Fronzizzle

I've been reading a lot of the posts on here about these wheels, I've been to the website & checked out the gallery. They seem to be high quality, I like the look & the fact they fit almost all of the large brake kits.

Its been a long time since I purchased a set of wheels, but it seems to me that these are a little pricey for painted - for those of you that have them, wondering how the paint lasts? Ideally, I'd like to have them black chromed or polished/clear coated, but I can't imagine spending $1,200+ for new wheels, only to turn around, strip them and pay another couple of hundred to get them re-coated.

Zach/90\irocZ

iTrader: (6)

with any painted wheel there are prone to chips and dings especially when installing tires but should hold up wheel one advantage on painted wheels is the ability to paint any color you want assuming you take time to prep

for blackchrome not alot of wheels offer that option so your going to pay $$ for that

you can save mony if you polish your self
but would be worth the extra $$ or time IMO
maybe paul can shine in on this subject

paul_huryk

I guess I will chime in...

To answer questions about the paint, my manufacturer does that to allow for any color we could ask for - in lots of 50 wheels per color. We do have the option of having them send unpainted, but they will oxidize quickly as they are not clear coated - so that is not done typically and is not cheaper for us.

It may seem "cheap" to paint a wheel instead of polishing it or whatever, but our wheels feature the finest virgin alloy under the paint and having seen a Miata version polished and coated made it mirror like. That said, the option to strip them and either paint, powder coat, or polish and clear coat is there - so far none of my customers have painted the wheels I have sent them. I'm sure someone will in the near future.

The stripping you can do yourself easily - just use aircraft paint stripper and then clean them with a neutralizing agent. You can then do whatever you heart desires - paint, PC, polish... Do keep in mind that the center caps finish matches the wheel's - so if you paint the wheels gold, the center caps will have to be painted also.

The durability of the paint is good - brake dust washes right off - just be mindful that abrasive compounds and some mechanical agitation can harm the finish. You do have to be careful when installing the wheels as metal sockets and such are much harder than paint and can ding it if struck hard enough. I have two demo sets of wheels in the shop that I change all the time for customers and also on my cars - still look factory new - although I am careful when I take them on and off.

You may be able to put a black chrome coating over the factory silver paint that give the look you want and be cost effective.

Zach/90\irocZ

iTrader: (6)

to get the black chrome effect has to be over chrome with a candy black

pretty neat stuff chrome spray paint in a can im prob going to try it out
http://www.alsacorp.com/

Fronzizzle

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate the information. I think my plan is to purchase a set & just leave them painted for now, once (if?) they get chipped up then have them black chromed or polished.

Thanks again.

Fronzizzle

Sorry, another question...

I know there are multiple possibilities for tires in terms of section width & sidewall profiles, just wondering if there is a "preferred" tire size or one that people especially like? I've been looking at 275/40, probably for all 4 but perhaps going with something like a 255/40 in the front. Thoughts?

Zach/90\irocZ

iTrader: (6)

On a 9.5 ?
275 would be perfect
Too much tire stretch doesn't look good on a thirdgen
255 would be better suited around 8 in wheel

paul_huryk

You can fit widths from 245 to 285mm on a 9.5" wheel - regardless of brand. If you look on the CTW website, I have posted a pic of a 245-45 on the 9.5" - a slight stretch, but the owner (on a chumpcar racer) mentioned how much better the tires felt stable compared with the 8" wheels he had before.

245-45-17 - same height as the 275-40, 30mm less width
255-45-17 - slightly taller than the 275-40, 20mm less width
265-40-17 - slightly shorter than 275-40, 10mm less width
285-40-17 - slightly taller than 275-40, same height as the 255-45

Our suggestion with our 9.5" wheels is to run the same sized tires in all 4 corners - whether it be a 245-45 or a 285-40, or anything in between. Reason has two parts: first, you can rotate the tires easily; two - having the same sized tire on all 4 corners helps the car handle more balanced than a staggered setup due to 55% of the weight being on the front axle - this also applies to braking as the fronts do 75% of the work.

For those reasons, we recommend going with the industry standard 275-40-17 size as there are about 35 different tire choices, these tires fit the 9.5" wheel width perfectly, and there is only a few dollar savings by using a 245 width front tire. As the 275-40-17 fits on all 4 corners with the right wheels (like ours), it is the best way to go for a 3rd genner looking to upgrade to a 17" wheel.

paul_huryk

Agreed, 275 is almost perfect for the 9.5" wheel width.

On certain C4 vettes, GM used a 9.5" wheel to mount the 255-50-16 Gatorbacks (convertibles I believe). BMW uses a 9" wheel when they fit 255-40-17 or 255-35-18 tires on their 3 series with the staggered sport package, so a 9.5" is only a tad bit wider - little stretch, but more sidewall stability. Speaking of BMWs (and their 50:50 weight distribution) - almost all 3 series road racers (not counting the M3 or unless class restricted) use a square setup of 255 width tires in all 4 corners as that give the best performance - that idea is 100% applicable to third gens and most other RWD front biased cars.

Zach/90\irocZ

iTrader: (6)

I agree 100% with you on the sidewall stretch thing..didn't want to get all deep into it and giving simplest answer. lol
it does produces a stiffer sidewall and reduces sidewall flexing hence why a lot of Japanese and German performance vehicles you see a little tire stretch
and a lot off tuners and racers "touge" "drifting" "time attack" usually all have slight tire stretch for performance reasons
then there's the extreme hellaflush aggressive wheel fitment scene which are the extremist I Guess you might say but it originated from performance gain notice from slight tire stretch with causes side wall to be stiffer = better performance and feel or sidewall stability as you say

I believe the newer 1le camaros have a wider rear wheel but same tire size all around to improve cornering ability

Fronzizzle

Great info! The 275/40 on all 4 it is. As soon as I decide if I want silver or black wheels, I'll be placing an order.

