New shoes for the 85

JimD

JimD

Waiting for Godot...
Moderator
I finally decided to make the leap to 15" wheels. I ordered a set of 15x6.5 in from Allisons about a month ago and then finally got some Federal 595s mounted on them this week.

Before with 13x6 ATS classics:

Jim_Decker_1985_X19.jpg



After with the Allison 15x6.5 Competizone Hyperblack:
20200722_163257.jpg


I am getting a little rubbing at full lock, but nothing major. Rides abut the same and the shop did a great job with the mount/balance. No shaky shake on the highway! 👍 The tire seems like it is just rubbing on the fender liner. I will have to mess with it some more later this week to see if I can find a tweak or maybe just pull the liner.
 
I'm sorry to disagree. I understand the lack of street tires in 13 inches. I'm glad you like your new shoes but, to my taste, the ATS were some of the best wheels available and also period correct. I like them better in silver, so when I'm going to buy them from you, I will paint them silver. :cool:
 
Disclaimer: this is a matter of individual taste and aesthetics, so there is no right or wrong answer and its not meant to disparage or disrespect anyone else's opinion.

Even though these are made to resemble the classic look of a MiniLite wheel, so are somewhat "tolerable" IMHO, my beef with putting modern wheels on classic cars is the damned things are just so freakin' skinny that they just don't look right.

The one constant of period correct wheels for the exxie is that there was a lot of meat on the bone---there was a lot of wheel material and not so much open space. OTOH, the look of most modern wheels is five skinny twigs in a star pattern.

My assumption is that modern materials, computerized design, and manufacturing techniques can achieve the required level of strength with much less material, so if there is no need for a lot of metal to support the load, why make the wheel any heavier than it has to be? I can see that of course, but then again since there is hardly any wheel to cover them up, now I can see all that ugly-ass braking equipment and suspension members.
 
Dewolf said:
Oohhhh.....I like it aaa lott!!!

Edit: what size are the front tires?
Click to expand...
The tires are 195/45/15 at all 4 corners. You could run slightly larger tires in the rear, but I like to keep all 4 tires the same size.
 
JimD said:
I finally decided to make the leap to 15" wheels. I ordered a set of 15x6.5 in from Allisons about a month ago and then finally got some Federal 595s mounted on them this week.

Before with 13x6 ATS classics:

View attachment 34606


After with the Allison 15x6.5 Competizone Hyperblack:
View attachment 34605

I am getting a little rubbing at full lock, but nothing major. Rides abut the same and the shop did a great job with the mount/balance. No shaky shake on the highway! 👍 The tire seems like it is just rubbing on the fender liner. I will have to mess with it some more later this week to see if I can find a tweak or maybe just pull the liner.
Click to expand...

Hi Jim,

the wheels look nice! But they would look nicer in 13" ;). But that is just my personal preference. I have some reservations about using big wheels on classic cars, although I appreciate the difficulty in getting decent 13" tyres in the US. In any case, I think that these kind of things are really just a matter of personal preference and the look that you are after for your particular car. I just got my CD39s painted in Poland (now I just need to get them sent to Germany):

f282a183-dd22-4540-a1dd-f8192b462f36.jpeg
 
JimD said:
The tire seems like it is just rubbing on the fender liner. I will have to mess with it some more later this week to see if I can find a tweak or maybe just pull the liner.
Click to expand...

Hey Jim. I have discovered recently that it is indeed quite easy to modify the fender liner. Just heat up ( it doesn't need much heat at all ) an area of it with a heat gun on low or medium setting, and re-shape it as needed. Remove the heat and hold it in the new desired shape for 15 seconds or so until it cools. It will then hold the new shape quite nicely with no ill effects. Just dont use too much heat or it turns to taffy. And do wear some gloves - I found cotton gardening gloves worked well.
 
rx1900 said:
I have discovered recently that it is indeed quite easy to modify the fender liner.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I am thinking I don't have the passenger side liner installed correctly. I had both liners out when I had the car painted, but I only get rubbing on one side. This was true with the ATS wheels as well until I removed the single OEM spacers up front. I am going to compare both sides and see if I put them in differently. If they are installed the same, I will definitely try heat molding the problematic side before I cut it. Of course, the liner side that is rubbing is already chewed up from the ATS rubbing previously.
 
