Anyone run front GTA wheels on the rear also?Any clearance problems?Rubbing?Thanks

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Shoot Shoot!!!!!

 

nope no problems

 

wait, i thought they were offset and would rub? or is that just having the rears on the front??

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88' GTA 350 MODS---> air foil, K&N, Shift Kit, 180* therm, TB bypass

 

I always wondered why they made the fronts different sizes than the back. There must be a reason for it. Maybe rubbing.
Later
Mike

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Check out My Car Pics http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/Albu...667&a=13599419

Gran Turismo Americano "The Ultimate Firebird"
Smokin 1989 GTA- Bone stock except for exhaust. (no catalytic-stainless pipe into Flowmaster 2 chamber) & AC Delco Rapid Fire Plugs

 

the reason the wheels are offset is to provide for better handling.

 

ive always read that you are not supposed to interchange front to back,anyway not on my year model, something to do with brake drum clearance,,but i have drum rear,disc front,,just a thought

 

The rear wheels, when mounted on the front, end up rubbing the tie-rod.

No problem when mounting a front wheel on the rear.
jms

 

True, the reason why GM engineered 3rd gen f-bodies with a front/rear difference in offset is for handling purposes as well as to prevent tire rub on bottom-out.

If you do put the rears on the front you risk one or both of the rims scraping the tie rods. But if you put the fronts on the rear the rims will simply stick out about 1/2 inch more than normal. Because that's the difference in offset on 16x8 T/A, Formula & GTA crosslace rims as well as Iroc 16x8s.

The fronts have no offset while the rears have a 16mm positive offset (about 1/2 inch).

Unless your car is dropped, you shouldn't get any rubbing with fronts on the rear. Kinda looks aggressive but remember GM's engineers did what they did for a reason.

take care


[This message has been edited by nFORM91 (edited August 24, 2001).]

 

Some GTA wheels are all the same sizes. My friend has them and they are all the same. So i bought some. I put the deeper ones in back to make it look better... but if you really get down and read them (the deeper ones) it says "Front Only" the rub the caliper... lots of knocking so yes the deeper ones must go on the front! Been there done that!

 

All four of my "GTA" rims are the same, and I have wondered about this. They came from a fully loaded '86 305 TPI TA, that looked exactly like a GTA. But any way, I think I should space my front wheels out about 1/2". If I'm in front or behind my car, I can see that the front wheels are set into the fender wells more than the rears -they have a narrower track. The strange thing is that on the '86 that these wheels came from, the weels looked like they had a wider track on the front than they do on my car. Did they ever make a longer lower control arm? Or a different spindle or rotor that placed the wheel further out? Or is my only option to get longer studs and make a 1/2" spacer?

[This message has been edited by Tom 400 CFI (edited August 24, 2001).]

 

Let's clarify: only 16" wheels have different offsets front to back. All the 15" wheel sets are the same offset front to back.

No, you can't put 16" REAR wheels on the FRONT. They hit the tie rod end/spindle arm long before you can tighten the lug nuts down. Even if you could get them to clear they would surely hit on something else under there.

Yes, you can put 16" FRONT wheels on the REAR, but only if you want to live with them scraping the upper lip of the wheel well every time you go over a bump. You might be able to bang out engouh clearance on the fender lip to get them to clear but I never actually felt like wasting the time trying.

 

Here is what my car looked like with 4 FRONT GTA wheels all the way around.


Just make sure that if you lower your car check your shocks, mine were blown and the
wheels would rub the inner fender.

Here is a rear shot, can't really see anything, just looks cool.




[This message has been edited by Zepher (edited August 24, 2001).]

 

Then how do you explain my car? Like I just said above, ALL 4 wheels are "GTA REAR" wheels, and they came off a stock, original '86 T/A. This makes me wonder if the '86 had different control arms or spindle that place the wheel farther out (wider track). HOWEVER on my car, the wheels don't rub anything, and don't hit anything. My tires are 255/50 R16. No rubbing. The inside of the rim is 1/4" fromt he tie rod end.

 

In addition to whats already been said, all stock 16" wheels used on thirdgen fbodies are matched in pairs of fronts and rears. They're typically labled somewhere on the rim itself to identify if its a front or a rear.

The rear 16" wheels WILL bolt on the front without a problem, till you move the car anyway... the tie rod rubs just enough to make a grinding noise and knock off any wheel weights on the inside lip. Chances are if you drove with the rears on the front for a few miles, the tie rods would rub the wheels till they cleared, but personally I'm not going to try it.

The only reason to use 4 front rims is to facilitate rotating. I don't know about anyone elses driving habits, but I personally can go thru 2 or 3 sets of rear tires before I need to replace the fronts. Back when I was still regularly rotating my tires I ended up with 4 worn tires much quicker. Rather than dump $650 on tires every year and a half, I'd rather spend $320 every few years.

 

I don't get this...
Do you guy's READ these posts? In the post DIRECTLY above yours, Drew, I stated that I have four rears on my '83 TA, and there is NO rubbing. As a matter of fact, I have about 1/4" clearance. The rims NEVER RUBBED, and there are no rub marks on them. Yes, weights would get cleaned off the rim, but who uses "clip on" weights any more? I don't...they fall of anyway. Get the stick on ones.

So is my car a freak because the rims don't hit the tie rod or what?

[This message has been edited by Tom 400 CFI (edited August 25, 2001).]