't look right until you mini tub and 20 x 12 but the wheels are very expensive. 20" can look good on an B-body but it has to be LOOOOW or bagged to pull it off. There are plenty of people that disagree with me and think it ok to do 20 or even 22 all the way around on an Abody. To me tires and wheels make or break a car. I see plenty of super nice cars at a show and wheels and tires out of proportion its a big turn off.

If you are ever art a big show like Good Guys pay attention to the pro built cars. A lot of times a car is built from the ground up litterly around a wheel/tire size combo.

#1CutlassSupreme

Rich

I did a little digging around and I think you're right about the 20" in back. With the car lowered I probably wouldn't have hardly any room left for tires. I kinda stole the idea from a sweet looking 67' camaro that had 20"/18" and man was it sweet looking. Although Camaro fenders seemed to hug the rims a bit tighter that year.

The sad part is that the Coddington Smoothies don't come in 19". So perhaps I'll have to bite the bullet and go with 18"/18". That could still look pretty cool though.

#1CutlassSupreme

I've got a new digital camera being delivered to my house today by the UPS guy so once it arrives I'll snap a few pics and post them!

If you're interested; I have a few pics already in the picture gallery here on the site. Some are from the beginning of the project, some of are of the frame after restoration, and the most recent were taken at the paint shop, but they are a little dark because I used my old crumby camera. (Hence the new one in the mail.) Anyway, check them out if you want!

gearheads78

You might look at some other wheel brands too. For a great quality wheel at a mid price point I really like Intro. Don't go by the prices listed. Call Dustin for the best deal. Tell him Richard with the 66 Olds convertible sent you.

Just stay away from the V-rods those are ugly and would look terrible on your Olds

http://introwheels.com/exposed5_1.shtml

Here is a perfect exaple the the wrong propotions I am talking about. This is listed as a 20/19 combo but I would almost put money its 20/18. Either way 1" more tire and less wheel will look 10 times better IMO. Nose also needs to come down a little.




as a contrast to compare
18" all the way around on pro built car

joe_padavano

I'm sorry, but "rubber band" tires just don't look right on a classic musclecar, in my opinion. There needs to be some sidewall, the way God intended for them to look...

gearheads78

I prefer satans way with bigger wheels

GothamCity

Ordered some 20.8x5 up front and 20 x9.5 rears. Black rims with nice lip. Plan to have ther car all blacked out. Have yet to purchase tires, thinking 255 35 20 on front and 285 35 20 on rear.

#1CutlassSupreme

Joe/Rich, I'll split the difference with you guys. I like the look of both big rims and big tires! Eventually, when I get the money I'll buy some bigger rims so that depending on my mood or the cruise-in, I can jack the car up and slap on the appropriate rims and tires. I'm definitely keeping my SSIIIs though.

By the way; I got the tires this weekend and they look awesome!!!

I did BFG 235/60-15s in the front and BFG 245-60-15s for the rear...White raised lettering...looks so sweet!!! I got the bezels polished, center caps with the new stickers on, and the new beauty rings...Brings a tear to the eye. (Will be taking pics to post today.)

Thanks again for the recommendations. Hopefully I can get them under the fenders without the rub. I'm pick the car up on Wednesday from the paint shop so we'll find out then.

gearheads78

What wheels did you order? Pics??

Good deal I still would have went at least 255-60 in rear but it will still look good.

One thing to consider swapping different wheels in the future. Big wheels look funning with stock brakes. Stock wheels won't clear big brakes. Makes you need to pick a look and stick with it.

Post pics of the new combo and paint when you can

GothamCity

http://www.adrwheels.com/brand_detai...finish&ino=376

will take some pics

gearheads78

Looks like a one piece design that won't be available in custom back space. I only see two offset listed. You might make sure to can return them if they don't fit right.

One other thing I see is they only come in 5 on 120 mm BMW bolt pattern. Although that is very close to the 5 on 4.75 you need. Its almost .030 off in the bolt pattern so you could run in to vibration problems of worse improperly torqued lugs. Personally I would not run the BMW pattern on a GM car.

