Rims and Tires for my 65 Riv

[Guest bigblockjoe]

Hello all, just joined the club, thanks for having me.  I have a question that may seen redundant to all but it is not for me and please bear with me.  I have a 1965 stock riviera that was frame off restored.  I would like to go to a 17x8 Rims (17 inch Torq Thrust II ORIGINAL 17x8 Rims, 5x5 4.5BS) Can anyone tell me if these rims would fit my riviera without alteration.  and if alteration is needed can someone describe what it entails.  Thanks In Advance To All That Answer!

 

[Guest Bob Call]

Why don't you bag it and put on 13 inch gold spokes? Or, jack it up with a lift kit and get some sick 24's and it'll be a bitchin' ride.

 

This site is people that want to keep cars stock. Check H.A.M.B. at jalopyjournal.com, it's all about modified cars.

 

(Was that to harsh?)

[Matt Harwood]

Ooof, yes, way too harsh. That's really no way to welcome someone new. Wheels and tires are a benign modification that doesn't damage the essence of the car. There are probably more Rivieras running around on Buick Road Wheels than were actually built that way--is that a problem?

 

Joe, scroll down through the list of forums and you'll find one dedicated specifically to the Riviera and it's pretty active with a lot of very knowledgeable guys. There's at least one thread from not too long ago discussing various wheel and tire combinations. That should be a big help and those guys are open to minor modifications like you're discussing so you won't get any pushback there.

 

Look here: http://forums.aaca.org/topic/264192-for-this-with-aftermarket-wheels-first-gen/

 

Good luck and welcome!

Edited January 21, 2016 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[Guest bkazmer]

Bolt pattern is the easy part

wheel offset - match to within a few mm

hub diameter match - weight belongs on the hub not the lugs

calculate the current and potential (wheel plus tire) heights from the tire sizes and wheel diameters

save the old original wheels - if you go to sell the car many buyers will view the new wheels as having negative value no matter what they cost

[joe_padavano]

To the OP: the RIMS will fit just fine. The question you should be asking is about TIRE size.

[Guest Bob Call]

bigblockjoe

 

I would like to apologize for my smartass reply to your post. Stay with this site and post in the Riviera section for specifics about your car.
Everyone will make you welcome.

 

As Joe P said you need to be concerned about the tire size for clearance of the body and chassis.  Also, the offset of the wheels can affect the steering geometry and excessive wear of wheel bearings.  The engineers that design the cars don't just stick any old wheel and tire on the car, there are specifically designed for that car.

[joe_padavano]

 Also, the offset of the wheels can affect the steering geometry and excessive wear of wheel bearings.  The engineers that design the cars don't just stick any old wheel and tire on the car, there are specifically designed for that car.

 

Yes, and even oversize wheels and tires with the correct offset can cause problems.  One important but often overlooked issue is scrub radius. This is the distance from the center of the tire contact patch to where a line drawn between the ball joints intersects the pavement.  This line is actually called the kingpin axis, a throwback to the days of solid axles and kingpins instead of ball joints (yeah, I'm aware that kingpins were used on independent front suspensions as well...).

 

The longer the scrub radius, the more steering effort required, the higher the forces on the steering linkage and box, etc.

 

[Guest bkazmer]

joe p makes an excellent and often ignored point.  The bolt pattern fitting the hub does not mean a wheel and tire will work correctly on a car.