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regal LS wheels on a reatta


Guest tb3

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I know most of you have been around awhile and have seen every wheel combo on a reatta, but I'm brand new and still discovering all these amazing things, lol!

 

I'm not crazy about my factory 88 rims, and have been trying to find another factory buick wheel that won't hurt the wallet to bad.

I really like these late 90's regal wheels on this reatta.

I guess I'm going to have to start looking for a nice set.

I see one set on ebay, but they have some curb rash.

If anybody else comes across a super nice set of these thats not priced into the stratosphere, please let me know

 

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I like the wheels that you posted in your photo. I prefer less spokes. If you do too and you like exposed chrome lug nuts you might like the chrome Buick/Cadillac wheels like I have. They are 16". They fit perfectly with 225/60/16 Michelin tires.

 

There are lots if really nice looking GM wheels out there that will fit your Reatta. Take your time and find the ones you like best. There are Mustang wheels that will fit your Reatta and look nice. I ran some on my car for a couple of years (last photo with horses). After doing so I would advise staying with GM wheels. The Reatta handles and stops better with GM wheels with the correct offset.

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Edited by Ronnie (see edit history)
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ronnie I do like yours even better.

they make the ones in the pic I posted look more like hubcaps from a distance, imo.

do you have reatta emblems for center caps on yours?

and are those off of a seville?

Edited by tb3 (see edit history)
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Yes, I have Reatta center cap emblems modified to fit the Center cap that snaps into the center of the Cadillac wheels. I had an old abused set of stock Reatta wheel caps that I used to make them.

 

The first photo show a Reatta Cap with the emblem that need to be cut down to fit in the Cadillac center cap.

 The two other photos show the finished product. I took lots of photos of how I did it if you decide you want to do the same.

 

One thing to consider:. IF your '88 has the stock axles you may have to cut about 1/2" off the threads of the spindle to give clearance for the small center cap to pop all the way into the Cadillac wheel. At least I did. (Last photo). It's an easy job to cut if off and  there is still plenty of threads left on the axle. I don't know if that is true with other GM wheels with the small pop in centers or not. I'm pretty sure this is only a problem on '88 models.

 

As I said, take your time and look around at what else is out there. You might find something you like even better.

 

 

 

 

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What you are picturing in your OP are actually Regal GS wheels not LS wheels. LS wheels were not chromed but the GS were. I had an original set on my '98 Regal GS and I liked them so much that put a set on my old Maui blue coupe.  Buick made them for several years around then. They are 16' rather than 15" as the Reattas came with. That is why I am holding off on getting another set for my '90 convertible. My tires are still fairly new but come replacement time I will have a set of these on hand if I still have my Reatta.  They look beautiful and have a trishield emblem in the center cap so they are appropriate to use as is.  I always felt that the original Reatta wheels were ugly so I have always upgraded them on my previous Reatta to something that I felt looked better. 

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My mom has a supercharged Regal GS with the chrome wheels [she's 85]. I always liked them and was going to put them on my car as I too hate the Reatta wheel. However I did find the chrome 7 spoke wheel found on 2000 or so Buick's nicer. They also come with the Buick trishield and look great. I didn't like the tri shield being silver so I "borrowed" nail polish from my wife and painted them the red/blue/white and I think that makes them even look better.

 The nail polish has been on 4 summers and still looks great.

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I just took off a set of 17" 2006 Lucerne CXL shiny chrome wheels with Toyo Tourevo LS tires.

They're 9-spoke and I like the way they look on the Reatta, however I think I'm going back to stock 15s.

I will have these for sale soon but one wheel does have some scratches from when I was parking and this curb came out and grabbed my wheel.

The center cap is the chrome Buick tri-shield.

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Guest HuevosRanchero

a nice 5 spoke similar to what is on a Ferrari or even the Saleen style Fox Mustang wheels would look good. Wish there was a GM equivalent.

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Ronnie, thanks for the info.  I'm still really really diggin those SLS wheels on the reatta!

Ol'yeller,  thanks for the clarification on the GS"s.  and I'm still not opposed to getting a set if their priced right.

