Finally got some pics taken today after her bath :-P. 18x7.5" American racing Slpit's wrapped up in some bf goodrich t/a kdw-2's. The rims wernt bad.. like 800 for the set... the tires 180 a piece from tirerack. But since i wanted to keep my old wheels for winter tires, i baught a new set of tire pressure sensors... 50 bucks a peice.. kinda sucked but it saves my ears from hearing all that dinging everytime i start the car. The stock bolt pattern is 5-115mm but these are 5-4.5" just had to put a hub-centric ring on there. I didnt even know you could mount a 4.5 rim on a 115 hub till they called to tell me they were out of 115's. its only like .3 mm diference if ya do the math. that opens up alot more options for us now if you wernt aware of that info. same ofset and everything so it all worked out (+45mm) Just got to polish em up later whenever i get some time. But it actually drives like a sportscar now thanks to the kdws. and whats the stock rim size? 7 or 7.5 ? i used the same size tire as stock on em... 235/50/18. enjoy..

 

i like very very very much. kinda like z06 rims

 

Do you happen to know what the wheels and tires weigh?

 

Lookin nice....gotta love the KDW 2's.

 

You can't, if you don't want to have any problems. I know of several people who have done this and regretted it. What you'll end up doing is snapping some of your bolts. Sure, it's only a ".3mm" difference, but when it comes to your wheels, it makes a BIG difference.

Think about it. If it was safe to do this, don't you think all reputable wheel dealers would be taking advantage of this fact and listing all the 5-4.5" bolt pattern wheels to sell when you do a search for 2006+ MC wheels??? They don't because it is not recommended.

You should seriously consider returning those (if you can) and waiting for the correct bolt pattern wheels.

 

BTW, you should install hubcentric rings with any set of rims, it keeps the alignment on the hub instead of on the bolts. Personally I would be irate at the wheel company and would demand 5x115 rims. . .yours are close, but you may cause odd wear on the lug bolts and components. So I am siding with Corny on this one, return them and get the right ones. Overall though they look very good.

 

Oh yeah, they do look good! Nice tires too!

Sorry for not mentioning that earlier.

 

They look great...definitely the "style" i'm looking for. I like the tapered double-5 spoke wheels...i'm just going for bigger and black.

However, 18" might not be out of the question after seeing those...they don't look bad, size wise, for aftermarket wheels.

 

Buff, i would go bigger if i were you, a 19x7.5 would look killer

 

Yeah, if I were to do it all again (and one of these days, I just might), I would go w/19" rims. The only problem with that though, is every freakin' tire is like $230 or more!

 

Pretty standard for a decent set of tires. My old 17s on my last car were $160 per tire for some nice high performance ones.

 

[QUOTE=Corny40]
Think about it. If it was safe to do this, don't you think all reputable wheel dealers would be taking advantage of this fact and listing all the 5-4.5" bolt pattern wheels to sell when you do a search for 2006+ MC wheels??? They don't because it is not recommended.
QUOTE]

Yea i was kinda wonderin about that... returning them isnt an option now, got em off ebay. hmmm prolly shoulda got some imput before i bought em haha. ill just keep close eye for any wierd wear around the lugs. So what kinda probs were people having?

 

They were snapping lug bolts, but apparently others have a different opinion on this topic. Some say, with those hub-centric rings, you should be okay. The key word being "should". They say they know of people who have had no problems doing this. I say it's just a matter of time, dependent upon how long and hard you drive the car. I think if it was really okay to do this, then everyone would be doing it. Well, only a few do it, so that should say something. If it were my money, I'd only go for the exact fit. ($.02)

Who did you get the wheels off of from Ebay? You never know, they might be willing to work with you, especially if these weren't the bolt pattern you originally bid on. You could say you've investigated it and are not comfortable with the slight risk. If they still say no, you can threaten to go to Ebay and inform them of your "safety" concern, and tell them this shop told you it would be okay, when it definitively is not. I don't care what anyone says, the potential for problems is there. Anyway, good luck.

 

Watch for irregular wear on the studs...if the wheel isn't sitting properly, it will shift around and eventually snap one of the studs. Technically, the HC ring keeps it from doing that, but it's not the best way. There is still undue stress on each stud as the wheel rotates that, in an OEM setup, is sent to the hub instead of the studs.

If you find yourself needing to tighten the lugs more often that you normally would, it's due to this "wobble" effect.

EDIT: DOH! CORNY beat me to it.

 

Yes, me and my car are faster than Buff!

We're actually quite even, but I have more experience. One time to the track vs, no times.

 

haha thanks gents ill se what i can do

 

Avoid burnouts, or agressive driving, that is how you will break lugs. If I were you I would put them up for sale on ebay and buy the right rims for you car. . .even if you have to take a hit.

 

Yeah, what's the fun in owning our cars if you can't do "burnouts or agressive driving."

 

x2 what the Doc says ...

 

Hey Corny40;
Just My .02 cents worth, but I wouldn't be all fired up to return the wheels just yet; especially if you like them. I have a set of 20's on my car with the same 5X4.5 bolt pattern as you. I did ALOT, and I mean ALOT, of research b4 I made my purchase and the concern that is being addressed here was on of the big concerns I had. I talked to EVERYBODY in the wheel industry, American Racing (which is the company is got my wheels from), Tire Rack, Custom Wheels.com, Rims and Tires.com, MHT (who do the high price stuff like Foose, Concept Neeper, Driiv, Jesse James, Dub, ect.) and a number of other companies too. Spoke with tech reps from each of these places, and I got the same answer from each. The .3mm that the difference is between the 5X115 to the 5X4.5 is not enough to make problems arise. Most all of the reps told me that if the lug bolts are long enough (which they said the ones we have on out cars are. All that is needed is at least 3-4 threads showing once the wheel is on), that the wheel will tighten on the hub just fine. This is coming form people in the industry that do this all the time. And the excuse that these guys will tell me anything as they are trying to get me to buy their product isn't valid either. All the companies I spoke with I made very clear that I had found a style of wheel I liked and my mind wouldn't be changed unless it was seen as dangerous if I was buying the wrong bolt pattern. And even then, with companies who had 5X115 pattern wheels that they could try to sell me by telling me the 5X4.5 would be dangerous, still said the 5X4.5 would work just fine. This is coming from professionals, and a number of them at that. Getting the same answer time after time, a bit hard to deny. Just wanted you to know the findings I came up with.