Technical Documentation wanted on U.S.Mags Indy in 8.5x15 from 1966-1975

Hi all,

First, thanks much for hosting such a great forum! I own a 1966 Oldsmobile Starfire and am normally active on classic Oldsmobile.com. Over there, a user recommended me to share my topic here. Might be someone of you guys can help me with my case:

I bought a set of old U.S.Mags Indy in 8.5x15 (5x5 bolt pattern) and put them in my car, a 1966 Olds Starfire (see pic below). Tires are 235/60R15.

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Since I live in Germany, I need spec or advertising documents from between 1966 to 1975 in order to get them legalized for my car. I already searched the web but did not find anything. Also asked already U.S.Mags customer support but they cannot help (seems a bit they only want to sell new rims).

I already bought a catalog on eBay where I attach some pics for reference (Ansen 1971). Unfortunately it does not fit for me since my wheels are from U.S.Mags. but this kind of documentation is what I am looking for. There is even an application list where my car is considered (rim shown in 8.5x15 on page 7, application list on pages 16/17 shows the Oldsmobile models).







So my question: Does anyone of you maybe have an old brochure from that time slot (preferably as close to 1966 as possible), which might give some details on max. Load or even better on usage for my car (or similar as gm b-body full size, as in the Ansen catalog).

I would totally appreciate any feedback, help or hint you could give me!

With best regards from Germany, Steffen

P.s. In case I started this thread in the wrong forum area, I apologize. Feel free to move it to the right place.

 

Look up Vintagewheelcatalogs.com

 

@Moriarity

 

I understand that the laws you have to deal with are all about proving fitness and the burden of proof is on the person.
Typical wheel page discussing this.
https://www.elementwheels.com/blog/wheel-ratings-explained-sae-jwl-via
The quote Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) rules.
https://www.sae.org/standards/content/j2530_202109/
which goes back to 2004, much too new for your needs.
It also mentions a Wheels Standards committee.
https://standardsworks.sae.org/standards-committees/wheel-standards-committee

The wheel catalog site should still be a valuable resource for this. Look at all early catalogs and see if they mention standards or testing.

All of this was not nearly as standardized back in the 1960s. I would hope that a nice letter to the SAE might provide some information, but who knows if it will satisfy a current government watchdog. Perhaps there is a club or group in Germany that has had previous experience meeting these requirements that could help you.
This is one of those things that is annoying. A governing body requires proof. It's almost certain that a previous individual has done the work and proven their case. It should at that point become institutional knowledge and be shared or used with any new applications, but it is not. Each person has to do the research again, using valuable resources to provide the same or similar information to an entity that already has it.

 

Hi @Black Panther, thanks much for your hint! I got in touch with Mike, he runs the website. Unfortunately he only has the screenshots shown on the website, not the full catalogs I would need. But in order to support his great site, I sent him my copy of the Ansen 1971 catalog with all 104 pages.

Hi @RodStRace, thanks much for your tips, I'll check them also. Fully agree with your comment on annoying behavior of governing bodies making things ultimately complicated for their people. However, I'll keep searching.

One hint from my side which might be helpful for others in this forum: Over in my other thread at classicoldsmobile.com, a member posted a hint which I will also check: