I found some awesome wheels on Ebay that I really really want to put on my 85GT. They are 5x120 but my stock wheels are 5x100. I found this website that makes wheel adapters here: http://www.adaptitusa.com/i...=VIEWCATS&Category=5
How safe are these to use on a car thats driven daily? Does anyone have any experience using wheel adapters?

I had a 66 Baja that used Chevy adapters and never had a problem with them but was told by several people that using adapters wasnt the safest idea. They have been known to break and you can loose a wheel, hence the ( not safe ) aspect of them. 4 wheels are better than 3.

I have had adaptors on all four of my 71 Duster 340 wheels (4" to 4.5" wheel pattern) for years and never had a problems.
If can affect your alignment over time but never had a failure just had to replace bushing sooner than I probably would have.

Made mine of solid billet steel on an index mill table.

[This message has been edited by Dodgerunner (edited 01-21-2007).]

I have them on the rear of my IMSA. The lug nuts worked loose and one stud snapped. I'm checking the lug nut tightness now when I take that car out. I'm looking for deep dish mag wheels to eliminate the need of the spacers. I never had any problems with lugs on any other of my cars.

these are lug centric and all of our fiero's are hub centric. You might have a vibration or balancing problem. I had 4 custom 15mm spacers made and they had cut internals on the inside and a 52.1 external hub on which to balance the wheel on. Too date I have had no problems with the hub centric spacers.

An old timer once told me years ago:
Deals are like streetcars.....if you miss one, there's another coming right behind to get! When we were younger, didn't that apply to women too?
He bought and sold used gravel pit equipment for a living, so I guess he knew that it was true.
The Moral of the story: Pass on the wheel deal, find the "right ones", and forget about those pesky spacers.
That being said, I had a set on my Manx VW dunebuggy years ago and had no problems......
Dave.

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Daviero - 88 N* GT

There are some cheaply made adapters that give them all a bad name, and there are some people who bad-mouth all wheel adapters based on stories of ones that broke.
If they're made well, no worries. I got a set from here: http://www.wheeladapter.com/
They are machined from solid billets of T6061 alloy aluminum, and are probably stronger than most aftermarket wheels that get bolted to them. They can be had hub centric or lug centric (lug centric is cheaper). There are several other quality manufacturers too, just be suspicious of cheap ones. Quality ones are safe, or else Willi Koenig wouldn't be using them on the wild twin turbo Ferrari specials he sells-- http://www.koenig-specials....i/ferrari-f355.html#

I never have used them and always heard they put extra stress on wheel bearings by moving the wheel outboard further than the hub/suspension was designed for but have never met anyone who had an actual horror story to tell about using them. Probably like anything else, there are good quality ones out there and there are bad ones out there and if your wheel bearings or suspension components are at all questionable the added stress may be an issue.

Quick illustration of the stress, take a pencil and hold it by the eraser end, pushing close to the eraser up or down it's hard to break the pencil but the further away from the eraser the easier it is to bend and then finally break the pencil, sounds like a stupid comparison but that is the problem as it was explained to me back in the late 70's.

[This message has been edited by DRA (edited 01-21-2007).]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I dont think I am going to use the wheel spacers as my suspension is all original and hasnt been replaced since the car was made in 1985. I will just have to find another set of wheels with the right bolt pattern.

Smart thinking. I agree that there may be good quality ones somewhere. But they will be more expensive than good wheels. Ive personally known people that used them and lost wheels. One guy in our club totalled his Corvette when one broke on a high speed curve on a two lane with 8 foot ditches. I had some on one car and when I needed to take the wheels off to do a brake job, all the studs on two of them spun inside the adapters so I couldnt get the wheels off. I ended up trashing both wheels taking them off with a cutting torch. Theres a reason they all say ' For Off-Road Use '. I dont think any of them are DOT certified, so you may not even pass a safety inspection with them if your state has them.

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 01-22-2007).]

I think its how much load you put them under. Its one extra set of bolts that can fail.

I had them on my 68 roadrunner ( had vette rally wheels on it, just to make people look and point ) and never had a problem. I wasnt exactaly 'easy' on them either. in my case it also helped prevent idiot tire guys from breaking the OEM studs, as remember back in the 60's chrysler used reverse threads on one side of the car. The plates didnt.

Miss that car..

[This message has been edited by User00013170 (edited 01-22-2007).]