I am planning on buying a set of aftermarket wheels for my 88 GT.

A set of TSW EDGE 16x7.0 5/100 ET35mm from www.cheapwheels.com , I really like the look and the price is right.

But tonight, talking to my roommates, who are both mechanics, and help me do alot of the work on my car, we got into a discussion that these wheels will wearout my wheel bearings much faster than the stock wheels. And if I want to start doing SCCA races after my suspension is rebuilt, it will wear them out even faster.

After looking at other wheels, seems they are all this way.

So, does this make sense? It seems to me that if the wheel has the same offset, wouldn't any added stress be on the wheel instead of the bearing?

With 88 wheel bearings being so hard to get ahold of, and exspensive, I don't wanna blow out my bearings and then be stuck with a car that is great but won't move.

just looking for other opinions, have anyone else ran into this problem? or have blown out their wheel bearings cause of aftermarket wheels?

thanks ahead of time.

Swany

I'd love to hear their reasoning for the faster wear. Is it width or offset concerns?

With huge differences from stock width & offset, there can be problems-the wheels you're considering --shouldn't-- pose a problem.

My .02 is that there should be no appreciable wear difference. Your biggest factors would be bearing/race condition, proper adjustment & maintenance and driving conditions.

Bench maintenance is almost as much fun as bench racing! Good company, good exchange of ideas (but the work keeps piling up)...

Man I was looking at those wheels today to!!! I really want them as well! From what I've been told is that from the reduced wheight it will have minor but some reduction on bearing wear.

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Been there, done that. I bought 16x7 40mm offset ADR wheels. I asked the guys at the tire store what wheels would fit my 88 instead of doing my own research. I had 225/50-16 front and back and they stuck out too far. Painful kickback on even small bumps. Parking was a chore due to increased steering effort. Didn't take long to eat a wheel bearing. And ball joints...

Since I was stuck with the wheels I improved the situation a bit by going to a 205 wide tire up front. I might have a machine shop shave a little off the brake rotor hat and a little off the backside of the wheel to get them closer to where they need to be.

I have no idea what offset on a 7" wide wheel needs to be but be careful. You might try to find a set of wheels with that spec and test run them.

I'd have to agree with "Monster". Unless the offset and/or width is insainly greater than the stocksize I wouldn't worry too much.

However, your mechanic buddies are technically correct. Any increase in offset, or width will put more forces into the suspension components. Also, just putting on lower profile tires will increase the forces the suspension components see. But like Monster said, the differences from stock would have to be pretty extreme to start destroying wheel bearings on an anual basis.

Well, I have those same wheels. They are the same width as stock GT wheels, and the offset is identical to stock(for 84-87's only).

Only problem I'm worried about is the fact that the spokes stick out farther than the rubber. So curbs beware. And you might have to search for a tire shop that will put them on for you. Many won't touch rims with spokes sticking out so far.

Oh yeah, make sure you get the accessory kit for the wheels to. It's a $40 extra, but includes lug nuts, wrench, center caps, and hub adapter so it will fit the Fiero.

[This message has been edited by hallsman (edited 04-16-2003).]

So you have an 88?

Those wheels are not a direct match for the front end. The 88 Front stock (GT/Formula) is a 15X6 wheel, 37MM offset. When going to a 7 inch wide wheel, the correct offset to keep the wheel rim at the same position relative to the fender is around 49-50MM. At 35MM, that wheel is going to stick about 15MM too far outside your fender. I would not put such a small offset on the front of an 88.

Are they also available in 45MM? Many of the TSW wheels are available in both 35 and 45, and the 45's would leave you close to the stock position.

As far as bearings go, I really do not have an idea how much extra stress they really would add to them. However, I have also not seen people complaining of premature bearing failure here due to their aftermarket wheels.

First, Fformula88 was spot on with the sizes. When going to a wider width wheel you need more offset to get the tire back under the fender. Many members are going with a 40mm offset and seem to be happy with it, but that would be the minimum IMHO. I run a 50mm offset, and it still appears to barely stick out.

Your 35mm may work if you try to get skinnier tires on the rim, maybe a 195 or 185 with a low profile....

Second, the increased forces from after market wheels are miniscule compared to the forces of bigger brakes, stickier tires and huge motor swaps. We do those all the time and haven't seen any bearing catastrophes, so you will be fine getting aftermarket wheels.

wow, thanks for all the information.

I agree, these wheels aren't the best idea for my 88.

I would have posted sooner, but I can't get to the site from work ATM, with the war on, they blocked international sites.

but during the day I did some research, looks to be if I want to keep the rims the same width, 6 inch in the front, 7 in the rear, with the same offset, 37 front, 41 rear.. I'm going to need to go with a 3 piece modular wheel.

more expensive, looks like I may not buy my new wheels right away afterall. I hope to have my koni's and suspension rebuilt by the end of May, and the new wheels were part of that plan, but now looks to be the next big thing after the suspension.

what do you think of these? really similar to the GT diamond spoke wheels. I think a set of these in 16" or 17" would look really sweet on my black wingless 88GT.

Don't you love making plans, and watching them come together, fall apart and come back together again.. just another month down the road. :-)

thx again for your help, let ya know how it all turns out as I go.

BTW going to have some new pics of her soon, recently added competion short shifter, and other goodies from Rodney, and have new quarter windows coming soon from Doug. :-)

Why limit yourself to the stock width? You can go to at least 8.5" wide in the rear, and almost that much in the front.

Those are compomotive CXN's right? Have you been quoted a price for those? Don't set your sights on them until you have. You might be surprised. I think you should do the research to find out how wide you can go before you spend that much money on wheels.

Unless the offset is way off stock Id have no worries at all. My rears on the Ferraro are offset 4 inches out from stock. Ive put 100K without a peep from wheel bearings. Ive seen Lambo guys with even more offset. Anything that fits in the Fiero wheelwell is fine.

No, haven't gotten my quote back yet.. but I'm sure they aren't cheap.. just thought they would be pretty cool, not something you see everyday on the Fiero. And if saving up some cash to get something I really want, I don't mind doing it.

and yes lots of research left to do, but at least I'll have time since I won't be surprised if in the end I spend 4-5 times as much as all 4 of those tsw's from cheepwheels were going to cost.

thats ok, its half the fun. deciding how you're going to make your car unique.

8.5" on the rear huh.. sounds interesting

I'm still making progress, poly gets ordered tomorrow, Koni's next weekend. it will get finished. At least thats what I keep telling myself

thanks again, I'm sure more advice will be needed later :-)

quote Originally posted by Swany: what do you think of these? really similar to the GT diamond spoke wheels. I think a set of these in 16" or 17" would look really sweet on my black wingless 88GT.

What brand are those? They look the same as Prime Model 250 - Discontinued now
I have Prime Model 260 wheels, very similar. Pics from link in sig.
http://www.primewheel.com/Primecatalog/pdetail.asp?model=250

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fierosound - 1987 GT - World of Wheels Winner
& Multiple IASCA Stereo Award Winner (click me)