LS1rulz

iTrader: (1)

Okay, so 5/16 was my 30th birthday. The wife has offered to buy me the Pro Stars that I've wanted. Cool. Now I don't have to do it behind her back!

Okay, so here's the catch: I don't want to make her mad, 'cause she's really cool with me doing stuff to my car, despite her wanting to not like it. If that makes sense (married guys, I know you feel me). She HATES "fats & skinnies". Not to mention that I live in the country and we have curvy roads. So I'm thinking 15x6 up front, and 15x8 in back. 15x6 still takes some weight off and looks tough. Plus 15x8 is good since too much tire and wheel is just dead weight with no purpose. If I can't hook on a 10" slick, I can't hook on nothin'!

So what sizes should I be buying to make them fit with my stock rear end? I think the rear is 15x8 with 5.5" backspacing, correct?
Also, what lug nuts? Ordering from Summit, and the guys working aren't exactly able to tell me what fits on every car.
Or should I go 15x8 all the way around? Or 15x10 rear (dang that's big)?

Also, what size tires fit on those?

Thanks for the help guys. But HELP QUICK! I WANNA ORDER TOMORROW!

~JOSHUA

iTrader: (92)

10" rear... no questions...

The fronts, hmm... I say x8's

That's all considering it's going to see more road use than track use, if it's drag only disregard my comments on the fronts, but the rears still need to be 10's

LS1rulz

iTrader: (1)

Cool, but help me. WHY a 10"? Then tires are more expensive, they stick out retardedly, and they weigh more for absolutely NO benefit. Unless there's something I'm missing. Clue me in, man. I want to understand, I promise.

RICEETER

iTrader: (49)

dude, 8's wont clear your brakes up front. you need skinnies up front. if you want 6's or 8', bogart is pretty much your only choice. and you need 10's on the back for that extra bit of traction. you'll want a 7.5" backspacing with them so they dont stick out, which is equivalent to a 15x8 w/ 5.5" bs.

LS1rulz

iTrader: (1)

What about if I switch to LT1 front brakes (and spindles)? The wider Pro Stars fit on LT1 cars, right?

Beaflag VonRathburg

iTrader: (176)

Correct. You're going to need different front brakes like the strange or aerospace drag setup to run that wide of a wheel on the front. That's what I plan on doing.

SJM Manufacturing Inc

iTrader: (5)

This is incorrect. Actually, they stick out LESS as the backspace option is very poor on an 8" wheel. If you considered an 8" wheel, take your stock 16's and move them ~.75-1"" OUT of the current position, this is what you'll have. If I built you our Bogart 8" wheels (which I'd not suggest as 8" wheels are too small)...I'd build them with a backspace with 6.25" which centers the wheel correctly. So why do you see people stating use 5.5", that is because weld and centerline do not offer what is actually needed to center the wheel in the fenderwell.

Also, the tires i.e. 275/50's that you'd probably be using are not meant for an 8" wheel. If you're concerned about tire expense, possibly re-think that statement as filling your gas tank a few times will net more loss then spending a few more dollars on a "more expensive" tire.

To be honest, I think what you're considering is not a good idea. When you go to a 15" setup, your handling will change considerably. It will be worse then your stock setup no matter what you do. 15" wheels are for drag racing...so no sense in trying to put wide tires up front, still have poor handling and have no benefits from rotational mass losses.

So wide/narrow wheels are not the consideration, if you don't have a set of 17's, then consider changing to something along these lines since as you state, you're mostly using them on curvy roads. Stick to a RR setup, NOT drag setup. Anything that you consider will be a downgrade for curvy typical driving roads. You're also considering putting wheels on your car that are NOT a street application, no matter how wide you go.

SJM Manufacturing Inc

iTrader: (5)

They still will not fit without spacers and/or grinding. If you're going to go to this extent, consider our wheels which will net you less headaches in the end.

I'd really think hard on this before you consider what you're doing. Even though I've mentioned our wheels, I really feel as stated above, drag wheels in general will not be your cup of tea.

Here's another analogy, would you put all season radials on your car? probably not...most stick with a performance tire. Just as you are trying to make a compromise, an all season tire really is just "ok" in the summer and "ok" in the winter actually poor in comparison to a performance tire...not a very good choice for performance. This is what will happen with what you're considering regarding taking drag wheels...it will be a poor handling car and a poor drag car.

SJM Manufacturing Inc

iTrader: (5)

btw, happy birthday. I'd love to be 30 again.

LS1rulz

iTrader: (1)

I'm aware of your anti-Weld stance, and that's not a concern of mine. I know you're a big Bogart guy (especially since it benefits your wallet to be pro-Bogart and anti-Weld - it's human nature so I fully respect that), and they're sweet, but I just can't afford them. I emailed you and your price is just too high in comparison to my wheel budget, unfortunately. I'd love to have some Bogarts, but it's not an option at their current pricing. When they get competitively priced, I'll get them for sure. Also, my current wheels are stock 17" Camaro SS wheels. Not 16".

I apparently wasn't clear enough. I live out a curvy road, 5mi from the highway. Other than that, the car is for straightline drag racing.

The main point is that as I said, the wife hates the fats/skinny look. So I want to minimize that while still getting the advantage. Not to mention, the main thing that sucks is the braking power on a skinny wheel/tire. It's subpar. I believe that going to a 7" wheel in the front would really take up some of that lost braking. Don't you?

So the big question at this point is, can I get by with wider 15" ProStars by swapping in LT1 spindles and calipers? You say no. So an LT1 car can't run wider ones? I know a 3rd gen with 7" Weld Drag Lites on it. Aren't the 3rd gen and LT1 setups VERY similar?

