Decided I was going to give my cherry 2000 Z24 wheels a rest in the winter and found myself a serviceable (and I mean by serviceable, not bent, not cracked, and not gouged-up) wheels from a Beretta GT. They are 16s like the Z24 wheels, except they are at least an inch wider. The 205 55-16 tires fit tightly, especially the rear of the front tires at tight turns, but I drove it hard ( even with the bulky General snow tires on front), no scraping at all. Fill up the wheel wells nicely too!
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~ Mike ~
They look nice and glad to see the bow-tie making a comeback if only for the winter.
I like the way they look on the car too !
~ Mike ~
Do those center caps bolt / stay on with the lug nuts?
I was thinking on getting a set of them latter down the road to fit on my 14" steel wheels if they would even fit in the bolt circle........................
Doug in P.R.
92 Pontiac Sunbird LE, 2.0, AT, Red / Black with Grey 155K miles. Hurricane Maria Survivor ! ( It takes a licking and keeps on ticking ! ).....in Salinas, Puerto Rico!
Mike--
when you say rubbing on tight turns at the rear of the front wheels, do you mean on high speed tight turns, or like in city driving where you might be parking on the street and have the wheel turned to lock? How wide are the rims?
I was thinking of 205/55-16, but I was concerned about rubbing on that little "ear" that sticks out from the strut, but I guess from what you've said that's not an issue.
I know a 205/55-16 is 0.8 inches taller, so the odometer/speedometer will read a little low, but I like this size to fill out the wheel wells. I'm also considering a 205/50-16 as that will be the same height as my factory tires.
92Sunbird PuertoRico wrote:Do those center caps bolt / stay on with the lug nuts?
I was thinking on getting a set of them latter down the road to fit on my 14" steel wheels if they would even fit in the bolt circle........................
Doug in P.R.
Those caps are held ion two ways:
1) There is a spring steel wire that hold them to the wheel like a lot of new plastic hubcaps are held on most modern day cars.
2) They are also held on by my black plastic GM lugnut covers.
~ Mike ~
Wayne Schiff wrote:Mike--
when you say rubbing on tight turns at the rear of the front wheels, do you mean on high speed tight turns, or like in city driving where you might be parking on the street and have the wheel turned to lock? How wide are the rims?
I was thinking of 205/55-16, but I was concerned about rubbing on that little "ear" that sticks out from the strut, but I guess from what you've said that's not an issue.
I know a 205/55-16 is 0.8 inches taller, so the odometer/speedometer will read a little low, but I like this size to fill out the wheel wells. I'm also considering a 205/50-16 as that will be the same height as my factory tires.
Wayne,
They scrape barely on lock to lock turns and very slightly on hard, high speed turns. Nothing that would cut a tire and only because they are snow tires. Regular summer tires wouldn't scrape as they are not as wide as snow tires where they contact the road.
The strut ear gets nowhere near the tire. The only difference between the 205-55-16 tire and the factory 13s that came on my car is that they are slightly wider.
I've run that size on summer treads for three years with absolutely no clearance issues.
~ Mike ~
Wayne Schiff wrote:Mike--
How wide are the rims?
I'm not sure, but I know they are wider than the 2000 Z-24 rims I ran on the car for the last couple of years.
Probably at least an inch wider. The tires are the same size, but definitely fill the wheel wells more.
I'll check on them and get back here to report it.
~ Mike ~
The Beretta rims are 16 x 7 inches wide, 1 inch wider than most 14, 15 & 16inch j-body wheel option.
Yup, Spike is right - 16 x 7.
Oh, and as a clarification, the tires on these wider winter wheels never rubbed on anything....ever.
The snow tires on my 16 x 6 2000 Z24 rims did rub initially and my theory is because the rim is narrower, the tire should have a slightly higher sidewall orientation even though the tire is the same size on both width wheels. AND, they only scraped for a short period of time and only upon HARD CORNERING. It didn't take too long to wear off the small portion of the outside of the tread that was hitting the rear center/ inside corner of the wheel well.
~ Mike ~
~ Mike ~ wrote:
I like the way they look on the car too !
That looks really good.
~ Mike ~ wrote:Yup, Spike is right - 16 x 7.
Oh, and as a clarification, the tires on these wider winter wheels never rubbed on anything....ever.
The snow tires on my 16 x 6 2000 Z24 rims did rub initially and my theory is because the rim is narrower, the tire should have a slightly higher sidewall orientation even though the tire is the same size on both width wheels. AND, they only scraped for a short period of time and only upon HARD CORNERING. It didn't take too long to wear off the small portion of the outside of the tread that was hitting the rear center/ inside corner of the wheel well.
Was it the exact same tire, or just the same size but different brand?
