I'm looking for low spoke count (but how low?) wire wheels ala' the 'Skylark' style-just not the price! Are any current wire wheel guys making low/thick spoke count wheels?
I think you can still get the ones Cragar used to sell. (EDIT: I can't seem to find them on their site, but I swear I've seen them recently advertised.) They had the goofy "wire basket" ones, yeah, but they had some that were real wires, with a similar gauge wire and similar count to the Skylarks.
Yeah, I've developed a wire wheel interest myself, but Starwire sounds like late 70's - early 80's to me.... Heres a couple of wires that I DO like, but don't know the brands of? Like Truespoke when did they start to appear?
Tru-Spokes are basically copies of the skylark wires. i got some truspokes, instead of dropping large green on the correct repop skylark spinners, i got a set of the cheap two bar knockoffs, they're pretty nice for the price, and am machining some adaptors to put them on the truspokes. they look similar, just don't have the red white and blue in the center.
Look for some Mid 70's to mid 80's Jaguar wires. I got mine for $150 for a set of four. In great shape and they're 5x4.75....
The finish behind the cover is pretty rough and large factory-welds can be seen. I don't have a good close-up pic of that, but maybe you can make out a little of what I mean on the pics under following link; http://www.bigblockmopar.nl/65/page5.html I hoped the bulge on the tire would go un-noticed for now... It's the "combination-result" of a 5 psi overinflation and bad tire I guess. While the car was 'habernating' I had inflated the tires to 40 psi to prevent flatspotting, but noticed a bulge had formed on 1 of them. Found out later the tires had a max of 35 psi. Of course with my luck these tires seem to be out of production now, so I need to mount 2 similar replacements soon. Anyway, since I don't like to hijack the topic, back on-topic. More pics of the wheels, (and tire) http://photobucket.com/albums/a135/BigBlockMopar2/65300-TireDamage
I don't think Tru Spokes are made anymore, but when they were, apparently they made several versions including multi and single bolt pattern versions. Mine don't say Tru Spoke, but I was told that's what they are. FWIW I may be letting go of these as they are 5x5 bolt pattern so I'd have to use adapters on my 4.5 hubs, and they sit a smidge wide with the adapters...
tru spokes were indeed made by cragar at one point and are no longer made at all. there were several different styles and spoke count. the 40 or 32 spokes seem to be the ones most want as they look like the skylark wires. there is a version or the 32 spoke that is mucho wanted by the lowrider crowd that if a set does come up you'll see some amazingly high prices. saw a set sell on the bay a whiles back for a little over 3 grand. tru spokes come up on ebay a good bit you just have to be patient with it. finding a set near you helps as they are ****ing heavy and you'll dump alot into shipping them to. a nice set of 40m spokes typically will go for 300-500 or so depending on how many are watching that day. saw a nice set sell for 120 a few months ago because the guy would not ship. Weld, Cragar, Tru Spoke(before and after cragar took them over), and Appliance all made some rather nice looking wires that were in the skylark style. as nice as all of them can be they still ARE NOT skylarks hahaha. repop skylarks have went down a bit and can be had for around a grand for a set some places. still high...ken....
I just found four in good shape on ebay for 900 with caddy center cabs. Evidently, Dayton makes Jaguar repops but damn, they're pricey! My original intention was to get a set of '84 Caddy wires. That plan was ruined when all the southern rappers started putting them in their songs and on their ****ty late model cars with candy paint and screens in the trunk
i left a set at the swap meet this weekend, 15 x 7, 5 x 4 3/4 and 4 1/2 unilug, very nice shape, NO rust, a corvette guy had em, you know how they are! i had to FORCE myself to leave them there after i got him down to $375 for the set. i just have too many wheels around here.
Hey the guys at Dayton Wire Wheel makes some bad *** wheels, they are awesome guys, with bad *** cars... there phone # is (937)438-0100 good luck
Update-found 2 sets in town. Guy sez one came off a front wheel drive Caddy, the others are off a RWD Caddy/aftermarket-is that an issue?
those are not the wheels those guys herald. they are after the 32(i think) spoke tru spokes known as "SWANGAZ" or "ELBOWS" i believe it thug language for them. different wheel. strong with the real og lowrider set for a long long time. basiclly the hub area is pushed outward further on them is the best description i can think of....ken....
There was a company in Calfornia years back named Zenith that made real nice knock off hub wires. I think they were 72 spoke.
Speaking of wire wheels, can someone step up and tell me from when to when Cragar Starwires were made? Thank you in advance!
Cragar started producing Star Wires - which have 30 spokes - around 1999 when they purchased the rights to them from Greg Weld. Weld Wheels was founded in 1967. Here's a *****in photo....
The Jalopy Journal
