17" or 18"+ AR rims on a 91 gm

[Stealthlead]

My boss has a good hookup with a small business that works with custom rims and tires, mainly for trucks. I went in yesterday and they can work out a really good deal with me. They quoted me $1280 for five AR 17" torq thrust rims including all tires, labor & lug nuts which I find to be a pretty good deal. I was probably going to get them in anthracite (I'm not much into chrome, and the black looks ugly imo). However I've been going back and forth between 17" rims or 18". I definitely want something bigger than the (what I find to be puny) stock 15" rim, but I absolutely HATE the over sized rim look... ex. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2230/...fd353371c7.jpg
I've had a hard time finding good pictures of 18" rims on boxes.. if anyone has them on there box I'd love to see them. Any comments or opinion are appreciated, I'm pretty set on the torq's though. I checked out the boss billet style, they are nice but the guy said they are really crappy quality.

[marquis_82_withneons]

not saying the torq style doesnt look good, (obviously i have the same style) but i think theyre overused on anything v8 related. now that being said i would def like to see how it turns out on your ride. personally id never go over 16 because i like my white lettered BFG's.. but in this situation my vote is on the 17s. small enough to still have a sidewall and not lose ride quality and yet big enough to show that "yes i did invest money to make a box look sporty"

btw, that is hell of a deal, props for that one mang!

[Stealthlead]

Hi marquis 82, trust me there will be many pictures of this and the LED's :p I was a bit worried about the look being to common but after seeing the bullit style on some of the boxes around this site, it kind of grew on me. It seems like a great deal to me and not having a spare drives me insane

[marquis_82_withneons]

i hear you there man, i need to put my spare back in my car, ive been with out one for quite some time and so far so good... luckily.. i vote 17s though, and maybe even a matching spare :3

[tjc78]

I'm thinking 17s as well. Good compromise between rim and sidewall size.

[marquis_82_withneons]

^ my reasoning exactly

[Stealthlead]

Is the ride going to be that much bumpier with another inch of rim and that much less of sidewall? Its already like driving on a pillow or something with new shocks and coils XD

[marquis_82_withneons]

every inch matters mang. (thats what she said) while your suspension does do the work for you, the tires take a significant amout of cushioning too. besides, on new cars... 18+ sure.. but for boxes that had factory 15s or 16s... 18s may just be pushing the ghetto aspect.. especially if theyre noticably aftermarket.. like torqs.

just my opinion. i think 17s will look nice. either way im psyched to see the outcome

[hemihotrod402]

If you can wait until tomorrow when it is daylight I can post some pictures of mine with 17 inch torq thrust style wheels (my photobucket account took a crap a while back, so my pictures are all gone). Honestly, if I could do it again (I'm planning to when I can start the full on resotoration) I would go up to the 18's with a slightly lower profile tire. The info on what I have is in my sig.

[hemihotrod402]

Right, here are the pictures, as I said I am planning on going with a set of 18's when it gets redone, most likely with 18x8 with 255/45-18 in the front and 18x10 with 275/40-18 in the back. Overall height on the tires would be approximate half an inch smaller, but there is also half an inch less sidewall. The tires I have now are the factory size for 2003+ Police cars.





EDIT: Also, IMO you don't have to worry too much about the "ghetto factor" until you get to 20's on a box. Someone back when I first became a member had 18 inch chrome Bullits on a brown box CV and it looked beautiful.

[marquis_82_withneons]

i must say that was better than i expected

[Stealthlead]

Wow... those look awesome! Thanks for the pictures! I hate to say it but I am really leaning towards the 18"'s, the 17's look great but I think 18's can pull off the look a little more without, like you said, being ghetto. Opinions and pictures still welcome! ;D

[hemihotrod402]

Wow... those look awesome! Thanks for the pictures! I hate to say it but I am really leaning towards the 18"'s, the 17's look great but I think 18's can pull off the look a little more without, like you said, being ghetto. Opinions and pictures still welcome! ;D

Thanks! I was worried about it as well when I ordered them, and honestly the 17's still look kind of on the small side. I don't remember the username (someone could probably chime in) but 18's have been done before and it looks nice. I know Dave (87gtVIC) has 17's on his with a slightly lower profile tire than I have if you want another example. Any other questions don't be afraid to ask, I figured mine out when I was 17. lol

[hemihotrod402]

This isn't the car I had in mind, but Natehawk has Marauder wheels on his CV, which are 18's. This would be how much sidewall you would have.

http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthread.php?46430-Natehawk-1985-cv-re-birth&highlight=natehawk

[sly]

I think 18s for performance on pavement... 17 for a dink more comfort and wheel insurance with bumpy roads (kinda why I like my stock 15s since I can absorb curbs pretty well)