Buying a new rallye wheel from Coker -- three questions

[Daniel K.]

I am buying one new wheel for my 1971 Corvette. I'm only buying one because I'm keeping my car's factory original spare tire mounted on the factory original spare rallye wheel, but I'm going to swap all that out in the spare tire tub with a new wheel and tire. Not exactly sure what I'll do with the 46 year old wheel and tire but that's another story... It is unlikely my wife will let me keep it in the living room!
I'm buying the new wheel from Coker because, at the same time, I'm going to buy and mount a set of their new Firestone Wide Oval radials (which are the subject of another thread if you search under "Coker"). I'm curious about points judging for the Wide Oval radials, but regardless of the answer to that I'm going to buy them.
My questions relate to the rallye wheel I'm purchasing. First, I know the answer to this but 15x8, correct?
Second, Coker offers the 15x8 Chevrolet Rallye Wheel in either "silver powder coat finish" or "chrome finish". Does anyone know which of these choices most closely resembles factory for a '71 Corvette? I assume silver powder coat. If / when I get the car judged I will swap back the original wheel in the spare tub so I'm not worried about a perfect match for the rallye wheel finish, I just want the best match as between the two choices so that, if I ever need to use the new spare, it will look similar to the other wheels on the car.
Finally, should I request the 4.5" backspace or the 4" backspace? The salesperson at Coker looked this up but I'd like to confirm his conclusion.
Thanks as always for your advice.
Dan

[Patrick H.]

Re: Buying a new rallye wheel from Coker -- three questions

Dan, Any reason you wouldn't just buy an original wheel? With millions made, they are not hard to come by, and then you have zero color or fitment issues. Patrick

[Mike F.]

Re: Buying a new rallye wheel from Coker -- three questions

1. Make sure to keep the original spare wheel/tire combo.
2. 15 x 8 is correct. Typically "AZ" marked (Corvette 15x8) rallye wheels are not hard to find. Have you looked locally?
3. Silver powder coat would be closest to the original color. Again, a cheap AZ rallye wheel and some Argent Silver spray paint would also be a match.
4. Original AZ wheels have 4" back spacing.

[Joe L.]

Re: Buying a new rallye wheel from Coker -- three questions

I am buying one new wheel for my 1971 Corvette. I'm only buying one because I'm keeping my car's factory original spare tire mounted on the factory original spare rallye wheel, but I'm going to swap all that out in the spare tire tub with a new wheel and tire. Not exactly sure what I'll do with the 46 year old wheel and tire but that's another story... It is unlikely my wife will let me keep it in the living room!
I'm buying the new wheel from Coker because, at the same time, I'm going to buy and mount a set of their new Firestone Wide Oval radials (which are the subject of another thread if you search under "Coker"). I'm curious about points judging for the Wide Oval radials, but regardless of the answer to that I'm going to buy them.
My questions relate to the rallye wheel I'm purchasing. First, I know the answer to this but 15x8, correct?
Second, Coker offers the 15x8 Chevrolet Rallye Wheel in either "silver powder coat finish" or "chrome finish". Does anyone know which of these choices most closely resembles factory for a '71 Corvette? I assume silver powder coat. If / when I get the car judged I will swap back the original wheel in the spare tub so I'm not worried about a perfect match for the rallye wheel finish, I just want the best match as between the two choices so that, if I ever need to use the new spare, it will look similar to the other wheels on the car.
Finally, should I request the 4.5" backspace or the 4" backspace? The salesperson at Coker looked this up but I'd like to confirm his conclusion.
Thanks as always for your advice.
Dan

Dan-------


The Coker Firestone Wide Ovals are not a reproduction of the tire originally used on 68-72 Corvettes. The Corvette tires were bias ply. The Coker Wide Ovals are a belted tire. These were originally used on other cars of the period but not Corvettes. In addition to the belting difference, the Corvette tires had a different tread count than the belted tires. However, as far as a road tire goes, the belted tires are probably superior in handling and tread wear than the original Corvette tires.

15X8 is the correct rally wheel size for all 1969-82 Corvettes. These wheels have NEGATIVE off-set of 0.50". Off-set is the amount the wheel mounting plane is displaced from the centerline of the wheel. 0.50" NEGATIVE offset mean the mounting surface is displace 0.50" towards the REAR of the wheel. I do not think that any Corvette rally wheel available today has the exactly correct off-set.

The silver powder coat is going to be the most correct of the two finishes you describe.

[Daniel K.]

Re: Buying a new rallye wheel from Coker -- three questions

Thanks guys. I like the idea of buying a used wheel locally rather than from Coker -- I will pursue that. And I really appreciate the confirmation and responses to all my questions. Joe: I have read enough of the technical discussion board to understand what an encyclopedia you are. Please let me know what you think of the following: The tires I'm buying from Coker are a new product of theirs. On their web site, they describe them as follows (exact quote): "The tread design is an exact copy of the bias ply Wide Oval tire". In one sense, it doesn't matter because I'm going to buy them for the looks of the sidewall and raised white letters, plus the performance of the radial. So even if the tread design is not accurate to the original bias ply, I will still buy them. But it is worth noting that Coker is marketing this new product as having the accurate tread design.

[Jim D.]

Re: Buying a new rallye wheel from Coker -- three questions

I hope you have better luck getting your Coker tires balanced than I did.

[Joe L.]

Re: Buying a new rallye wheel from Coker -- three questions

Thanks guys. I like the idea of buying a used wheel locally rather than from Coker -- I will pursue that. And I really appreciate the confirmation and responses to all my questions. Joe: I have read enough of the technical discussion board to understand what an encyclopedia you are. Please let me know what you think of the following: The tires I'm buying from Coker are a new product of theirs. On their web site, they describe them as follows (exact quote): "The tread design is an exact copy of the bias ply Wide Oval tire". In one sense, it doesn't matter because I'm going to buy them for the looks of the sidewall and raised white letters, plus the performance of the radial. So even if the tread design is not accurate to the original bias ply, I will still buy them. But it is worth noting that Coker is marketing this new product as having the accurate tread design.

Daniel------


I'm glad they've revised the tread design for folks whose cars originally used the bias ply Wide Ovals.

[Arland D.]

Re: Buying a new rallye wheel from Coker -- three questions

Dan,

Not sure how you intend to use your car but every Coker tire on our driven cars has either had the tread separate or the sidewall crack. Others may have a different experience but no more Coker tires on our cars......................

[Daniel K.]

Re: Buying a new rallye wheel from Coker -- three questions

Arland -- that is good information to have. I will give this some more thought before going through with it.

[Deane M.]

Re: Buying a new rallye wheel from Coker -- three questions

Where in NY are you?

[Patrick H.]

Re: Buying a new rallye wheel from Coker -- three questions

I saw the Wide Oval radials at BG this past weekend. They sure look good, though do have the bulge (?) of a radial even when sitting on a display. I have no knowledge of how well they perform, but have considered them as well.