17" cragars???

[corvetjerryd]

I am thinking about putting 17x8" ol'style Cragar SS wheels on my 73'....I know that you had to use 1/2" spacers behind the 15"x8"s...Does anybody know if you need the spacers with the 17" version??? I e-mailed Cragar about a week ago and they never returned any answer yet......Anybody got a set on a shark???

 

[2th farmer]

I have 17" Torque thruster II's on my 73 and 71 with no spacers or problems.

 

[corvetjerryd]

I have 17" Torque thruster II's on my 73 and 71 with no spacers or problems.

Thanx for the reply......I was really interested in the Cragar ss.....But thanx for the info. on the TT2's in case I change my mind....


Does anybody know of a 17" car tire with white letters???:ugh

 

[Tom Bryant]

I found some Goodyear Eagle GT II in 255/60/17 in raised white letter. They fit 7"-9" wide rims with 7.5 being the design rim width. Most other tires have an outline white letter if they offer one at all. Even within the same model tire the availability of letter styles isn't consistant throughout the sizes. I look on Tire Rack to compare tires. The nice thing about Tire Rack is that you can read the comments of other people that have bought these tires.

They also show a Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 with raised white letters in a 265/60/17. They have a better rating than the Goodyears too.

I have been doing a lot of tire looking lately to pick the right tire for my custom '69 shortbed and I'm leaning towards the Firehawks Indy 500s right now. They can be turned around for a nice looking blackwall too.

 

[corvetjerryd]

Thanx Tom, I'll check out those leads......I looked at those goodyear eagle 2 but I don't remember a 17"...But I'll check that tire rack site and see if i can find them.....I know I saw a picture of a vette that had 17" WL or WOL somewhere and I thought it looked pretty good, kinda ol skool and new skool combined....

 

[Tom Bryant]

I think they only had 2 17" sizes in the GTII. I think the other one was a 295.

 

[Derrick]

I am thinking about putting 17x8" ol'style Cragar SS wheels on my 73'....I know that you had to use 1/2" spacers behind the 15"x8"s...Does anybody know if you need the spacers with the 17" version??? I e-mailed Cragar about a week ago and they never returned any answer yet......Anybody got a set on a shark???

Yeah I've got the 17s on my 75 Vette. 17s will fit up front without spacers, but you'll need at least 1/2" spacers in the rear. Without the spacers in the rear, the wheels were rubbing on my leaf spring bolts.

 

[corvetjerryd]

Hey Derrick, Thats a real good looking shark you have....Those cragars look great on there but those look like the 610 series which have 5 1/8" backspace....That maybe why they rubbed the t-arms....I am interested in the original type 61 which only have 4 1/2" backspace ,more deepdish( see attach.)...I am glad to hear you didn't have any caliper clearance problems..Thats what I'm worried about....Thanx for the reply

 

[Derrick]

woops...yeah I don't have the original cragars, you're right. I'd caution you on the cragars though. I had mine for only 6 months before the elements started doing a number on the chrome. Thing about it is, I wash my car every Sunday and then take it for about a 30-40 mile drive and then park it until the next Sunday. So needless to say, the cragars in my experience have been very hard to maintain.

 

[corvetjerryd]

Thanks for the heads up on the chrome finish thats the kind of feedback I need to have so I can decide whether I want the Cragars or not...They never have answered my E-mail..:confused ....I also like the TT2's and centerline retro's...But I like the Idea of Chrome vs. Polished....Its easier to clean and a sharper type shine......Looks great on your red car.
I see your running 255 in front and 275 in rear....Those are some pretty big tires..the 1/2" spacers gave you enough space for 275's huh.... what aspect ratio are you running??? what brand are they???

 

[Derrick]

The tires up front are 255/45/17s and the rears are 275/35/17s if I remember correctly. It's been in storage for a long while. I went with the lower profile rear tire because at the time the stock leaf spring was still on the car and it was sagging really bad in the back. I didn't want to hit a dip in the road and have my tires do damage to the fenders. After I got the new wheels/tires I also installed a new leaf spring which raised the height of the car 3" in the rear! So next time I'll go with a taller tire in the rear.

I went with BF Goodrich Comp T/As.

I would definetly recommend chrome as opposed to the polished aluminum. You'll be spending the majority of your time trying to keep water spots off the aluminum wheels.

 

[corvetjerryd]

your right about the polishing..I have aluminum wheels now...I didn't know they made comp ta's that size.....I'll check it out
Thanx

 

[corvetjerryd]

Update"

I have an update on those 17" Cragars I wanted to install.....I went ahead and ordered them with the information I had to work with....I bought the 8x 17" for the front and the 9x17" out back,both with 4 1/2" bs....And it looks like they're going to work just fine...I didn't have to use any type of spacer because they have redesigned the rear lug part of the wheel to clear the caliper....I think I may have to relocate the parking brake bracket to make room for the tires but that dont look like too big a deal.....I think they will look just like I was hoping for...GREAT(see attach.)
Now I have to decide on what Tires I want run....I was thinking maybe 235/45/17 on front and 255-275/45/17s on back...Anybody have any prefences or advice on the tires???

 

[zgator]

Tom Bryant is right.I have the Indy 500's on my 71 Z/28 with the black side out.They look real good.As for the Crager S/S's I don't want to burst your bubble but quality wise they are crap compared to the old Cragers,of course they didn't come in 17"s.I think they use a cheap chrome prosess and they rust real easy.A good friend of mine got a set for his 69 Z/28 and was very unsadisfied with the quality.Crager wouldn't take them back so he finally sold them for cheep and got some TT2.

 

[corvetjerryd]

I had heard the same horror stories about the new Cragars So I did some homework and found out that the patents had been bought and sold several times in the last few years and that there had been different vendors making the wheels at different times....So I dug around and found out that "Unique classic wheels inc."is making the 16/17" type 61. So I called and the Guy told me they were contracted to produce these wheels exclusively and they stand behind and defects even though they are not a retailer....He said they had just released the same wheels in a 18",19" and 20" sizes:crazy .....The ones I got look like the chrome is an inch deep on them...
I don't know who makes the 14/15" ones.....Ask me again next year and see if i'm still as happy with them.....Time will tell,
I'm tired of polishing aluminumotfl

 

[Vettsmith]

I have 15" Cragars SS on my custom 64 with the 65/82 front disk brakes that required the 1/2" spacers. but a frend put 17" Cragers SS on his 66 and they fit with no problems

Smitty

 

[00fxd]

Can you give me that phone # to unique classic wheels? I'd like some 18's

 

[corvetjerryd]

Hey 00fxd,
WOW,:eek You want the 18's....Man I thought the 17"s are big and with the steel rim they are getting pretty heavy...like 30#s per wheel...But they are good looking I.M.O....

Unique does not sell these wheels ,they make them but heres a link to cragar and they have a where to buy link....http://www.cragarwheel.com/
http://www.uniquewheel.com/

 

[00fxd]

Thanks Jerry, it's not about looks for me, I'm trying to get the shortest sidewall I can for handleing.. Your right about the heavier wheel. That is something that I am concerned about. I had seen somewhere that the new Cragar SS are a solid billet alumnum wheel [no steel rim] therefore could be fairly light weight.
ps, I use the word billet sparingly as I try to keep my car "billet proof" except where actually nessesary.

 

[corvetjerryd]

OK 00FXD....I see what your going for now....I have seen a billet aluminum SS wheel...
Try this link instead http://www.cragar.com/ .....

If you want them "billetproof" you'll have to pay a little extra!!!!