So in my search for some 17 inch front and 20 inch rear wheels I thought it might be helpful to others if we could have a thread on what stock wheels you can find at the junkyard that will give you what you want or provide a base for what you want. Today I hit the pick a part and found a 17X4.5 donut wheel off an 01 Grand Cherokee. Has the 5 on 4.75 bolt pattern. I cut the center out as I'm running 5 on 5.5 pattern and having custom centers cut but it gives me the wheel shell I need for only 11 bucks. I believe this wheel can be found on 99-04 Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Why? 16" is just about right for most "traditional" cars, unless you have the good fortune to find some milk truck wheels and those are 18"...
Dead serious question. Tire selection for anything traditional out side of 16" or 18" is not very good and mostly relgated to stuff that is better suited to a stock model "A". Traditional wheels and tire combos are 16 or 18 until you go back as far as Buffalo wires, and those were mostly 19" and 21". But once again, tire will be the limiting factor.
sort of agree with louvers, finding a larger diameter center that looks old will be sort of hard. while i have thought of using 17 inch or even 18's off of a dodge challenger on my truck, i know in the end it will get frowned uppon in the "traditional" sense. just want to make it easier to find tires
That era Grand Cherokee has 5 on 5" bolt pattern, not 4.75". In your case it doesn't matter since your are replacing the centers, but just want to correct the error for those who may want to use them 'as is' . Ray
I used 16"X4.5" donut spares, as show in this early pic. I found them all in the junkyard for about $15 each. They're from bigger Mopars, with a 4.5" bolt circle. There are two versions...you want the ones where the wheel centers do NOT protrude beyond the line of the rim. On mine, the wheel centers are indented a bit. Sorry, I forgot what specific Mopars they come from. They were all basically new rims, since they were never used. Good constructive thread, Newb.
There's quite a selection of tires for 17 and 20 inch rims. I have a set of a Lester 600/650-20 WWW for the rear and 600/650-17 WWW for the front. Why would I want to use something other than 16's? Because it is so generic to use 16's and I happen to like larger diameter wheels to give me a lower profile looking tire. That's fine if you don't like the look but good grief....this site is about building what you like, not what everyone else likes!
You can also get 20x5.5 wheel blanks from heywheel.com for $55. I've been unable to find 20 inch wheels that are narrow. The Dodge ones are like 8 inches and by the time you get them narrowed it isn't worth it to me with wanting custom centers made.
Fire away and go with it, but this is a web sight about TRADITIONAL cars, not anything you want to do, and I'm just saying traditional cars don't run 20" spare tire wheels. Rat Rods do, and they are off topic here. I get a bit tired of our history being rewritten everyday to include what ever somebody wants it to be. just my .02...
It figures..so many times I think I'm getting involved in a constructive post, it turns into some skirmish...then it gets deleted...it's like I'm a thread killer. Yes, Erik did get a little defensive & mention the low profile tire syndrome (which I personally detest, by the way), but why don't we just let this ride a bit without the theatrics. After all, there are some really interesting traditional rides with wheels north of 16." (And Erik might just turn out.)....Yours truly...Henry Kissinger.
Interesting thread topic (if it ever goes forward, lol). But let's cut to the chase; what kinda vehicle are you building?
Thank you for this post and I hope it gets back on track. Just ignore the wantabe moderators and keyboard knowitalls. For the knowitalls...READ his post.. tall NARROW wheels....NOT the kind of wheel you put low profile tires on. Yes taller wheels are a new trend and wasn't done back in the day, besides wires and high clearance wheels. There is a LOT that is percieved traditional that is just a modern interpretation of what is traditional. Then there is stuff that was done that is not acceptable. Go figure! I'm currently looking for a 17x6 wheel that I can modify to look like a Goodyear airwheel. I have a pair of 750x17 Goodyear tires I want to run on my car. I need a 17x6 wheel with a fairly flat center. I would greatly appreciate finding something like this!!!! I am willing to modify a wheel in any way to get what I want. Clark
Depends agian on Era of the Build. I have a Long Term project & PinPointing an approx 1932 Date for my 1923 Dodge roadster. This car has 19" wheels with staggard rubber sizes. Tires not on .. Has Rollers so my new ones dont Rot. Im not down with the Current Tall wheel trend, But As long as he dont end up with 1/2" Tall Tires.
I'm also looking for larger diameter and narrow wheels to fit the kinds of repop / vintage tires you can get now, like Excelsiors. If you happen to like something in the 20" range, where you gonna get a 20 x 3.5 - 5" steel or mag rim for it? (sorry, no wires for me). This Swedish builder made himself a modern Bugatti, but he had to narrow a set of contemporary Audi mags to fit his tires. I love it, they look like vintage spoked / Bugatti wheels. But I don't know anyone who can take 5" out of the center of a 20 x 10" wheel. Do you? Gary
Does anyone know if they made an artillery wheel bigger than 17in? I'd like to run a large diameter rim on my 31 A sedan
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