These things came rolling in today - 17 x 9.5 is one fatass rim. Now there's just the little matter of getting the coin to put rubber on them.

That said though, these wheels are really nice looking and worth the cost in my opinion even though there were other things I needed more - like a new tranny for instance.

As an aside, I'm sitting at red light in my truck at Yonge and Shuter Street this morning when who comes rolling out of the Dirt World Doughnut Shop but Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull.

 

Those are my fav thirdgen wheel ever. Will you be attending the Sept 21st meet with the wheels?

 

Trade ya my mint 700R4 for your wheels straight up!

 

Make that a Tremec T56 and maybe we'll talk

As for Sept 21 I'd like to do that - the only race I've been to this year was Mosport last week.

Problem is that I don't think my tranny will survive the trip there and back - fluid looks real bad but it's not slipping yet.

I've done some runs with it up to about 100 mph and it barks on OK for what it is but all that highway driving would probably put enough heat through it to finish it off.

As for the wheels - the tyres will be another $1.500 or so which I don't have right now and I'm thinking my truck should be needing a new clutch soon so the wheels may not be on the road until next year.

All that aside, I'm stupid enough to buy new tyres and show up anyway.

 

Right on, that's the spirit Seriously, if you're able make the gathering, would you be able to bring one of the wheels? I'm gonna try to save enough to get a set before Ronal ends the run. I sent a $50 deposit a while ago but I was never able to come up with the rest because I kept breaking my car and I had to pay for school. I've never even seen one in person. Did you get a set from Ronal or SLP?

 

I got the SLP rims. The painted parts are dark grey metal flake and there is no logo on the cover plates which install over the lugs.

The Ronal rims come with a 1/8 inch spacer plate for the front whereas the SLP version, made by Ronal, is not supposed to need the spacer.

I tried fitting them on the front yesterday as I was expecting problems. The left just barely touched the tie rod end at one point as I rotated the rim but it would bolt up.

The right was another matter. The tie rod and, maybe even the steering knuckle, would need to be 1/2 to 3/4 inch towards the rear of the car to let the rim fit over the front assemly. It' almost as if the steering knuckle is too long.

The car was in an accident years ago which resulted in the right front being toed out about 3 inches. I can't remember if the spindle assembly was relaced or not but the front end aligns OK and the body shop said that the car did not need to be tugged.

Even if the front was out a bit I can't how that would result in the knuckle / tie rod assembly being the way it is unless the shop replaced the steering knuckle with the wrong one - if that's even possible. I assume they're the same for every third gen except the 1LE etc.

I was going to replace the front pads yesterday as well until I saw the rotors are shot so bad that they could shatter if worked too hard. So I don't think I'll be going in Sept.

The car needs a lot of things more that it needs rims - like a 350 for a start. I mainly got these because I don't see them being available for too long and there are'nt any others that I like as much.

Anyway, this is goung to take some sorting out - may end up with Bear brakes or something when it's all over.

Another thing, the cover plates on the fronts would not fit over the caps on the bearings and the inside edge of the rim comes in very close to the brake hose and also the stock strut. A spacer might help with this but the tie rod problem will more difficult.


EDIT: If anyone is thinking of getting these rims - for what it's worth - my car is an 83TA and I ended up using a 5/16 spacer on the fronts and they fitted OK after that.