16 or 17 inch rims for 1984 Caprice?

(Not a Wagon but relevant)

I'm thinking of buying tires for my Caprice Sedan and going up a rim size or two. The thing is, I'm after wheels that I can stick hubcaps on and a lot of the rims I've looked at online so far (although they will fit) don't appear to work with hubcaps, being aluminum wheels. Where can I get five 17" rims for the car? I've asked and people suggested to me that I may find them in a junkyard.

 

Man, I had a nice response all typed out for you your wagon, then I go and re-read your post. Duh!. You're asking about wheels for your sedan.

5 X 4.75" bolt pattern. Same as a lot of Chevys - mid-size Chevelles, maybe even some Camaros I believe. Should be a lot of choices in that size. If you're looking for a Chevy Rally Wheel, you can get a 17" size via the aftermarket (and some $$), but I'm not sure on 16".

Personally, I would go with a 16" wheel. Keeps it looking period-correct.

 

I still love the look of GM Rally Wheels on boxies. This was my '86 Cappy! Miss it!

 

If you want a wheel that hub caps will work on, your going to have to stick to a 15" steel wheel. Mikes old ride, those rims will take a full size hub cap but they won't take a dog dish style. You go bigger than 15", you won't have the hub cap option..... well you mite, but what would/could be available hub cap wise would be......mg:

 

So the Sedans are a little different? Thanks. I imagine I can go into a lot of junk-yards and get that type of wheel.

Looks nice. What dash cluster is on that? Is there a vacuum gauge?

Huh. What are you saying on the hubcap front on wheels larger than 15"? I'm after a moon-eye hubcap or something else smooth, For aerodynamics. (Being the hypermiler guy that I am.)

Here's a photo of the car in topic (not photographed this month but in the few months prior to posting this) for the thread:

 

Yeah. The bolt pattern on the box wagons is 5 x 5"
Note: Apparently some early sedans and coupes on this GM platform ('77-'79) that had larger engines in them (like the 403 Olds) also had the 5 x 5" bolt pattern instead of the 5 x 4.75". Also, I believe all the Cadillacs had the 5 x 5" as well. Note here I'm only talking about the GM full-sized vehicles from '77 to '90 in this discussion.

 

For a pop-on hubcap, you can get up to 16 inch stainless moons, but they are only for steel wheels. Aluminum wheels do not have any pop-on hubcaps available. Once you get to 17 inch, the only hubcaps are screw-ons, or Duzs fasteners. They can be used on steel or aluminum wheels. There is a seller http://hubcapmike.com/rdc02-17.html who has screw on 17s for a reasonable price, and you have MOON. MOON has anything you want in a screw on, or Duzs fastener style, but they are 2-3 times the price of others.

You can get 17 inch steels from Summit or JEGS in almost any bolt pattern, but that is about as big as steel wheels get.

 

Like Tedy said, if you're looking for a full cover hubcap, then 15" is the largest you can go. Anything over 15", you're looking at baby moons, like Fred mentioned. I can't think of any 16" OEM steel wheel that you'd be able to find in a junk yard.

Here's a link to some 17" steel wheels that should work on your car, assuming 5x4.75 is the correct lug pattern.

http://www.jegs.com/p/Wheel-Vintiques/Wheel-Vintiques-66-Series-Chevy-Rallye-Wheel/1660863/10002/-1

And here are some 16" and 17" rallye wheels.

http://www.jegs.com/p/Wheel-Vintiques/Wheel-Vintiques-68-Series-Rallye-Wheels/902550/10002/-1

And another variation of 17".

http://www.jegs.com/p/Wheel-Vintiques/Wheel-Vintiques-62-Series-Smoothie-Wheels/1395287/10002/-1

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wheel-Vinti...ls&hash=item4d1ffc615c&vxp=mtr#ht_1618wt_1123

 

You can get pop-on full moon hubcaps for 16 inch steel wheels from the vendor I noted, and MOON may have them as well (but at a premium).

 

Ah. Gotcha. Thanks for setting me straight.

 

If aerodynamics are the goal, you want the 15 inch steel rim, with the 82-85 Delta 88 wheel cover on them. They are very smooth and flat for aerodynamics. Thing is, if it is mileage you are after, you are much better going with a good design of allow that is considerably lighter. Also, the allow will keep your brakes much cooler in severe service, which helps as well.

 

Correction. ALL 1977-1990 B-body cars came with 11" front rotors, 9.5" rear drums, and the 5 x 4.75" bolt circle EXCEPT cars with police package, taxi package, or HD suspension and brakes. In these cases, the cars came with the same 12" rotors, 11" drums, and 5 x 5" bolt circle as the wagons used. You will note that the donut spare tire on these cars has both bolt patterns.

Also note that the C-body and D-body cars (Olds 98, Buick Electra, and Caddy Fleetwood) all came with the large brakes and bolt pattern.

 

Thanks for that correction, Joe. Things are really complicated on this B-body wheel issue. This will help in my JY wanderings.

 

Well this forum is full of helpful people, Thanks. There's a lot more information here than I expected to show up at first. I'm thinking of possibly getting these P215/70R15s, Do they fit? I know that P225/70R15s will fit so I imagine these will too:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...tireModel=Assurance+Fuel+Max&partnum=17TR5AFM

Considering the current tires say "35 PSI Max" on them and these say "51 PSI Max" and are LRR tires, That's a considerable difference. I know the car itself says "35 Max" on the door but I'm willing to go a bit higher than that with new tires. I can order the tires now if I decide to.

Hm... $435 for five of these since the spare is to be replaced too.

?

Is this the type of hubcap you're talking about, Mike?

 

Those tires will fit, but they are a bit smaller in diameter, so it's going to make your speedometer a bit optimistic. P225/75R15 (standard size) diameter is 28.29", while the P225/70R15 diameter is 27.40. The result of this is that your wagon is not going to go quite as far on the same engine revolutions. Here's a tire calculator where you can punch in sizes to get a comparison. The 'Revolutions per Mile' listing is particularly telling.

http://tire-size-conversion.com/tire-size-calculator/