help finding 4.5 inch wheels

I like the look of skinny tires on some of the rat/hot rods I've seen and want to run the skinny whitewalls on the 49 f1 I'm working on and was wondering if anyone knew of a vehicle that would have a 4.5 or 5.5 inch wheel in the 5x4.75 Chevy pattern? I plan to use the speedway front disc kit and a s-10 rear end. And any advice on tire sizes would be great also. I have thought about using the 165's off my 72 beetle along with a set of 2.5 inch porta whites i have since coker tires are out of the budget.

I got the wheels I used for my mock-up off of a mini van. They were 5 bolt by 4 1/2" chev bolt pattern to fit my early chev spindles I also got from Speedway. Are you sure yours are gonna be 4.75? I found the 4.5's are very common in the scrapyard.

Sean

If you don't mind spending a few bucks you can get new 15" by 5" wide in a dual bolt pattern (4 1/2" & 4 3/4") from Rally America (Gary McLean & son). Or Wheel Vintiques, through Coker Tire.

Old Skinnies/new skinnies

A heads up on early wheels - some early wheels (14" GM for example) will not clear disc brake calipers - the center (or spider) is not made to do so. So those studebaker wheels may or may not work, if you were able to score some. Of course, companies like Stockton wheel can make whatever you want, but what is the fun of that?

I know they are ugly, but space saver wheels are skinny; you just can't use the tires that came on them. If you were going to run full wheel covers, as long as they fit, it shouldn't matter. Just some thoughts.

Good luck - finding the parts is half the fun!

440shorty

Are you looking for a steel rim?

I would think that a factory S-10 steel rim would have that width on an 80's model that would clear disc brakes for sure. You could grab a couple of those for $5 a piece at a junk yard.

good luck on your search, if needed i do have some new porta whites for 14 inch tires.

thanks for the advice guys. as far as s-10 rims, they are all 6 or7 inch wide. I have 7 s-10's so I'm kinda familiar with them....lol. I'm looking into finding a local company that can weld a chevy center into a 4.5 or 5.5 inch VW wheel.

'49-'54 Chevrolet passenger car wheels are 5" wide and 5x4.75" bolt circle. Exactly what you need, have a cool look to them, and are pretty easy to find. There you go...

Blue Eyed Devil said:

'49-'54 Chevrolet passenger car wheels are 5" wide and 5x4.75" bolt circle. Exactly what you need, have a cool look to them, and are pretty easy to find. There you go...

Click to expand...

exactly the information i was looking for, the search is on for a set of them. Thanks again

well I found a better deal on some wheels that i can't pass up. after talking one of the older guys at work that i knew owned a model a and a few other rods about wheels he said he has a stack of ford wire wheels from 16 to 18 inch for 20 bucks each. I'm going to get 4 of the 16 inch wheels but now i need advice on tires. all the fancy coker tires are pretty far out o f budget right now so I'm looking for 16 inch tires that will look good on the narrower wheels.

ratterman said:

thanks for the advice guys. as far as s-10 rims, they are all 6 or7 inch wide. I have 7 s-10's so I'm kinda familiar with them....lol. I'm looking into finding a local company that can weld a chevy center into a 4.5 or 5.5 inch VW wheel.

Click to expand...

I am looking to do the same thing only for the Ford car pattern. I have a pair of VW wheels and 5.50 tires I got on an auction. It looks like the center of the VW hoop is bigger than the American size, as in less drop. I haven't actually measured it yet though. I am thinking I might contact one of the wheel companies and see If I can just buy the hoops. One thing I haven't found yet is the 15 inch Ford pattern wheels with the hubcap bumps. Actually I guess I did find some Mopar ones but they use the mopar only smaller hubcaps. I have some old early 50s Ford script centercaps I want to use.

If you need a narrow wheel with the Ford 4.5" pattern you can use early 60's Rambler wheels. They are 15x5 with the 4.5" bolt circle and they will accept most external-bump dog dish type caps...