Yet, another question on wheels

[Guest]

Okay, my last trek to the junkyard netted me 3 more road wheels, completing my set. But, I now notice that the first I had is a 6" wide, the other 3 are 7" wide. Now, I am thinking that as long as the same size tire is on all 4 wheels, and as long as they are all balanced, this should not be a problem. What do all think about this?<P>------------------<BR>1973 Electra 225-2dr.<BR>94,000 mi. and on its way to 100,000 quick<BR>The exhaust tip cries no more! Air Shocks are cool! Duals, I see you in my future. <BR>And now,Working Cruise Control!

[Dave@Moon]

NO WAY! <P>By taking the same size tire and spreading out the side walls, thereby changing the angle of the structure that supports the tread, the tires stretched over the wider wheels will have an effective circumference that is less than the narrow wheel's tire. (This assumes that the tread "footprint" is less than the 7" width of the wheel, if not then the narrow wheel would be smaller in circumference.) <P>At any rate, even if the diameter doesn't change significantly you'd have one wheel that has sidewall flex characteristics that'd be wildly out of synch with the rest of the set of tires. You're looking at emergency handling problems that no sane driver should tolerate. Look for one more 7" wheel (assuming that that width is correct for the car), and use the 6" for a decorative spare only to be used <I> briefly </I> in <I> emergencies.</I>

[Guest]

You had to go and say that! No, I am not yelling at you, more at myself as it seems I have had nothing but trouble in trying to acquire these darn wheels. Just to clarify, the tires being used are 235/75/15's. I understand that there would have to be some sort of change in sidewall flex, etc. but can a measly inch really change it by that much?

[palbuick]

You made a good find on the 7" rims. These were special and for the Buick Station Wagons only, they will fit your car, and will be hard to find another. Many more trips back to the junk yard. I think they discontinued this rim in 1985 or 86.<P>Jim Schilf / palbuick@aol.com

[Guest 70 Electra]

The discussion, so far, has been only about the width of the rims. I'm curious as to whether there are different OFFSETS for the various years/applications of full-size road wheels. I, myself, am "road wheel-challenged" and don't know the answer to this. Any comments? <P>I agree with Dave about mixing widths, but if multiple offsets were made, it is equally important to make sure the wheels all match in this regard also.<P><P>------------------<BR>Greg Cockerill<BR>BCA #36864<BR>1970 Electra convertible

[Guest]

I'm pretty sure when I placed the two different rims side by side, lining up the front facing sides, that the bolt faces lined up. It seems that the only difference is an extra inch of wheel on the rear side after the recess.

[Centurion]

There are indeed multiple offsets among the 15" road wheels as used on the full-size Buicks and Rivieras. It would be particularly important for you to use (on a '73 Electra 225) the 1971 and newer style wheel, which had a much shallower offset than the 1964 through 1970 wheels. The difference between the older and newer wheels is visually obvious if you begin looking closely at the wheels.<P>There are also problems with using the '71 and newer wheels on the pre-1971 Buicks, although many people have done so. And, during the 1964 - 1970 period, there were several different versions of the wheel. The wheels for 1964 and 1965 were unique for each year. 1966 through 1970 wheels were the same, except for disk brake cars, which had a different web design than the non-disk brake wheels. The Riviera Club's "Riview" publication has published some articles over the years that provide a more complete answer to the road wheel question.

[Guest]

A bit of an update. Been cleaning up the wheels. Painted two of them today and they came out great! A bit of more info on the wheels. The 15x6" has 15x6 JJ stamped on it. The one 15x7 I got off the Estate has a date code( at least that's what I think it is) for 1985 and JJ code. The other two 15x7's have date code for 1981 and JJ code. I think I'm going to just go and put them on and see how it drives. If it feels fishy I won't leave it that way then. Question: are the stock steel rims on this car 6" or 7" wide? Thanks

[Guest]

Update: Well, I went and did it. Put all 4 rims on the car, using the comment from the last tire/wheel guy I asked that ,it shouldn't be a problem. Put the 6" on driver rear. Rims were put on Saturday morning, been driving a bit since then, including hour trip from home back to school on highway. Car driving and handling exactly the same as before. Even went to an empty parking lot to do some quick change steering manuevers and car handled fine. I'll still be on the lookout for another 7", but for now, since I have been searching since last May when I bought the car for these guys, I am just happy that I finally got them mounted on the car. <BR><p>[This message has been edited by 73Electra 225 (edited 04-01-2001).]