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Technical Torque Thrust A Spoke Wheels, New vs. Old?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Elcohaulic, Nov 15, 2018.

  1. I noticed that also. Wonder it it was the Wheel or the Tire.
    The Wizzard
     
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  2. Bandit Billy
    Joined: Sep 16, 2014
    Posts: 12,286

    Bandit Billy
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Maybe the old one aint been on the balancer yet?
     
  3. Craig Owens
    Joined: Jun 28, 2006
    Posts: 464

    Craig Owens
    Member

    It does have a butt load of wheel weights on it for sure. Summit mounted and balanced the new wheels/tires for free since I bought 'em from them. The old ones were balanced too, and had a lot less weight on them. A couple of possibilities: the old wheels had T/A radials made in 2011 on them while the new wheels have T/A's made in 2018...possibly the new tires just took that much weight to balance (I doubt it's the wheels because they're so nicely cast and machined). Other real possibility is this: The new wheel weights are steel, not lead (environmental police have decreed this) and since steel weighs less than lead, it takes a whole lot more individual weights.
     
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  4. Craig Owens
    Joined: Jun 28, 2006
    Posts: 464

    Craig Owens
    Member

    You're right that the Torque Thrust II's do have a different (larger diameter) bolt pattern than the Torque Thrusts. I have Torque Thrust II's on my 55 Chev so I was able to check it out. I'd been told the old Torque Thrust caps wouldn't fit on the new Torque Thrusts and vice versa, so I was surprised to find it ain't so...caps on those wheels interchange just fine.
     
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  5. oldmankohout
    Joined: Feb 24, 2007
    Posts: 56

    oldmankohout
    Member

    !5" Aluminum Americans. One of the first sets sold in Sacramento when Tognotti's was on 16th Street. But I did hate to loose the reversed chrome wheels we had made back in the day over on Tower avenue. IMG_1642.JPG
     

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  6. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 19,132

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon

    That right there is the value in the HAMB!
     
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  7. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 19,132

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon


    Those really look good.
    Yeh, leave all that other stuff to the anal crowd that indexes all the tire letters to the same wheel spoke/air fill location and get all four of their center cap logos matched when they park at shows.
    By the way have you seen the wheel narrowing that Lonnie Gilbertson does?
     
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  8. Lonnie is a talented guy for sure. I think I've known him around 45 years. Where does the time go?
    The Wizzard
     
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  9. Elcohaulic
    Joined: Dec 27, 2017
    Posts: 2,212

    Elcohaulic

    Glad to hear Terry(Torque Thrust Terry?) is still going. His work is amazing!!
     
  10. Elcohaulic
    Joined: Dec 27, 2017
    Posts: 2,212

    Elcohaulic

    Does American offer custom back spacing?

    I'd like to get them in 15x8 with 5" back space, or I could do 15x7 with 4.5 back space.. The nice thing about ET is they offer back spacing to order but there expensive!
     
  11. rd martin
    Joined: Nov 14, 2006
    Posts: 2,463

    rd martin
    Member
    from indiana

    you cant get 8 inch, only 8 1/2. sucks
     
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  12. jnaki
    Joined: Jan 1, 2015
    Posts: 9,290

    jnaki





    Hey E,

    Back in those old days, money dictated which wheels were going to be put on our cars. In 1965, my red El Camino stayed with silver steel rims and mini hubcaps with red line Inglewood Pos-a-traction tires. Money was needed for “life” things. 7 years later, the money situation was a little better and my wife was the primary driver of the newer El Camino. She wanted it because the El Camino was our first A/C USA car. Since it came with stock blue steel rims, we tried different looks over the first several months of driving.


    Here is a transformation from steelies to a Corvette alternative and finally to real American Racing Mag wheels.
    upload_2018-11-19_3-36-23.png
    My wife was the primary driver as this was our first car that had A/C. She was adamant about getting a new car with A/C. We needed an El Camino or truck as a platform for photography and carrying stuff. The El Camino fit all of our needs prior with the 1965 version, so a newer one was the only choice.

