mzbk2l

Thought I'd post some pics of the fitment of my new American Racing VN615 Torq Thrust II 17 X8 5-120.65, 8mm offset, 4.81" backspacing on my 67 Cutlass Supreme 'vert. I've read plenty of posts and had enough confidence that they'd work to go ahead and order them, but it was nice to confirm.
Link: http://www.americanracing.com/wheel/...orq-thrust-ii-

They are replacing the 15" x 7" or 8" Cragar S/S wheels that I've had since I bought them used in 1988. Front and rear suspensions are mostly stock; bushings are polygraphite and the rear springs are "cargo springs" from NAPA about 20 years ago. Other than that, it's just the way it came, including the type O rear end.

New tires are BFGoodrich G-Force Comp 2 A/S 235 /55 R17, replacing BFG Radial T/A 235/60R15. My favorite set of tires I've ever had on my Trans Ams (and Cutlass) was a set of the original BFG Comp T/As; hopefully these G-Force Comp 2s are as nice.

Old vs. new at Discount Tire:



Overall diameter is around 27", which I believe is closer to original than the 235/60R15s that came off.






Looks like the rears could have used a little different offset, but I'm ok with them; I prefer having the same wheels all the way around. No rubbing even at steering lock, unless I'm turning when I hit a bump - the front left tire on this car has always rubbed when I do that, and this is the 3rd or 4th set of tires on this car.

RetroRanger

Looks good have you noticed much change in the ride comfort or handling?

mzbk2l

20 years ago this month (and only about 40,000 miles ago) I installed a full PST polygraphite front and rear suspension kit, and the car had the Cragars with BFG Comp T/A tires on it. At the time, it handled nearly as well as the many Trans Ams I've had. I guess things have slowly loosened up over the years without my noticing, because it once again feels as tight in the corners as it did back then.


SLIGHTLY (as in barely noticeably) firmer over road bumps, but feels better on the road, and massively improved at freeway speeds. (To be fair, the Cragars had plenty of bends, and the Radial T/As that were on it ranged from 2002 to 2006 date codes.)


Overall, I'm very happy. Still getting used to the look after 20 years of the Cragars, but I think I'll like it.

droptopron

How was that tire on the 8.5" rim? I was looking at a set of rims 17x7 & 17x8. I was thinking those for the front & a 255/50 for the back

mzbk2l

Definitely does not look "fat" on the 8" wheel; I think it would look fine on a 7".



Here's a better pic of the sidewall bulge (or lack thereof):




I went with that tire size for a couple of reasons:
1) It kept me close to the original diameter, and
2) It's the same size as the tires on my Bonneville SSEi, so when one of them wears out a set I'll end up with full size spares for both, or I can swap tires and see which I like better on which car (I have Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3's on the SSEi.)


The SSEi uses 17" x 7.5" wheels, so I took a picture of that for comparison, as well:



A little more bulge, but not excessive; there's probably room there to get them onto a 7" and still look fine.

droptopron

Thanks. Very helpful. I love the way my current set up looks but the belted tires suck to drive on. I'm thinking same them for show duty & get radials to drive on. Something like your set up is what I'm looking for. I like the little bigger rim but also maintaining some side wall. I think these cars are too big for a really low profile if you don't lower it.

When I had my 70 convertible I had 215/70-15 & 255/60-15 and liked that look. The heights of those match up pretty close to what you have. I replaced those with 225/70-15 & 275/60-15 and thought they were a little too tall