alright so im familiar with the current astro repop's, us wheel, allied, and pacer are the ones ive heard of...and then i heard something about a company out of australia too. my questions is this...ive heard that certain brands are ****ty. how ****ty is ****ty? will they ACTUALLY fall aparts driving down the freeway? will the spokes break from the hub? how frequent does this occur and why? there are many other five spoke wheels on the market that do not explode. i guess my porblem is that i dont want to spend over 700 just for wheels from allied. thanks
I don't know about the others but US wheels. They hold up well and have had no problems with them or my friends. I know a few guys who have fast bag set ups that actually hop there cars on these and had no problems. There's also a guy in Torrance, Cali. that has the centers and hoops. His **** is sold as hell.
allied are the best PERIOD ! ..better chrome , stronger etc.... they should not cost you more than 600 tops for the wheels ..**** i paid under that for wheels and tires .... who are you trying get them from ? ..... supremes have got to be one of the easiest wheels to get a hold of ..... i cannot figure out why so many on here have so many questions on where and what ones to buy ..... try the search function on the board ... now what is you next repeat question for your galaxie ? you keep asking the same questions . just wording them differently ......
the answer is easy, too many people here think there is a cheaper way to do everything! look at all the posts about painting whitewalls as an example. sometimes you just have to step-up.
Donnie, speaking from a San Antonio view point...older style wheels are HARD AS HELL to get! You would be amazed at how hard it is to find Cragars, chrome smoothies, Keystones or even Astro Supremes around here. Even IF you can find someone that knows what you're talking about...they have to order them. It's all late model-billet-giant-wagon wheels **** around here.
Ain't that the truth. Same up here in Wisconsin. Plenty of giant aluminum **** for your mega 4x4 or bling-bling Honda bolt-pattern ****, and the occasional cleaned-up with SOS ****py Keystones/Cragars at the swap meet. I honestly can't remember EVER seeing a car with Supremes on it in person, only in pictures, I have seen one set for sale in person, and they were trashed from years of hydraulics hopping. I've also read several of the threads that have been posted here on Supremes and I still don't know where I could get the Allied ones from, other that "call Bobby down at the Wheel Shack off of 45th in downtown LA 555-6839" and that don't do me any good, unless I want to take a 3000 mile road trip to pick them up. None on Ebay either. From what I've gathered from the other threads, to try to answer the original question without just putting "try doing a search", the US wheel style Supremes are cheaper because of thinner plating and a lighter, less-reinforced spoke design. Cheap plating is pretty obvious at first glance, you'll see some yellow/gold shadowing where the chrome didn't cover the copper very well, they'll rust/pit faster and will require more cleaning than better quality plating. The strength design comes in when cars are running hydraulics or air bags, or are driven in extreme conditions with potholes and such, or extremely heavy cars. After a 50K mile beat-down with hydros or 20mph speed bumps, the lighter wheels could crack or fall apart. Wheel failures might also come from improper wheel balance or alignment, or curb hits. If you're building a juiced '64 Impala or a leaded out '59 Caddy daily driver, I'd probably go with the better wheels, but for your $2500, 3300 pound, 3K miles a year or less weekend cruiser I really don't think the extra cost of the Allied wheels is going to be justified. If you're not going to be rough on them and you're going to keep them really clean the US wheel Supremes should be just fine. If you've got 8K in your paint job the cheaper chrome might stick out but for the '63 Genericar wagon you got from your neighbor that you drive around town once a week just get the US wheels and save your cash for spray cans and Ramen noodles. Squablow-out
San Fernando Tire and Wheel has the Imperial Supreme.When I called about 14x7 standard offset he told me 100 ea. + 17 ea. shipping. You can find their ad in the back of Lowrider magazine. Jerry
yip and if he would have done the search he would have found that out ... that is where i bought most of the sets i have purchased over the years .. and yes get the standard off set ..there reverse does not fit the galaxies . you will rub bad ......
dan i get that .... but this question comes up about every couple of months .. on another note .... you could always move to california where you can find all of those wheels on a shelf and in stock whenever you needed them .haha ...... talk to you this week when ya get a chance about that helmet ...
Tried the Allied Wheel website www.alliedwheel.com and their Contact Us page didn't work for ****! You're complaining about a 3000 mile road trip?
i think they stopped selling to the public about 6 or 7 years ago ....BUT they should be able to give you a dealer in your area .... discount tire is one if you have those near you .....
here's the deal with allied,,i purchased some directly from them for my 56 a while back,,however,,when i tried to buy some a few weeks back,,i called them and they said they no longer sell direct,.,you must buy them from one of their dealers..the only place close to me that i know of sells the US version,,and they wanted 138.00 each ! so i said forget it... i have my '56 chevy in the cl***ifieds right now,,if it doesnt sell or trade,,i will be selling the 14X7 standard offset allied brand astro supremes along with the bullet center caps ,tires and lug nuts in the next few weeks seperatley,, the rims are in excellent shape and the tires are fairly new, sam you beat me to it Donnie! haha
About 2 years ago I was thinking about getting a set for my Fairlane. I called them and they directed me to some **** hole here in TN that sold appliances, bibles, used tires, guns and astro supremes. Just joking They did sell appliances though. After about an hour on the phone with the dude scratching his *** and thumbing through an old catalog, he said he could get them for me for some outragious price (kinda like **** Reynold's experience). I just bought Cragar SS's from JEGS! ha hahahaha... I'm so glad I did too. $450 with FREE shipping to my door. Next day. So I agree with the others "whining" about not knowing where to get them. I couldn't get them either. TINGLER
Dan, most large tire chains have acess to "Astros" There is usually a US Wheel poster on the wall that has all the cheapie fartcan knockoff styles and well as cheapie big billet ****. There is ALWAYS chrome smoothies and "Astros" on these same POP posters. I saw them at a Tires Plus,Peerless and a Big O up here. Thats not including the local discount chains. If I can find them in Rapid City SD, you GOTTA be able to find them down there!!! Call and ask if they can get Allied or US Wheels.