JimD said:
You old guys are certainly stuck in your ways! :cool:
Click to expand...
Yup! And I'm proud of it.
I'm certain the average age of x19 owners is at least 50. Most are in their 60's. So I'm in good company.

BTW, I solved the fender liner problem. I was racing my x with 185/60 13 tires that are much larger than usual 185/60 13. So I removed the fender liners. They are decorating my basement for 20 years. Old guys tend to collect things instead of throwing them to the garbage. Ask me about my collection of old nails and old used x19 nuts and bolts. :eek: (Is that an emoji with a beard. I can't say, I'm too old...)
 
Nice Wheels Jim! Mine are scheduled for delivery tomorrow from Allison's. A different wheel but the same tire. How do you like the tires so far? I decided to buy the tires mounted and balanced on the wheels so when they arrive they are ready to go. I've had to wait a little while for Allison's to get the tires in, while I've been impatiently waiting I have been reading reviews and comments. Lots of different opinions out there about these tires, it seems like you either like them or you don't. I'm hoping that we're two of the people who love them.
 
HeavyD said:
Nice Wheels Jim! Mine are scheduled for delivery tomorrow from Allison's. A different wheel but the same tire. How do you like the tires so far? I decided to buy the tires mounted and balanced on the wheels so when they arrive they are ready to go. I've had to wait a little while for Allison's to get the tires in, while I've been impatiently waiting I have been reading reviews and comments. Lots of different opinions out there about these tires, it seems like you either like them or you don't. I'm hoping that we're two of the people who love them.
Click to expand...

I have only driven the car a little bit, but the Federals seem fine. I know the 13" tires were a source of trouble with many out of round tires. I figure the 15" tires are made from a different mold, so they hopefully have no out of round issue related to the 13s. I got the car up over 70mph on the highway and it the ride was fine. Smooth, no shaking or jittery behavior. In short, they seem like decent tires.

One thing to keep an eye on is supply. I don't know if it is a trend yet, but options in the 195/45/15 tire size are getting thinner over the last month. Tirerack doesn't even list this size currently, Hopefully it is just a supply chain issue. Lots of that going around right now.
 
JimD said:
You old guys are certainly stuck in your ways!
Click to expand...
No kidding.
I'm one of the older guys but completely disagree with the others. I prefer 15" wheels on vintage cars like our X's. In certain cases (non Fiat) even 16" works best. And not just because of the limited choices in 13" tires. Mainly I prefer the look of a larger wheel. Mind you I'm not talking about making it a donk*, but more about a wheel/tire combination that fills the fender wells properly. And that doesn't necessarily mean skinny tires (I assume "low profile" is what was ment). I like a decent aspect ratio with some sidewall. Especially on the X where the final drive ratio is too low for today's driving conditions, and a larger circumference helps.

*Donk:
46a25988f3ca5f82e3b35e0dd1f368a7.jpg


*And if that donk doesn't disturb you enough, how about a silly looking X with 22" wheels:
22inch wheels - Copy.jpg
 
Follow up on the rubbing. I used a combo of tapping in the fender lip and the heat gun technique recommended by rx1900. That seems to have cleared up the issue, but I will listen for any recurrence.

Next task is to remove the long studs I have on the hubs and get shorter versions or just revert to lug bolts. Either way, I need to switch to fasteners with 17mm heads, my 19mm socket barely squeezes into the recess for the lugs. I probably should order some fancy soft sided wheel sockets too.
 
I'm planning to get some 12" steelies off a Fiat 600 banded out to 7" wide to get a different look because I'm growing tired of the usual wheels we put on our Xs. I'm surprised Todd has not commented as I think those are the same wheels he has on his X.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top