Wheels Ever Fail?

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jdakota

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I'm trying to figure out what wheels to buy and as I looked at them, I wondered
what kind of torque loads they will take before / or if they fail?

So I called a couple of vendors and basically the salesmen had no idea.

I want to run my car at the strip and also have a street car that has some nice looking wheels. Right now I want to buy the ones listed below, 17x7 in front and 18x10 in the back.

http://www.hotrodhanks.com/products...d/manufacturerID/197/productID/5708?size=17x7

Is this even an issue and if so, how much power before the wheels break?
 
jdakota said:
I'm trying to figure out what wheels to buy and as I looked at them, I wondered
what kind of torque loads they will take before / or if they fail?

So I called a couple of vendors and basically the salesmen had no idea.

I want to run my car at the strip and also have a street car that has some nice looking wheels. Right now I want to buy the ones listed below, 17x7 in front and 18x10 in the back.

http://www.hotrodhanks.com/products...d/manufacturerID/197/productID/5708?size=17x7

Is this even an issue and if so, how much power before the wheels break?
Click to expand...


How much torque are you making? I'd be more concerned with the wheel weight and if you lift the front off the ground. Coming down is hard on the whole front end. Those rims should suffice, but they're pretty pricey.

You can get a whole set of Showwheels Streeters on here for a little more than the price of one of those and they're pretty good looking tires.

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=186995
 
How much power are you talking about? And are you gonna run street tires? Or are we talking slicks at the dragstrip?

I would think that you'd be pretty safe with street tires, even with fairly high power levels. But with slicks, that's a whole different story.
 
I hope ta gawuaed that you're not gonna put those on a classic Mopar
 
Yup them wheels are not very appealing! Running 18's in the rear your never going to hook it up so they would never break. Carry on.
 
I'd run um! Those are the same wheels Jason over here is putting on his 70 Cuda, except in 18" and with black accents. Nice wheel.

-Chris
 
Motech said:
I'd run um! Those are the same wheels Jason over here is putting on his 70 Cuda, except in 18" and with black accents. Nice wheel.

-Chris
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Don't get me wrong, you guys can do anything you want if you're payin for it, but it don' mean the rest of us have to like it

My opinion is, those kinds of wheels don't belong on anything built before 1990

I always like to use Abodyjoe's wheels as an example. Those look great to me, as they resemble traditional ET / Ansen spokers, yet are 17" But the thing that MAKES THEM WORK is that they are not all gaudy chrome. contrast, coated/ painted centers with either polished or chrome rims goes a long way in "breaking up" some of this.


For me, stuff like this is approaching "DONK"

Sorry, "not"

0803phr_12_z+1970_plymouth_duster+.jpg


p170110_large+1971_plymouth_duster_coupe+front_right.jpg


5308450005_large.jpg


Sorry, really really no...........

71demonbyrholloway_1.jpg


Not even.............

38567340001_large.jpg
 
67Dart273 said:
Don't get me wrong, you guys can do anything you want if you're payin for it, but it don' mean the rest of us have to like it

My opinion is, those kinds of wheels don't belong on anything built before 1990

For me, stuff like this is approaching "DONK"
Click to expand...

I don't remember ever asking anyone if they liked them or not. I asked a technical question. I could care less what you think.
 
jdakota said:
I don't remember ever asking anyone if they liked them or not. I asked a technical question. I could care less what you think.
Click to expand...

Well Richard, you DID ask me what I (we) think, to quote your own words:

jdakota said:
and also have a street car that has some nice looking wheels.
Click to expand...

So next time you ask a question, you might actually read what you posted
 
jdakota said:
I don't remember ever asking anyone if they liked them or not. I asked a technical question. I could care less what you think.
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I totally understand, but you have to remember there is a VERY strong old-school contingent that pretty much feel like old cars = old (small) rims, and if you post something like this on an old car forum, you're gonna get a lot of negative responses to any large diameter rims you reference. They can't seem to help themselves. Many of these same old-schoolers are okay with something as "large" as 15's, but they also think 14's look just fine on old iron.

FWIW, I'm on your side. I'm an artist and designer by trade, and I'm all about visual proportions, and it doesn't matter the age of the car. Some of us revise our idea of "correct" proportions over time, and others see the cars of the 60s-70's through rose-colored glasses and think they looked perfect just the way they were. Funny how a lot of A-bodies used to be (and still are?) jacked up in the back like stink bugs with foot-wide tires sticking out beyond the fender lips, and they don't get as much derision around here as a set of nicely tucked-in 17's. Different strokes for different folks.

Personally, I would no longer even drive an old car with a 14" rim or smaller. Unless it's a restoration (which bore me for the most part), I think 14's look ridiculous unless you're driving a Mini Cooper.

My Swinger has a LONG way to go, but the rims are taken care of:

100_0300_Crop_RS.jpg


Like you, I could care less about the opinions of the old-schoolers. I think my rims look AWESOME, and last time I checked, I paid for them. To me, as long as I don't criticize some guy's "little" wheels, they shouldn't criticize my "big 'uns". But the internet has changed all that.

Build what you want, and learn to ignore the negative opinions. Good luck!
 