    Seeing plenty of hot rods and custom cars on photo shoots and car shows, she had a preference. We kept looking at the mag wheel section of the local speed shops. The slotted Halibrands, as cool and historic as they are/were, just did not seem right. The Cragar S/S wheels were nice and shiny, but she wanted a less glitzy look. Finally, many years later with a little more money, the American Racing Company mag 5 spoke rims were accessible. It wasn’t a street/race car, but it sure looked like one.

    She liked the real American Racing Torque Thrust 5 spoke rims the best. So, we purchased 4 new ones, of course, our insurance went up, since it was not stock from the factory. There was plenty of room for those 15 inch rims inside of the rear and front wheel well openings.

    Jnaki

    I would prefer to get the new American Racing Mags with the holes drilled specifically for your car. The slotted lug holes just create extra problems later on down the line. New vs Old? The new ones look like the old, but they have not seen road pot holes, curbs, gravel pits, sand, etc. There might even be hidden cracks that don’t show up for months.

    Back in those days, there were some shops that had those machines that could see through any of the mag wheels for cracks and hidden items. If they were new, the factories do the testing for you. The machines were similar to an x-ray machine, but not like the ones we all get done at the doctor’s office.

    So, if there is a choice, NEW does it for us. Besides, if you like the dusty, dirty old look, don’t wash/clean them for several days and the new ones will look like old ones. My wife had me out in the car port cleaning those wheels every day, if not every week or prior to going somewhere in her, spiffy El Camino.
    upload_2018-11-19_3-41-13.png
    There is also a center grey version, too.





     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2018
  13. Elcohaulic
    Joined: Dec 27, 2017
    Posts: 2,212

    Elcohaulic

    ^^^ Thanks Jnaki! I'm like you guys, I don't like the glitter anymore. The Americans don't have the back space I need (15x8 5.25 back space). So I decided to save for a new set of ET wheels, just like the old days haha. They are expensive but I never heard a bad thing about them, I love the look and they are 100% American made..
    Cardone now makes new aluminum drums for the GM 10 bolt.. I plan on getting a set, they will look nice with the ET wheels. I have discs up front.

    et on 63 Impala.jpg ET new wheels.jpg ET wheels new 2.jpg ETMagsBrochure_Page1.jpg ETMagsBrochure_Page2.jpg s-l1600 2.jpg nostalgic-wheels-ET.jpg s-l1600.jpg vintage torque thrusts.jpg
     
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  14. thunderplex
    Joined: Nov 27, 2007
    Posts: 1,182

    thunderplex
    Member

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  15. csf64ss
    Joined: Dec 9, 2011
    Posts: 33

    csf64ss
    Member

     
  16. csf64ss
    Joined: Dec 9, 2011
    Posts: 33

    csf64ss
    Member

    these were mine, off ebay...perfect sizeing.....tires n wheels...$1300
     

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  17. Elcohaulic
    Joined: Dec 27, 2017
    Posts: 2,212

    Elcohaulic

    ^^^^ Not fair, the 64 Chevy would look good with anything! lol Nice ride!!
     
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  18. Elcohaulic
    Joined: Dec 27, 2017
    Posts: 2,212

    Elcohaulic

    I just messaged Summit to see if American offers custom back spacing. The only back space American offers for the 15x8.5 is 3.75"..
     
  19. BamaMav
    Joined: Jun 19, 2011
    Posts: 6,708

    BamaMav
    Member
    from Berry, AL

    Loving this thread! I had a mis matched set back in the 70's on an OT 67 Stang, don't even know now what brands they were, just remember the fronts were one kind, the rears another. Even though I can't make up my mind what color I want to paint my car, my mind is pretty well made up on the wheels I want- polished or chromed Torque Thrusts. When I first started noticing wheels as a kid, Torque Thrusts were the ones I noticed first, and have always been my favorite. I'm glad they have come full circle and are being made again, even if they have to come from off shore. As far as I'm concerned, they were the first and best design wheel and still are! I like'em with light gray spokes, dark gray spokes, polished and chromed. Just can't beat'em!
     

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