 

Retiredwreatta, I really like those wheels too.  and 17's are the max I'd wanna go I think.  They do look good.  If you where within driving distance, I'd ask you what you want for them. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

well ronnie, I'm officially a copy-cat. I picked up a nice set of those 16"sts wheels like yours local for $250.

I'll post pics when I get them on. I'm going to try and stay as close to a 26" tire height as I can

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Nothing wrong with being a copycat.  Dave (Daves89) came to my house with a set of the 7 spoke chrome wheels on his Reatta and as soon as I saw them I knew I had to get a set for my car.  When I found some they originally had 235x60-16 Michelins on them. The tires were too big and hurt the way the car accelerated so I got rid of them a put on 225x60-16. That is a good size.

 

I had 225x55-16 on my Mustang GT wheels I use to have on my car but they don't fill the wheel wells enough to suit me. The shorter tires do accelerate better than the taller ones.

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thanks Ronnie!

I am going to trim down my axles this weekend.

for my center cap emblems, I'm just going to go with the buick tri-shields  in silver/black for the time being.  My centers on my stock wheels are too nice for me to cut up.  I think Kdirk may have a lead on getting factory style emblem centers done in 2".

I think the tire size I'm going to go with is 215-60-16

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I have not yet.  but I will dry fit a rim sometime in the next couple days.

I replaced both my cv axles recently while I had the engine and trans out, and there is quite abit of extra thread length on them, so I'm just assuming that they'll be too long. 

Edited by tb3 (see edit history)
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The wheel should bolt up just fine but if it's like mine the axle threads will push the center cap out part of the way. Maybe not enough that it will pop all the way out but it won't go in all the way as is should. Just watch out for it the first time you put them on. The rear wheels should be no problem.

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The wheel should bolt up just fine but if it's like mine the axle threads will push the center cap out part of the way. Maybe not enough that it will pop all the way out but it won't go in all the way as is should. Just watch out for it the first time you put them on. The rear wheels should be no problem.

 

yep,  my cv axles where too long.  I cut a half inch off both of them today, but how in the world am I going to reattach the threads I cut off if I ever decide to put the stock wheels back on???     :lol:

 

I am going to get the tires put on the wheels on monday.  Hope to have pics by tues

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what a difference!

much better!

gives it a more modern look.

and I'll be jiggered if the new 215 60 16s aren't a dead-on height match to the 215 65 15's.  Must be like shoe sizes.  size can vary from brand to brand.

 

I took apart the sts center caps and sanded/painted/cleared them with a buick tri-shield decal until I can come up with a reatta emblem for them

 

 

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 Hey Ronnie, whatta know? Another convert!

 If you can find a picture of my wheels with the Buick trishield please post that for me. As I said before I didn't like the plain silver so I used nail polish and they really dress up well. The nail polish has been on for 4 summers now and has never been touched up. I also clean my tires [and wheels] with bleach white and the polish is resistant to that as well.

Edited by DAVES89 (see edit history)
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Guest HuevosRanchero

what a difference!

much better!

gives it a more modern look.

and I'll be jiggered if the new 215 60 16s aren't a dead-on height match to the 215 65 15's.  Must be like shoe sizes.  size can vary from brand to brand.

 

I took apart the sts center caps and sanded/painted/cleared them with a buick tri-shield decal until I can come up with a reatta emblem for them

 

 

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very nice job on the center caps

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what a difference!

much better!

gives it a more modern look.

and I'll be jiggered if the new 215 60 16s aren't a dead-on height match to the 215 65 15's.  Must be like shoe sizes.  size can vary from brand to brand.

 

I took apart the sts center caps and sanded/painted/cleared them with a buick tri-shield decal until I can come up with a reatta emblem for them

 

Nice looking wheels! They look really good with that color.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The photos below are of Dave's seven spoke chrome wheels.

 

Those look good!

If I would've went with the red white and blue, I certainly don't think I would've regretted it just by looking at your pics.

 

 

thanks for compliments guys!

still no regrets.  and its not often I say that, lol!

 

Its not that the stockers are ugly, I just like these better.  after seeing the stock 91 wheels on kdirks car, I doubt that I would've changed wheels had those been on my car.  Those do look much better than the 88-90's, imo

Edited by tb3 (see edit history)
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  • 6 months later...

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