New 18's on my 1969 Cutlass

[Mr Nick]

Updated my wheels recently. Previous combo was 18x9 wheels front and rear, with 285/40 rear tires and I've ran both 255/45 and 255/40 up front.

After 10 years or so, it was time for a change. I went with American Racing wheels, 18x8 with 4.5 backspacing in front and took a leap of faith that 18x10 would fit in the back with 6.0 backspacing. (68/69 Cutlass' don't have a ton of room in the back)

Tires are Continental Extreme Contact 245/45 front and 285/40 rear. I will add that my rear quarter panel wheel well lips are crudely rolled by a younger (and dumber) version of myself. I'm happy to report that after a decent amount of street driving, no rubbing. Front fits with tons of room to spare everywhere, rear has about 0.5" clearance to quarter panel if the suspension where fully compressed, just under 0.5" to the 2.5" Flowmaster tail pipes, and a bit over 0.5" to the inner wheel well housing.

Car is lowered about 2 inches or so.

[Mr Nick]

These are the old wheels, which I've listed in the for sale forum. Thank you.

[cpd004]

Nice!

[OLDFLM]

I REALLY like the choice in the new rims Nick! Very classic and timeless while being different than TTIIs!

[Pedigry]

yeah, that's the ticket. Size looks great, stance does as well. Nice job.

[79 Camaro]

Nice new wheels. But and please don't take this the wrong way but I would raise the rear a bit. Maybe 3/4" or 1". One reason why I say is that if you load up the car to go to a show the back end is going sag a bit under the weight making it lower than the front.

[Mr Nick]

Thanks for the kind replies.

79 Camaro - no offence taken! I appreciate any feedback. I've spent a lot of time getting the ride height just how I like it, and it sits just right for 90% of my driving. If I load it with luggage and/or tools for a vacation or Power Tour, then the back will just be a little lower for that week.

[jetmech442]

I've always loved your clean approach to the cultass Nick, and the new wheels somehow made it even better. And you're not wrong about there not being a lot of space in the rear for big meats-my 295 45/18 RS4's are well acquainted with my own crudely rolled fender lips.

[130fe]

New wheels look good!

[STREETFIGHTER50]

Very nice choice! We have the same wheels & names lol! The RT615K+ 295/40’s were a squeeze I had to cut/readjust the tailpipes.

[130fe]

Nick, I just picked up a 69 vert last weekend. Been trying to figure out what I want to change the 14” wheels with. You might have just given me a direction to go. Fighting the urge to keep it stock (it is a clone) but make it fun and drivable at the same time.

[79 Camaro]

I had similar wheels on my 68 C10. I bought US Mag. The nice thing about these wheels is the gray centers and the polished lips. I can't speak American Racing wheels but the US Mag wheels the lips are polished and then powder coated. The wheels were super easy to keep clean.

[STREETFIGHTER50]

Nice rides y’all!

[cdrod]

Nick, I just picked up a 69 vert last weekend. Been trying to figure out what I want to change the 14” wheels with. You might have just given me a direction to go. Fighting the urge to keep it stock (it is a clone) but make it fun and drivable at the same time.

Chris:
If you want a stock look with modern tires, you might consider the Bandit U109 rims from US Mags. They are available in a 17' & 18" cast version with common widths & offsets, or you can get them in a forged version and custom configure widths and offsets. I went with the 18" cast for budget reasons. Here's a pic of them on my car.

Rodney

[Mr Nick]

Very nice choice! We have the same wheels & names lol! The RT615K+ 295/40’s were a squeeze I had to cut/readjust the tailpipes.

That looks great! Do the low wheel well arches (especially in the rear) make tire fitment difficult?

Nick, I just picked up a 69 vert last weekend. Been trying to figure out what I want to change the 14” wheels with. You might have just given me a direction to go. Fighting the urge to keep it stock (it is a clone) but make it fun and drivable at the same time.

Sharp! The wheels were on back order for a while before I got them, but I think inventory levels have improved. I got quite a few emails from Summit and Jegs letting me know the size I wanted was back in stock.

I had similar wheels on my 68 C10. I bought US Mag. The nice thing about these wheels is the gray centers and the polished lips. I can't speak American Racing wheels but the US Mag wheels the lips are polished and then powder coated. The wheels were super easy to keep clean.

I don't exactly know what the lip on these American racing wheels is. It's more of a brushed metal finish with a clear coat over it. And the spokes are textured on the grey wheels, I think the black version the spokes are a smooth finish.

[STREETFIGHTER50]

That looks great! Do the low wheel well arches (especially in the rear) make tire fitment difficult?

A little bit. Just gotta be careful holding them up in there at the just right angle. The rear fenders were rolled a bit for more clearance during the restoration.

[mikewoods]

Nick- what spring and shock set up are you running?

[GearheadSS]

Updated my wheels recently. Previous combo was 18x9 wheels front and rear, with 285/40 rear tires and I've ran both 255/45 and 255/40 up front.

After 10 years or so, it was time for a change. I went with American Racing wheels, 18x8 with 4.5 backspacing in front and took a leap of faith that 18x10 would fit in the back with 6.0 backspacing. (68/69 Cutlass' don't have a ton of room in the back)

Tires are Continental Extreme Contact 245/45 front and 285/40 rear. I will add that my rear quarter panel wheel well lips are crudely rolled by a younger (and dumber) version of myself. I'm happy to report that after a decent amount of street driving, no rubbing. Front fits with tons of room to spare everywhere, rear has about 0.5" clearance to quarter panel if the suspension where fully compressed, just under 0.5" to the 2.5" Flowmaster tail pipes, and a bit over 0.5" to the inner wheel well housing.

Car is lowered about 2 inches or so.

Man, this setup looks great! Your car is inspiration for how I want mine to look.

[nekkidhillbilly]

i like those wheels. It kicked around using those over what i had but mine where cheaper at the time.

[STREETFIGHTER50]

I’m Nick too 😂
My car has the ridetech coil over set up on it.