I would not be so worried about twisting the centers out of them but one good pot hole and you are going to bend them. Those low profile tires are not very forgiving when it comes to uneven surfaces. They are very sensitive to alignment too. Toe and camber have to be right on or you will chew your tires up in no time. Are you going for looks or to clear larger brakes?
 
On of the funniest videos I've seen was a run away wheel. The car was something like a 89 Cutlass with what looked like 20s under it. Guy took it out to the starting line and tried to launch it. Maybe only the lug studs broke, still funny to watch.
Anything can be broken with the right force applied.
 
Something else you have to think about is both brake clearance and tire selection. Lets face it here guys, 17 and 18 offer the most tire selection out there (at least in my area).
Also to point this out to everyone, for every 1" increase in wheel/rim size you lose just a 1/2" in sidewall (stiffer sidewalls handle better). So lets say your car has 15" wheels on it and you go to 17" wheels, you've increased the wheels size by 2" and decreased sidewall by 1". Just something to think about. Me I'm going either black chrome or Gunmetal center and spoke with the lip being chrome or polished aluminum in 17 or 18 (depends on which I fit the widest tire in my wheel wells with).
 
Right on vynn3. You couldn't have said it better. Except, the internet can't change character flaws, but thankfully the gene pool will take care of that. Mischiefdart, thanks for the advice, the look.
 
vynn3 said:
.................. old cars = old (small) rims, ...................... They can't seem to help themselves. Many of these same old-schoolers are okay with something as "large" as 15's, but they also think 14's look just fine on old iron...............................

as much derision around here as a set of nicely tucked-in 17's. Different strokes for different folks..............................

Personally, I would no longer even drive an old car with a 14" rim or smaller. Unless it's a restoration (which bore me for the most part), I think 14's look ridiculous unless you're driving a Mini Cooper.

My Swinger has a LONG way to go, but the rims are taken care of:

100_0300_Crop_RS.jpg
Click to expand...

Evidently you didn't read a THING I posted. I said NOTHING about "ya hafta run" 13s or 14s, and in fact, I mentioned ABODYJOE's wheels as a shining example of "what can look good." AND I think the wheels you show are nice, which to me are in that same styling..

THE POINT is that some of these simply look incredibly gaudy and are "amplified" by the "all chrome all the time" in a large wheel. They need some contrast to set them off, and they need a spoke style that looks good

The answer to your "breakage" problem is EASY

Get ahold of the manufacturer, and find out if those wheels meet specs for ANY recognised racing organization, be it NHRA, road race, or whatever.

Just from their appearance, I'd bet that a good hard 500hp+ launch or 10 would twist those apart.
 
1970Duster said:
Something else you have to think about is both brake clearance and tire selection. Lets face it here guys, 17 and 18 offer the most tire selection out there (at least in my area).
Also to point this out to everyone, for every 1" increase in wheel/rim size you lose just a 1/2" in sidewall (stiffer sidewalls handle better). So lets say your car has 15" wheels on it and you go to 17" wheels, you've increased the wheels size by 2" and decreased sidewall by 1". Just something to think about. Me I'm going either black chrome or Gunmetal center and spoke with the lip being chrome or polished aluminum in 17 or 18 (depends on which I fit the widest tire in my wheel wells with).
Click to expand...

Last episode of Motor Week included a segment about the differences in yesterdays car / tire and todays car / tire. The taller side walls absorbed a huge amount of pavement roughness to improve the ride which sacrificed traction and stability.
To place the short sidewall tires on modern passenger cars they first had to make major advances in other suspension parts, i.e. struts and independent corners.
From the wheels and tires on the model A to those on the new Ford ( and everything else ) produced today has been a evolution that in appearance seems to have come full circle. There is a lot more than appearance involved.
That's the jest of what I learned watching ETV :)
I dont expect to ever go beyond a 16 inch wheel under my ol' Plymouth.
 
Back to your original question "Wheels ever Fail". Like stated earlier you will not need to worry about breaking them. Your 18" Wheels and Tires will NEVER EVER hook up on the street or the track, I don't care how much power you have so don't worry about it. It is when you Hook under power that things break.
 
67Dart273 said:
Evidently you didn't read a THING I posted. I said NOTHING about "ya hafta run" 13s or 14s, and in fact, I mentioned ABODYJOE's wheels as a shining example of "what can look good." AND I think the wheels you show are nice, which to me are in that same styling..
Click to expand...

67Dart273, I wasn't singling out your post, or I would've quoted you. Nor did I imply that you insist on everyone running 13s or 14s on their classic cars (although we BOTH know there are plenty of guys out there who feel this way). I actually agree with you on some of the pictures you posted, but others I think look great, like Romeo Furio's "Dust Ya". The reason I don't like some of those cars isn't about wheel size, it's about the total package.

My point is, wheel opinions are subjective, whether we're talking style, size, color, etc. The OP's question was about durability, not whether we agreed with his definition of what "looks cool".
 
I don't want to get into the "Looks" aspect of this thread but on a high horsepower/torque build, I like seeing a little more structure in the wheel.

Those wheels may be strong enough but I like actually "seeing" the strength.
 
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