JGuy07

Instead of doing the check myself I went ahead and asked my father to check on the bolt pattern. Was told they were correct and would fit but I looked it up and seems they won't. They are AR Estrella 17x7.5" with 5x4.25/5x4.5 bolt pattern, +40mm offset and a 5 3/4" backspace. So I'm sure they won't fit correctly, but what I'm wondering is if there is a way such as using spacers/adapters (if such a thing) with different bolt pattern to fit these rims or some other sort of method to use...? He only payed $50 for them used and after cleaning them up I'm sure I could at least make money off of them which would greatly benefit me, but would much rather get the 04 gto black rims off my car and replace with these! Any help?!?!

Not sure about the 7.5" width though, but the gto rims are only 8" so visually no difference to most with naked eye. Just not sure what to do with these now :/

JGuy07

Need an opinion. Father works at ASI where they do fab work with a lot of aluminum and magnesium and quite a few other materials. They have the capability to custom cut my rims to fit what I need. Was told to get the bolt pattern from my stock rims using something like a pencil rub on paper, and to get the pattern from the AR rims the same way to compare. Then, they could cut the lug holes into an oblong shape to make up the difference. I would then need to find universal washers which are made in this shape to slide into them so the rim will not slide and then just bolt them on. No need to change studs or lug nuts. Basically making them "universal".

Anyone heard of this or know about this method or if it's safe to alter the rims this way? Also having a hard time even looking these washers up...

**Addition** Found "offset washers" could these be what they're referring to?

Injuneer

To me it doesn't seem to make any sense at all to go through all that trouble to fit wheels that are narrower than your stock wheels. Just about everyone opts for 17 x 9.5" wheels, so they can put a meaty 275/40-17 on them, like the WS6 and SS cars have from the factory. With a 7.5" wide wheel you will be limited to fairly narrow tires.

The use of the oval inserts was used by aftermarket wheel manufacturers at least 40 years ago. But the wheels were manufactured with the oval openings for the inserts. Point is, they were designed to have those large holes. Start cutting large holes in a wheel that wasn't designed for them, and how do you know you didn't significantly weaken the wheel?

There are shops that make "adapters" to change the bolt pattern. The adapter would have a 5 x 4.75" bolt circle, to bolt to your stock studs, and then would have 5 new studs mounted in the adapter with the bolt pattern for your wheels. Problem is it take a substantial thickness to accomplish this. That might move the wheel too far toward the outside of the fenders. You would probably be limited to about an 0.60" thickness on the adapter with the 40mm offset.

JGuy07

Yea it would be a lot of work, but it would be a freebie. It seems even though it's my vehicle I get outvoted by my father over this issue. The only reason we have the rims is due to a friend of my mothers death. The rims were in her garage and the $50 spent went towards some lawn equipment my father wanted and the ladies mother threw in the rims when my dad mentioned them. Like I said I asked if he checked the pattern, but obviously not correctly if at all. My suggestion was to clean them up and sell them, I could definitely get a good amount off them which would help me out with what I want.

I brought up the issue, as well did my grandfather, of the rims being weakened by this process. He doesn't listen. I still have the stock rims but previous owner painted(crappy spray job) black. I would much rather clean them up/restore them and purchase the center caps and use those rims until a better plan comes along.

I just wanted someone to verify my thoughts on this idea. How safe are the adapters, can they cause any actual damage over time to things such stress on studs, the brake system like the rotors and such with the extra wear?

The biggest wheel would probably be a 245/45-17 eh definitely not to my liking either. Hopefully I can talk him through this and just sell them. Thanks for the info Injuneer, some more info on the adapters referencing my questions in this post would also be helpful.

Injuneer

There was a shop (Skulte) that built some excellent quality adapters, including stuff for rugged off-road vehicles. Unfortunately, he decided to shut down the business. So I no longer have a source for the adapters. I've seen them on ebay, but have no idea what the quality is.

JGuy07

I guess it was worth a shot, I'm just going to try and get rid of these and make some cash off this whole thing and see where I end up. Thanks for the info. It wouldn't really be worth it all to go through with this if I don't like the way it would sit and look as my preference, it wouldn't be an upgrade.