LS1rulz

iTrader: (1)

And thanks for the birthday wishes, man. Greatly appreciated.

SJM Manufacturing Inc

iTrader: (5)

LS1,

You're welcome.

For the record, I am not nor have I ever been "anti-weld". Weld manufactures high-end wheels that are actually more expensive then our similar lines. These wheels are in direct comparison to our wheels. THIS is what I sometimes get upset about. You can’t compare a Ferrari to a Fiero! What you see (and many others) are me discussing there are huge differences from an economy weld racing wheel and our high-end Bogart wheels...People attempt to quantify that a prostar is just as good as our wheels and offer the same benefits...when this is incorrect. This would also be true if you compared weld prostars to welds alumastar wheel!!! There is NO comparison to welds high-end wheels and low-end wheels.

...so that no one seems confused, once again, I also indicate that weld's high-ended wheels blow away welds economy wheels i.e. prostars. It's funny how no one seems to compare welds economy wheels then complains how welds high-ended wheels are super expensive. They are about twice the cost of prostars (as indicated more than our typical comparable drag wheel). It’s funny how I can state that welds high-end wheels blow away welds low-end wheels…no one gets in a hissy fit…if I ever said, our high-end Bogart wheels blow away a prostar…man, people would be jumping up and down accusing me of creating the worst sin and stating that “I’m just pushing my products”.

I hope this clears up some misnomers about my feelings.

To quantify your suggestion regarding poor braking with skinnies...you'll feel just about the same if you used a 7" wheel and changed over to a set of LT1 brakes...AND you'll be adding about 5lbs per side changing brakes AND you'll be spending probably a few hundred to do this...so there is nothing but negatives with this setup.

You may think our wheels are out of your price-range and I totally respect that. Our wheels are certainly not for every person’s budget. What some do not know is what they are getting into when they are considering economy wheels and what they are giving up (so no one assumes I’m once again trying to push our products…this ALSO goes for if you choose high-ended weld wheels…btw did I say they were more expensive than ours…lol.

-I’ll recap for you if you’ve not searched on posts me or others may have mentioned.
-Our Bogart LS1 style wheels overall is 30% lighter than Prostars. Using Prostars is like leaving ~50lbs of converted static weight on your car. So the 600.00 you spent on a k-member to save 30 lbs doesn’t seem as good of a trade-off when you’re trying to save money.
-Our Bogart’s do not need spacers or grind calipers dangerously thin weakening them as with Prostars.
-Our Bogart’s do not need super long 3-3.25” studs which is necessary for Prostars.
-Our Bogart’s are built for the application instead of a “one-size-fits-most” (which rarely do) as with a Prostar
-Our Bogart’s use high-end billet materials, which are polished to a mirror show-like finish…spun forged shells…etc etc. a prostar…I won’t go there.

The above is actually a very poor comparison as once again, we are comparing a Ferrari to a Fiero. This would be the same type of comparison structurally and weight wise if you looked at welds high-end wheel i.e. alumastar compared to welds low-end wheel i.e. Prostar. How I feel we are stronger in comparison to welds high-end wheels are we build to suit, we can still make them lighter and we support you guys and the F-body boards.

cookba

iTrader: (10)

why not just go for ZR1's with 11" rim in the rear? then you can run 275 in front and 315 in the rear. thats a mean stance, can be driven regularly and is great for the turns.

LS1rulz

iTrader: (1)

Forget the turns. I over-estimated the importance of turns once I thought about it. The car will go 35mph if I have to just to make it through the turns on my road.

And as for the LT1 swap, it's free. I have an LT1 friend who only needs the same components I need to make the swap between his LT1 and my LS1. So it would cost me nothing but a couple of hours. But I'll overlook it for now.

I really wish Bogart had a wheel in the lower price range. Do you now how many sets of $800/set wheels you'd sell? WOW! Amazing. Make them plain, like a ProStar. Easy and cheap.

LS1rulz

iTrader: (1)

Oh and I won't do ZR1's. My car is a 2000. I don't want to put on a stock-style rim that's from an earlier year, and is just as heavy as my current stock wheels.

Dang it, Steve! Make a low-priced wheel for us! I want Bogart quality and fit. I really do. I just can't swing $1500 for wheels on a $900 budget.

cowboysfan

I have a headacke after reading all this. I'm still trying to understand some of the spacing stuff. anyhow LS1 I know what your talking about.

Beaflag VonRathburg

iTrader: (176)

Steve, I know you recommend not to drive your wheels on the street. Can you make a wheel that would be reliable enough to DD or drive a few days a week in a 15 inch diameter?

carado1984

AND dont prostars in 15x10 only come with 6.5bs not 7.5? so really its not possible anyway and youll need a 15x3.5 front and still possibly a spacer.. so if you go with prostars, they wont fit in the back.. Draglites are your pretty much your only cheap option and youll have to grind.

I too wish i could afford bogarts and i wont settle for draglites so i guess im stuck.

If you just want wheels for drag and are on a budget just go with draglites, if you care about looks and getting every little thing right you can then save for the bogarts... I personally hate the way draglites look and prostars are ok but not application appropriate and i think the cheap welds are a little too played out.. every other 5.0 has them.

carado1984

and yes they will because ive seen several people with them.

LS1rulz

iTrader: (1)

No, Pro Stars come with proper 7.5" backspacing on a 15/10" wheel, and fit the same as the Drag Lites.