cutlass1972

I decieded it was time to upgrade the tires on my 1991 1500 4x4 suburban. I found out pretty quick that my options for more aggressive tires in 15" where pretty slim.
I went ahead and ordered a set of 265/75R16 goodyear wrangler duratec's thinking it was going to be a simple trip to the junkyard to puck up a set of 16" alloy wheels from a 1991 4x4 chevy truck.
This is where my fun BEGINS.
The first set of rims they brought out I learned that they kept the large bore size (108mm I believe) on the suburbans after they had already switched the trucks to contain all of the 4x4 stuff within the wheel.
The second set of rims where off of a nissan. They had the 6x5.5 lug pattern and the 108mm bore hub, so I am good to go right? No. I brought the rims and tires to the tire dealer to have them put them on. They tried to mount one of the rims only to find that the rim woudl nto fit over my much larger rotor. Thank good the junkyard was willing to refund me.
The third set of rims, the tire dealer ordered in for me, the hub was once again too small.
The fourth set, another set the tire dealer ordered had the correct hub bore diameter, but hit my tie rod end.

At this point the tire dealer wants nothign more to do with me. He said for my trouble if I can find a rim that will fit he will put the tireson for free.

I have done a lot of studying since and have learned about offsets, negative offsets, and their relationship to the backspacing. I still do not know how to determine exactly what I need. Can anyone offer me some advice?
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SabrToothSqrl

Tire Rack - Your performance experts for tires and wheels and put in your year / make / model... find tires you like or find wheels that actually fit.

SabrToothSqrl

this says they have 15s, 16s, and 17s


Wheels for 1991 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 4wd

and over 53 tires that fit!

you're telling me you don't like ANY of them?

Tire Search Results

SabrToothSqrl

I had these on my '95 Tahoe. I liked them. Quiet and had grip when needed.

Kumho Road Venture AT KL78

sorry for so many posts, there's no edit button any more?!

cutlass1972

I have tires, I need wheels. The wheels the tire place's Computer reccomended did not fit. They are insisting that someone upgraded the front axle as OE size stuff will not fit. I personally think they are full of carp.

Either way At the advice and direction of several sources I am going to measure the backspacing of my existing 15" wheels and see what I can find that fits my lug pattern and hub bore diameter with the correct backspacing.

SWHouston

cutlass,

Wow, you sure are having a lot of trouble, sorry about that. I'm not sure if I can actually tell you what rims to buy, or where to get them, but, I can sorta make the selection process a little easier....maybe.

First of all, you do understand that the 265's you bought, are not only wider, but a fairly taller tire than the OEM. The OEM's were 28.9" diameter, and the 265's are going to be 31.7" (give or take 1/10") I'm sure that you've read all the stuff which happens, when you increase size like that.

Now...
What you need to do is, get a measurement from your original (what ever is on your Burb now), where we have a reference point.

It's a given that...
You need 16" rims, and
They have to fit your Hubs, and
The new rims need to be 8" wide (to be right for your new tires), and
That they have sufficient clearance where you can slip them over the Brake Drum/Disk.

Now the mrasurement...
You need to take a good look at how much clearance what you have on there now is. And, determine just how much more "inset", that the new rims can have.
In other words, take a look, and let's say that you are pretty sure that you can handle 1" more, or closer to your running gear and Wheel Well.

Now you got to take off a wheel...
And measure from the back side of your Bolt Plate, to the back Rim of that wheel. You may need to lay a straight edge across (just) the rim part, and measure down to the back side of the plate. Then add that 1".

Now, here comes the trouble...
Not many Dealers are going to know about the inset of a given Rim, they may know the "offset", but, that's not what you'll need to know.

You're going to have to go to a Rim Dealer, let him drag out a few 16" x 8" Rims which have the "above" criteria, turn um over, and take a physical measurement of that "inset" on your own.

When you find one that's equal to, or has not greater than 1" more inset than what you have on there now, thats it !

That is IF you like the price and what they look like, when you turn them back over.

cutlass1972

I forgot to mention that it already has 31x10.5r15's on it, and has all kinds of crazy room under there. I am not terribly worried about rubbing or anything like that.

I did perform some of the things you recommend last night. I laid a straight edge across my rotor between the wheel studs and measured back to my tie rod end. I came up with 3.875"

I then laid a piece of metal across the inside of my current wheel and measured from that down into the wheel where it hits the rotor and came up with 3.375".

This leaves .5" of clearance. Great.

for the record my hub bore on my wheel measured at 88.9mm, which I am told is very strange for a 91. Supposedly in 87 they switched to a smaller diameter hub. Pre88 the hub bore diameter was 90mm. Can anyone explain this? Did someone retrofit a pre88 set of hubs on my 91 suburban?

I placed an order with a local company called trailblazers today. The Swear up and down (and promised money back if they are wrong) that the American Racing AR172 16x8 with a zero offset will fit my truck perfectly.

I have been working the math and I think he may be right. AR claims a backspace of 4.5" on this wheel. Which I could see since the centerline is 4" and if the wheel is 1" thick at the mounting point it would add .5" more. This would mean that the wheel would only protrude passed the wheel mounting surface 3.5" which should be no problem clearing my tie rod which is 3.875" away.

Sound about right?

SWHouston

Sounds like you got a good handle on everything !

Usually, that vintage Bolt Pattern is 6 Lug 139.7 mm Diameter.
There must have been someone mess with it at some point.

cutlass1972

CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP!!!!!! This set did not fit either. They lacked about 1/4" before they touched the rotor before they hit the tie rod end. This was my 5th set of rims. I have 2 tire / rim dealerships stumped now. I did the measurements myself, it seemed like it should have worked. The only difference is I measured the passenger side and they are trying the rim on the driver side. Both sides should have the same distance to the tie rod ends shouldn't they?