Thanks again.

paul_huryk

We are here to help!

If you have a minute, check out some of the car with both black and silver wheels on our website for a more visual representation of what they may look like on your ride:

http://www.ctw-motorsports.com/gallery/

Fronzizzle

Already did The issue is, my car has a two-tone paint job, the top (hood, hatch, etc.) are black and the doors, fenders, etc. are blue. Hard time picturing what the black wheels would look like, though from the beginning I've planned on getting black wheels.

Zach/90\irocZ

iTrader: (6)

i think the black would work out fine and silver will just throw it off

post pics

Fronzizzle

Agree - I just picked the car up from the body shop, I think the black would look sweet:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...ml#post5524123

Zach/90\irocZ

iTrader: (6)

yea silver would throw it off .. get black lol
sweet paint job usally dont like 2 tones but yours doesnt look that bad

bwmcam

I have the silver CTW rims with BFGoodwrich G-Force Comp 2's 275/40/17 on all four corners. See thread https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/whee...torsports.html. I think the black blend in with the car too much and you don't really see the wheel.


If you measure out 9.5 inches it doesn't look that wide, but if you add tires to it and see it in real life they are Very wide. They completely change the stance of your car.

Paul is awesome and he will steer you in the right direction.

You will also get the added benefit of being able to add a big break kit with these wheels not to mention that they are very light.

Just be sure you watch the guys at the tire shop you have install your tires so they don't mar or bend the lip of your rim trying pry the tire over it. The BFGoodwrich's are pretty thick on the sidewalls for stability. They did chip my rim paint in a couple of places. Whichever way you go on any rim watch those guys.

All in all they are excellent rims and much wider than I thought they would be, I am extremely happy with mine. So go for it!

I haven't been able to drive it lately though because I am upgrading the trans with a Probuilt kit and a Vig. 2600 stall converter.

paul_huryk

Barrett - thank you for chiming in with your observations as an owner of our wheels.

Indeed the wheels change the stance an incredible amount - even in black where they blend in with the tires, you can't help but notice a lot more tire under each corner - double for the rear where you increase the wheel track 1.5"+ vs. stock rear BS 16" rubber. Makes a third gen look very intimidating with that much tire under it.

The best part is the traction and feeling you get from moving up to a 275-40-17 sized tire vs. a 245-50-16 one. 16" Feels good until you ride on the 17" - which ride a bit firmer (in this case a good thing) and the feeling of grip is so evident it surprised even me. And this is for any 275-40-17 tire on any 9.5" wheels - not just ours.

paul_huryk

Your car would look good with either silver or black. If you are local, you could just stop by and we could try both sets on for your review...

Silver is a contrast with your colors - similar to your present wheels.

Black would pick up the black paint on the car.

Fronzizzle

Thanks for the offer Paul, but I'm near Detroit so not quite local

I'm going to place my order for the black ones tomorrow; can you recommend where to get compatible black lugnuts? And what about valve stems?

paul_huryk

I have stock 12mm x 1.5 and also 1/2" lugs here in the shop to fit the wheels (I use them myself).

You can use any valves tem that fits the opening - either rubber or metal; I'm using all rubber on the wheels in the shop. Some of my racers use metal per series rules.

bwmcam

Poat some pics once you have them mounted. I would love to see them with your new paint! ;-)

Fronzizzle

New wheels, tires & brakes installed. Here is the link to a post with pictures:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/whee...ml#post5543587

greenyone

iTrader: (1)

Paul, how are the CTW logos attached to the center caps? I'd like to replace mine with with a domed bowtie or Z28 sticker/decal and don't want to damage the plastic if at all possible.

paul_huryk

They should be glued on - at least that is what they told me.

Fronzizzle

They are glued on, but I was able to remove mine really easily and replace with my custom-made decals.

Before putting on the center caps, I carefully used a thin blade screw driver to get under the edge of the stock logo; once the edge came up, it was easy to get off. I used something like Goo Gone to clean off the remaining glue and that was it.

peterc005

I've got a set of silver CTM wheels and love them.

I've like to use Bowtie plastic centres too.

Any odea what size I'd need and where to get them from?

greenyone

iTrader: (1)

I measured 2 1/4. There are sellers on ebay with them in all kinds of sizes and colors. I chose to go with a "domed" black with red bowtie sticker/decal in that size. I'll post pictures once I get them installed. I'm thinking of a custom CTW Motorsports sticker to put on one of the spokes too....ya know...to try and continue to pay homage to Pauls wheels.

Fronzizzle

You can see the attached pictures for mine. The one on the car is hard to see, but the closeup of the center cap shows it well.

I ordered 2 1/4" in diameter. As for where to get them, there are all kinds of places. As greenyone said, you can get them on eBay or you can have them custom made - it depends on what you want and how much you want to spend.

I had mine made out of resin so they last longer and look better than just decals. I got them from Nate at Rebadge Design (www.rebadgedesign.com/home). He does great work, I've gotten a lot from him for both this car and the Challenger I used to have and the work is top-notch.

greenyone

iTrader: (1)

That looks great! I ordered similar resin/domed decals from ebay user "kens-tires". We'll see if they are up to that standard. I wish I would have picked your brain sooner. I was originally looking for Z28 logos, but all I could find was designs with the 70's script in the 2-1/4 size. So I settled on the simple bow-tie.

http://www.ebay.com/usr/kens-tires?_...p2047675.l2559

paul_huryk

I like the way that looks!

greenyone

iTrader: (1)

Paul, What does CTW stand for anyway?

paul_huryk

Cheat The Wind

greenyone

iTrader: (1)

I finally got around to this.

paul_huryk

Looking good!