Aftermarket Wheels

[ChrisH]

I've been looking for some new aftermarket wheels for my '68 Vette but have not had much luck. I would like to use American Racing Torq-Thrust D's or something similar but i'm being told they will not clear the front brake calipers. I'm told I would have to use spacers to use these wheels and many other wheels. I would like to know if these spacers are safe to use? Is anyone out there running these wheels, with or without spacers? I'd be open to other styles of wheels but would like to use a style of wheel that someone in the late '60/early'70's would have had(correct for that time period). Please help! Any ideas are welcome! Thanks.


P.S. By the way I'm new and this is my first post, so if doing something else wrong please tell me.

 

[69MyWay]

Welcome to CAC.

Check out my buddies at www.hvydeez.com for a nice selection of billet wheels.

I am very happy with the wheels I got from them, no spacers needed. The 18" fit far better than I ever expected, and now it looks normal to me when I glance at the car. In fact, I had our 90 sitting next to it on Saturday with 17" stock style wheels and can't believe how small those looked.

Ask for Lynn or Dave at Hvydeez. Oh, and check out the September issue of Vette magazine, Lynn and her 66 yellow convertible made the issue.


Chris

 

[Stingray72]

I have 15" Cragar S/S wheels which are extremely similar to the American Racing Torq-Thrust D wheels. The spokes on the Cragars rubbed the calipers, so I had a local machine shop make a set of 1/2" thick 6061 aluminum spacers. No problems with several thousand miles on the wheels. No vibrations or anything like that on the highway. Since the spacers are so light, and since the outer edge of the spacers is still relatively close to the rotation axis of the wheels, I wouldn't anticipate any problems at speeds lower than 100 mph. Still, I don't like using them. I have reservations about using aluminum between the wheel and rotor, even though it is 6061. I'll look for a better solution along with bigger wheels someday, but I'm content to put this on the back burner for a while. For a street car, I don't think you'll have any problems with spacers.