Tingler, or any of you other smart guys, what offset do I need to be getting for the 65 Fairlane? is 14x7 alright or should I go with 14x6? This wheel **** wears me out...I've just stuck hubcaps on stock wheels for the last 12 years or so. I think the last set of chrome wheels I bought was in about 1982. HAHAHA! seriously...Cragars...and I could get them down the street, at the local Auto-whatever-place. Ahhh, the good ol days.
now, the question is, where can a feller get astro-style (or any five-spoke, for that matter) wheels in ford or unilug four-lug pattern?
barnett, i would say 14x7 standard offset should fit perfect. i'm not sure if they even offer a 14x6 if they do and you want to be safe on your fit then go that way. Allied is out of TEXAS. i can't see it being that hard to get a set of wheels in your home state. i'm in the middle of my move to the new house and don't know where all my contact #s for them are right now. i have ordered from them and they are nice people. they no longer sell direct but if you have a friend who has a shop they will usually do a dealer set up for them real easy and you can get a set that way. i talked to them about doing dealer stuff a while back and they could not have been easier to deal with. if you need any more info shoot me a pm and i'll do anything i possibly can for you.... EVERYONE ELSE, please go back and read ALL my old responses to these astro post questions. US Wheel versions will break. i know 4 people who got them because it was "to hard" to get Allied versions. 3 or the 4 have had at least one wheel break crack or something. all had at least one wheel that the chrome was "yellowed" brand new. one of the cars in question was a '64 SS i painted candy oriental blue 15 years ago. flawless car for all that time even with being taken to lots of shows over that time. well the owner cheaped out and replaced his weld wires that look like star wires(why i don't know) with US Supremes. one failed on the way to a show and lets just say the car is getting reworked and will be black by the end of summer. there are things you can skimp on on a car and pull it off. wheels, tires, and brakes are not really a good thing to try it on. the car above was a hook up that i wanted to and did do for a friend and the bill was still $3500 15 years ago. flawless candy ain't cheap. they guy it went to for the repair since i'm now 10m hours away wouldn't even think about trying to spot in the paint at this point. thats the reason for the color change. anyhow back to the subject as donnie said above go the distance find the right wheels. you can do it from the comfort of your own home so how much trouble can it really be? now if anyone is interested in a set of 15x7 standards and knows where a set of Tru Spokes, Cragar Wires, the Weld Wires mentioned above or heaven for bid a set of Skylark Wires are. I would be very interested in a trade. the buick asked for new rolling stock for it's rebirth and it's getting them. the supremes on it have seen maybe 5K of road use and have mostly sat along with the car in the shop for the last 5 years or so....ken....
oh yeah if i need to make anyone's life easier Pete Paulsen's sells ALLIED SUPREMES and has a website...ken....
They order from AWC. They're having some trouble getting 14's, but they can get 15's in the same day. I just picked up a set about a month ago. I work 2 blocks fro SF Tire. Those guys are quick and cheap.
I think I have some slightly used American Racing Chrome Smoothies lined up...for a really decent price, considdering how much the locals want to orer them for me. On a "funny" side note...went lookin for chrome lug nuts (to dress up my freshly Krylon-black painted stock wheels)...it took me FOUR freakin auto stores to find them...and I STILL couldn't find chrome (or stainless) washers ffor them. geeeze. All the regular tire places were closed yesterday....but you'd really think you should be able to walk into "Advance-Auto-Pep-Mart" and pick up some 1/2 chrome lugs and washers without having to drive to several different stores. I coulda, however, got some metric, red or blue anadized ones. thanks for all the help...sorry to hi-jack this thread, too.
Actually simple chrome lug nuts are one of the hardest things to find here!?!?!?! . We ended up hitting a trailor shop.
I bought my 14 x 6 STD offset Supremes from Mooneyes. They are about 125 each. They are actually an ALLIED wheel tho, Moon is the dealer i bought them thru tho.
find some of the old cragars for 4 lug pattern. they pop up on the bay from time to time. you just gotta keep a steady check on it. like weekly. i had inquired with allied about 4 lug supremes and the response was there is just not enough demand to go through with the tooling and such. what are you guys wanting them for? the swap to 5 lug on falcons,fairlanes, comets, meteors, etc is reeeaaallllyyyy simple with readily available granada/mustang parts and you get much better brakes and such to boot. the wife is a huge early comet fan and we are both 62-63 fairlane fans. there is a wealth of info online about the swap. i think typically it can all be done for less than $500. as i said above anytime you can get better stopping power on a car i'm all for it. we have been working on a disc conversion for my buick for a while...ken....
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