Look good!!!!!
http://www.autorentalandsales.com/images/2004Cavalier005.JPG
96S1 wrote:
Was it the exact same tire, or just the same size but different brand?
It's the same size but it *is* a different brand. It's hard to tell if one brand is different dimensionally even if they are the same size.
I think the hub width of the wheel and the offset may have made a little bit of difference too.
I really wish these wheels were in better cosmetic shape, because if they were, they'd be the new summer wheels for my wagon !
~ Mike ~
~ Mike ~ wrote:96S1 wrote:
Was it the exact same tire, or just the same size but different brand?
It's the same size but it *is* a different brand. It's hard to tell if one brand is different dimensionally even if they are the same size.
I think the hub width of the wheel and the offset may have made a little bit of difference too.
I really wish these wheels were in better cosmetic shape, because if they were, they'd be the new summer wheels for my wagon !
Some are slightly different depending on brand even in the same size. But it also does make sense that the wider wheel would essentially "stiffen up" the same size tire, simply because there is more wheel metal there and less room for the tire sidewall to flex.
Yep I think I like them better also . . . what's wrong with them . . 20 footers?! They look fine in the pics.
Yeah, unfortunately, they are only 20 footers. The outside edge of the rims have the clear coat gone - and I can't believe how thick that stuff is !
They are straight, but they really aren't worth redoing. It took me about an hour with a 3M pad and a bottle of wheel cleaner to get all of the brake dust off of them !! I can have them sand blasted and powder-coated, but I don't think they'd look good in all one color. I'm going to DA them in the spring and throw some clear on them so they don't oxidize any further,, but sadly, they are only nice enough to keep them as winter wheels...
I am going to keep an eye out for another set (these are Beretta Z-26 wheels) or look for a set of Beretta GTZ wheels..
The width and offset are perfect for this car !
~ Mike ~
I also have found a set of Audi TT "Fat-fives":
I know that they are 5x100 bolt patterned, have a 35MM offset and are 17x7.5.
The only real issue I have is if that extra 1/2 inch of width may be too wide to fit in my wheel wells.
I may have to bolt one up and drive it to see if it'll work...
I have always liked the look of those wheels and would be super stoked if they fit my wagon ..!
Soooooo many wheels I want.....so little time and $$$ I have.... lol !
~ Mike ~
Mike I need to update you on your rear sway bar and parts.As I said I have the bar but,I am short a few brackets and some plastic cradles for mount up.I checked my stash and only need 3 pieces plus I want to get the correct hardware as I had none of the bolts and nuts.I can find these easy as really any 1-2nd gen rear sway use the same items.I was going to box it up today,but minus everything I am waiting till I go junkyarding again to get the final items.I will keep you posted once I get things ready.It has just been stupid cold the last couple days and too wet to even consider going outdoors even at my CLEAN junkyard for my hands or me.
Ron Love wrote:Mike I need to update you on your rear sway bar and parts.As I said I have the bar but,I am short a few brackets and some plastic cradles for mount up.I checked my stash and only need 3 pieces plus I want to get the correct hardware as I had none of the bolts and nuts.I can find these easy as really any 1-2nd gen rear sway use the same items.I was going to box it up today,but minus everything I am waiting till I go junkyarding again to get the final items.I will keep you posted once I get things ready.It has just been stupid cold the last couple days and too wet to even consider going outdoors even at my CLEAN junkyard for my hands or me.
Ron,
Just wait until you have it complete, so that I don't have to search around up here for the mounting parts. There are few junkyards up north where they have cars around of this vintage ~ mainly because of the rust factor.
I'm in no hurry, because it is -6 degrees this morning, my motorcycle and Bug project have my garage stuffed full, so I'm not going to mount it until spring, anyway. When you have it complete, let me know. Thanks !
~ Mike ~
I dig the Beretta rims. Was thinking of a set of mesh ones for my 84 at one point...
Ok mike I will hold tight as I know this coming week I have several things to get done myself due to the weather here temp wise.It did not go above 30 today so no car washing even quick and in the shop dry off.As for the hardware I need that is cake to find here as said any 2gen has the same components.
Browsing Craigs List last week and found these for $70. Probably put them on the brown vert someday.
After cleaning them.
WOW, Those are pretty nice !
You can lightly scuff the curb rashed edges, mask the centers off and shot a little UV rated clear on them so they stay as nice as they are now even longer.
I'd LOVE to find a set of those as nice as those ones are..... SOOOOOOO JEALOUS!!! >:o
~ Mike ~
John is having himself a Great year!!
Scored the Z-Vert and now a killer set of wheels!!
Hope you keep it on a roll John - So VERY Happy for you!!
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