GothamCity

Well, thanks for the input, however I did mock fit them and they look sick. My all blacked out Cutlass will be a headturner to say the least. I plan on also having my brake calipers powder coated red. BTW how expensive would it be to have both front and rear bumpers powdercoated semi-gloss black

gearheads78

I would just paint them. Too easy to nick or chip a bumper and then its a lot of work to fix powder coat.

As for the wheels just make sure you check lug nut torque every few thousand miles. I have heard of guys loosing wheels with 120mm pattern on a 5 on 4.75 car. Basicly you lugs will have more torque load to the inside edge. Not by much but still .015 on each stud. Good luck and post pics when you get it together.

GothamCity

thanks for the advice. I like your 66, how wide did u go on your tires.

gearheads78

No problem...

The front is 18 x 9 with 255-40-18 and the rear is 18 x 10 with 285-40-18
I wanted to go wider but I can't without cutting my car. This is what it will sit like at ride height.

GothamCity

that is sick. I have the 2 inch dropped spindle kit as well, so I will have a slight rake to the stance.

gearheads78

Probably tired of me putting my 2 cents in but you might want to read this before you install drop spindles or anyone else thinking about them. It is about 1st gen Fbody in the link but also applies to GM A-body. There is a similar thread floating around about Abodies I just can't remember where I saw it.

http://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16609

csouth

Richard,

Finaly took a look at your pics, love the work you've put in. Great job man!

gearheads78

Thanks its going a lot slower than I wanted but a lot of stuff has came up in the last year.

csouth

Well you've definitely opened me up to what can be done when you're patient. I'll have to look into getting some(patience)...lol

#1CutlassSupreme

Okay below is a picture of the new wheels with the new tires. I was going to go black with the car, but decided to go with Aztec gold and I'm glad I did. It looks pretty sweet with these wheels!

Thaks again for the size recommendations on the tires. So far they fit pretty well, but the car isn't drivable yet so we'll find out next month how it goes. I just mounted them last night so I'll post some new pics soon.

csouth

Lookin good!....

#1CutlassSupreme

Thanks man! I posted a new thread with pics earlier, but had to share with you guys what the wheels look like on the car. Just got her back from paint yesterday.

gearheads78

Sure looks high especially in the back for drop springs. I am having the same issue with my Eibach springs. Wonder if they will settle.

#1CutlassSupreme

Funny you mention that Rich. They are much bigger and stiffer springs than stock, so I was also wondering if they are going to settle. I did talk to a guy a while back that had them on his fastback 72' cutlass and it looked a lot lower. He even said that it was a bit too low in the front. Didn't ask him if it was from settling though.

I still have to put on the back bumper, bumper brackets, gas tank, throw a spare tire in the back, and fill her up. I imagine that after all of that it will drop it will drop down a bit.

Truth be told...I kinda like the slight rake it has now though.

csouth

I see you used they Edelbrock Schocks. Are there any shocks recommented more than others for the dropped springs or does it matter with the small drop of the Eibachs? Asking because I have the same springs to install.

#1CutlassSupreme

I've heard really good things about the Inertia Activiated Shock (IAS) system by Edelbrock. Obviously Edelbrock recommends them as complimentary to their springs, but I've had a few people from some truck forums and japanese tuner sites say that they are amazing for rough off roading and street driving.

I personally haven't had a chance to test them yet, but that IAS valve system in them sounded pretty cool. I figured that with stiffer springs, that might come in handy.

If you go with them, I say to go with the classic gray color though or you can just paint them. I didn't really want the red ones, but I got a great deal on them.

GothamCity

Mock fitted my ADR rims this weekend. Just wanted to post some pics.

gearheads78

Looks good. You might want to pull your springs so you can get the rear up in the car up to ride height and simulate some suspension travle. This will give you a real world view of clearances. Its hard to tell in the pic angles but it looks like the rear wheels will be too far outside the car to clear the outer wheel houses in a low car.

GothamCity

They'll tuck with a 275 or 285 tire. Thats whats on there now 275/60/15

GothamCity

with the rims on I have about an inch on either side