chevy steel wheels...

sure someone's covered this...but having trouble finding. may get my balls busted, but just looking to gain some knowledge. my 53 bel air needs a new set of factory steel wheels and it looks as if having some shipped across these great states may be my best bet. everything is still stock on the car(suspension, brakes, etc.) so aside from the obvious, are there any particular wheels that will/wont work for me? as long as they are 15x5x4.75 pattern 6 inches wide right? is there anything limiting me to this particular time period (49-54) sedan? any knowledge you can share is greatly appreciated..

 

Chevy, in particular, and other GM makes in many years and models used the 5 x 4.75 bolt pattern. You can use any rear drive Chevy wheel well into the late 70's with few exceptions. Of course, on full size Chevys from '57 through '64 models, most were 14"...but before that and after, there are a lot of 15 x 5 or 5.5 or 6 or so to choose from. Look at '70 to '77 Monte Carlo, '77 up GM fullsize....there are more...

Ray

 

I guess you are still looking??

 

The hubcaps are probably the main concern....thru 53 they used clips that were riveted on the wheels to retain them, and then they changed to the modern style that snaps over the nubs that are pressed into the wheel.

Seems most of the free Chevy steel wheels I get are 14s.

 

As Squirrel said, the only concern is what hub caps you plan to run.

 

just trying to do my homework before deciding on/going with a set. was pretty sure i had it all figured out, then read a fellow hambers comment saying only wheels off of sedans from this particular era would work for me. cant always believe what you hear of course, or in this case..read. thanks for the gained knowledge fellas.

 

Well, if by 'sedans' he meant p***enger cars, as opposed to trucks, that would be true. As you know, your car has 5 lugs...the GM pickup trucks of that time period had 6 lugs, and later models were 5 but on a 5" bolt circle.

Ray

 

To Clarify, As Squirrel said in post 4 the 53 "small" caps used the ciips on the wheel to hold the small hubcaps on. If you are planning on running small stock 53 hubcaps you need those clips. If you aren't planning on running the small caps most later steel Chevy wheels will fit and work with full size caps. If you are planning on running custom caps such as 57 Caddy, Fiesta or maybe moons or ripple caps the later wheels will work fine.
I have 54 p***enger car front hubs on my 48 pickup and the later wheels fit fine. Some do fit a bit tight on the hub because they are hub centric but that works in one's favor as the rim is truly centered on the hub.

 

Chevy full size was 5x4.75 through '70, then again from '77-90 or so on everything but station wagons. The midsize cars starting around '63 were also this pattern and stayed that way all the way until 1989 or so when the last RWD Monte Carlo, Cutl***, etc. were dropped. Camaro and Firebird are 4.75 also.

The 77-89 cars are confusing because there was a light duty full size with the small bolt pattern and a heavy duty full size with the bigger one, you almost need to know model by model, year by year, which is which, other than Chevy coupes/sedans.

But the point is unless you need the clips for dog dish caps, there's millions upon millions of cars out there which have wheels that will fit. A little searching should get you more detailed info, or just come up with a bolt circle pattern (they sell a plastic one for less than $5) and take it to the wrecking yard.


One wierd thing I ran into the other day on GM 5x5 pattern wheels - I took what presumably were the original rims off the back of a '91 Caddy, which had the wire wheel caps that bolt on; one had nubs for a dog dish cap, the other one has an entirely different center without those nubs. If I didn't know better I'd think it should have clips on it for the old style dog dish. Never saw that before.

 

I had problems with later wheels, could not keep the big 53 caps on. Just hung them in the garage after chasing then twice and being lucky they didn't get run over.

 

This is a stock 53-54 chevy wheels

 

Chris......that's a stock '49/'53 wheel........'54-up has external hub cap retaining 'nubs'.


Ray

 

This website may help, if not it will definitely waste some of your time............. http://www.akhwheels.com
Terry is a great guy and has all kinds of cool stuff

 

Doh! My bad. These did come off a 53 though... Thanks for the clarification!

 

Anybody know if there are any 16 inch Oem wheels made with nubs and 4 3/4 BC X 5 holes which would fit over disc brakes ?

 

I don't think you get into 16s unless you go to either late model stuff which usually has alloy wheels of some sort, or the trucks with 8-lug wheels.

But plenty of them with 15s were sold with disc brakes, unless you have some strange combination it aught to clear.

 

Thanks rusty.Yes I think some of skiny tire late model steel spare wheels ( metric BC probably) are close to 4 3/4 X 5 but do not have the nubs or look like a 50's to 60's wheel. I was looking for the 16's to help a scrub line problem. I have 14's now and do not think even a 15 would fix it .

 

I think this is what your looking for. With shipping might be more than you want to spend but they are new so no rust, no sand blasting and no worry of bent wheels like you could have with old used wheels. Check out this site.

http://www.chevsofthe40s.com/detail/31675/WHEEL_CUSTOM_NOSTALGIA_BARE_STEEL_AVAILABLE_IN_14.html

 

I was amazed at how hard it was to come up with steel 15 inch 5 x 4 3/4.

 

have you searched Cl***ifieds here for a set or, placed Wanted Ad? checked Social Group here that covers your ride for possible help? no wheel builders in TX or nearby States? also, try searchtempest.com that lets you search all of craigslist using your Zip code.

 

What wheels did you find?
I wanted a wider wheels, so I went with 15x8, also I wanted to be sure I could clear my disk brakes. I like the wider look from the back and front of the car as well.

Godspeed
MrC.