Poll: Which front wheels on my Gasser?

OK, so the wheels that are on my car in this picture have to go, too wide and too much rust. So I have three choices of front wheels that I'm thinking about and my goal is to keep the car as period correct as possible without spending a million dollars to do it, so I'm thinking about three different wheels and wondered what everyone's opinion is on which ones would look the best. I'm shooting for the mid 60's.
The three choices are:

15x4.5" Cragers
15x4.5 Torq-Thrust D's
15x 4" Tri-Ribb Radirs

Vote on which one you think would look the best as I'm torn between all three.

 

15x 4" Tri-Ribb Radirs

 

I like the cragar ss. All three would be cool. Maybe buy the ones you get the best deal on?

 

Fenton gyro , but I voted for for Crager.

 

They would all look fine...I can tell you're going with the spoked style. My taste always ran towards slots...Ansens, or Hali's if you could find/afford them. I just replaced a pair of 4" Cragars with 3" Fentons. What a difference in weight. I don't know if that's a concern, but the Cragars are HEAVY.

-Scott

 

You don't have none of the above option? My vote is ten spokes, extra points if their real magnesium

 

Someone is making magnesium ten spokes now?


Mutt

 

I gotta agree with the Fenton Gyro's (gota pair on the front of my '57 Chevy g***er), but they're mighty hard to find.

You might consider a pair of 15x5 American Torque Thrust Originals over the 15x4.5 Torque Thrust Ds. I have a pair of the 15x5 TTOs on the front of my '63 Impala super stock look alike and they look like the bussiness. The extra 1/2 inch in width isn't noticable, but the straight spokes make a huge difference in getting the "period" look.

 

No, but there a couple of companies making twelve spokes.

 

i vote non of the above. most street driven g***ers had painted steel wheels in the front and some huge mags in the back

 

The ten spokes would be a look of the past.
Try Team Three Wheels, INC. www.etwheels .com
ten spoke cast mag they are called g***ers

 

mid 60's, Black walls and American TTOs, not the D's

 

Ten spokes look good on altereds and small g***ers, but are a bit delicate looking on the front of a "big" Chevy. If you're looking for the sixties look my vote is for Cragar SS, especially the satin center wheels (kinda rare now).
Most of the big g***ers that I remember had steel wheels on the back and lightweight mags on the front for better weight transfer and the steel wheels were cheap and tough. Just MHO.
Hotwood

 

I agree 100% on this, and if they made the originals in a 4" or 4.5" it would be a done deal. Maybe I'll have to rethink my width restriction of 4.5" or less.

What do fenton Gyro's look like?

 

I'm sticking with the steel wheels in back for sure, and I agree with the ten spoke wheel looking a little small for a full size car, but I've seen them on larger cars and some did look very cool.

 

When looking at the 15x5 TTOs with 7.77x15 black walls on the front of my Impala, the extra .5 inch in width is really undetectable. The straight spokes (TTO) vs. the curved spokes (TTD) however, really make a huge difference. Below is a link to a picture of my Impala with these wheels on the front.


http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=165032&d=1140632016

Here is a link to a picture of my '57 with 15x3.5 Fenton Gyros and 7.75x15 black walls on the front.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i226/******-Knuckles/vlv181.jpg

 

i really like the early slotted ansen sprint skinny, the ones without the centercap screws, I have a NOS pair on the front of my 41 willys g***er. they are hard to find, but I have lucked up on a couple of sets. They look like a fenton, but they are a better made wheel.

 

Cragar S/S's.

 

I'd run the radirs just for a change. If its any consolation I have a pair of 4.5x15 craigers at my disposal, but I just spent money on Ansens. You don't know me well so let me explain, freeee gooood, spend baaaaaaad."

 

I have a pair of 15x4 Ansen Sprints. They're good looking wheels, but I prefer the look of the Fentons. The Fentons dish straight away in toward the center about an inch inside the lip, but the Ansens cut in 90 degrees about an inch inside the lip and then dish in toward the center. Just my own personal preference.

As for the Ansens being better made than the Fentons, I really couldn't say. They're both just cast aluminum wheels, how much differnce can there be? Certainly nothing that I can see looking at them side by side.

 

I voted Radirs, but I kind of like whats on it now, maybe clean them up?

 

I like them too but they are a bit rusty and I don't think I could get them clean, they're Fenton Hawks.

Mike, thanks for the pic with the TTO's on it, I like those and they really don't look too wide. I was set on the TTD's before this post, but I really don't want the curved spokes.
I was ready to go with the Radirs, but they are more $$ and I'm not sure I could swing the extra $$ right now. So I leaning between Cragers and Torq Thrust Originals now.

Thanks for all the input so far.

 

cragars s/s's

 

Fenton or Ansen Sprint aluminum slotted mags

 

Thanks for all the input. I decided on the Torq Thrust Originals and a bonus in the process is my buddy can get them for wholesale, so I'm saving a few $$ also. Thanks again for the input and picks, it helped a ton!

 

Not to spoil your fun, but in an article on http://www.roadsters.com/wheels/ I explain how easy it is to spot the differences between the original, 1960s Torq-Thrusts and the Torq-Thrust Originals.

Dave
(602) 233-8400 weekdays
http://www.roadsters.com/

 

I hate alum wheels... I've seen a few articles interviewing companies such as, Cragar that mentioned how they melted down the "extra" engine adapters to make wheels.

 

why not throw caution to the wind and find a set of 15X3 Motor City Fly wheels. Nothing says strip car better than those.

 

Try Vintage wheel works. They make a straight spoke torq thrust type wheel in 15x4 and so does ET wheels. I think both of these are made nicer than the American TTO's (just my opinion)

 

Cragers or Alum slots for mid sixties Radir's or AR TQ's strt spokes for early (never liked the Radir style's) alum slots definately for mid to late sixties, then Crager Super Trick types (GACK) for '74 up,seemed like everyone had them fugly things.
oh, as to old alum steel composite Chrome spoke wheels Radirs/Hawks/ Crager tri/two rib/Appliance etc. , sandblast em and get them powder coated w that polished alum stuff - looks ***s if you like the flat spoke wheels