Ok, I'm kinda ticked!!

I'm not really happy with the wheels and tires on my '87 Caprice wagon. The original owner put 235/75s (raised letter) on it and it has the stock wheels and wire hubcaps. I have a good set of narrow white wall 205/70s mounted on chrome wheels that a buddy had on a '60 Chevy. I'm thinking these would look cool and drop the car down an inch or two.

Lets back up just a little. I had to take the car to a service garage to get the driver's side locking bolts removed that hold the hubcaps on. So once this was done I thought today would be a good day to make the switch.
Long story short, they didn't fit. What the....?
I checked online and it said the Caprice should be the same as Camaro and such. I was really confused. Even my set of Chevy mags (Camaro/Monte Carlo) wouldn't fit. I checked online again tonight. It appears that the wagon had a wider bolt pattern.

This really sucks! I don't have the cash for new wheels and now to try and find a set of used wheels won't be easy 'cause of the larger bolt pattern.

Any suggestions? What other car/truck shares this bolt pattern?

 

Caprice has the same bolt pattern as a chevy truck 5X5 in pattern.

 

1977-1990 Caprice SEDANS have the same 5 x 4.75" bolt circle as the Camaro/Chevelle. Caprice WAGONS (and sedans with the HD brakes such as taxi/police packages) came with the 5 x 5" bolt circle.

Consider yourself lucky. Those 205/70-15s are probably too small and have too low a load carrying capacity for your wagon anyway. Stock tire size was 225/75-15, which has a load capacity of about 1875 lbs per tire (7500 lbs for the vehicle). The 205/70-15s only have a load capacity of 1500 lbs per tire (6000 lbs for the vehicle). Considering that your wagon probably weighs about 4500 lbs empty, the smaller tire doesn't leave much room for cargo. With six adults (the average American is probably well over 200 lbs these days) and no luggage, you've already overloaded the tires. Add a trailer or a hot day and you're asking for trouble. You may think that you'll never load the car that much, but downgrading the tire capacity is a BAAAAD idea and will leave you open to liability in the event of an accident.

 

Big Buicks, Oldsmobiles and Caddilac used 5 x 5" patterns.
Lots of choices there and easy to come by. 5 Spoke Buick chrome Riviera wheels would look nice.
this might help; http://www.vehicle-bolt-pattern.com/

 

Thanks for all the info.
I realize that the 205s would have been too "light weight" for the car, I just wanted to see what the lower profile would have looked like.
Yes, the original size would have been 225s, I just want something with a lower profile, I may have go in to a 60s series.
I would love Rivi wheels, they look great and would look "right" on the car.

 

That’s what I run on my Buick

stock is 225/75, ran 205/70s all around for a while but I like to BAJA and every so often would slam the engine cradle into the pavement on a good jump.


Almost went back to 225s all around, just bought 2 for a test, but had them on the rear at first to test out the speed changes first, slower off the line but more pick-up over 100, which I don't go over 50-60 in most of my driving so...........

I put the two 225s on the front for more ground clearance up front but kept the 205s out back for better take off. [as it effectively changes your rear-end ratio] And it only throws the speedo off 5MPH so at 60 your doing 55, which I like as you soon forget and driving 7-10 over the limit keeps you in the zone with out question. And when your racing, your looking at the road, not the speedo.

see link in sig for stance pics of the different tires.

Here is a good tool to check out tire size changes and how they compare.

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalcold.html

 

The stock 225/75-15s are about 28.25" in diameter. I'm running 235/70-15 BFGs on my Custom Cruiser. These are just under 28" in diameter. I personally don't like the look of tires that are substantially smaller than stock diameter, even if the car has been lowered. To stay near the original diameter and go lower profile you need to go to larger wheels. A 235/60-17 is just over 28" in diameter, for example.

By the way, as far as keeping the 205/70-15 tires on the back for "better take-off" instead of the stock 225/75-15s, the difference in diameter would result in an 8% change in the final drive ratio. In other words, if your stock gears were 3.08:1, changing to these smaller diameter tires would be equivalent of changing the gears to 3.31:1. Not that big a change in acceleration, in my opinion.

 

The BEST size tire for your B Body wagon is 255/60 15. I will look for a picture of my old '85 9C1 and update this later. The 5x5 pattern is a good one and you have many good looking choices. Some examples. GM Vans including Astro/Safari, B bodys D bodys. Odly enough, there was even a time in the mid '70s when Ford used a 5x5. Thunderbirds I believe.

 

try it and get back to me, its 1000% noticable just like the better top end of the 225s.

 

Oddly enough I have a '95 Astro Van and was wondering if those wheels would fit. You answered that question. They have 225/75s mounted on them. My concern would be if I put the 235s on the van I think they would rub.

I would like to see pix of the 255/60s.

 

The best looking (IMO) 5"x5 lug GM rim is the 2wd suburban 15"x8" rallye wheel (rectangular slots). 15x7 rallye wheels were on police cars, monte carlos and full sized vans, etc. They're cheap and semi-plentiful, but kind of heavy. These are not the same rallye wheels as the Covette style rallye wheels, since those are a 4.75" bolt pattern and a totally different design.

 

There use to be a picture of my old Caprice Estate Wagon on here with those wheels and they do look good.

 

No, rallye wheels did not ever come on a police car. The heavy duty N97 wheels available on the 1A2, 9C1, and 9C6 were not rallye wheels. The N97 wheels were made of thicker metal, had round holes, and more welds. The bolt on caps used metric threads rather than standard.

I have attached some wheels with tire pictures.

The gray 9C1 has N97 wheels on the front with 255/60 , and 8" truck rallyes on the rear with 295/50 on the rear.

'96 9C1 has 255/60 15 on N97.

Brown has 275/60. These WILL rub upon the fenders on compression of the front suspension and though they look nice, are not recommended.

Rear wheel shot is of a modified 10" N97 wheel with a 305/50.

last is a '90 9C1 with 255/60 on N97 wheels.

 

The Astro on the beach has 255/60 on N97 wheels.

On the street has 235/75 on N97 wheels.

On the grass it has 235/75 snow tires on plain steel 5x5 wheels. I don't know what they are from but they are most probably from a '91 9C1.

 

These are 15/7 Americanracing Smoothies with 245/60 15 BFG Radials. They look nice, but were a bit short and I prefer and recommend the 255/60 I got later