I bought a set of really nice twisted spoke 16" rims and tires off of a 02 firebird I got on Ebay. I went to put them on my 93 Formula Firebird and the fronts fit fine, but the rears would not go on due the end of the hub or axle shaft being just a bit too large for the wheel's center opening. Has anyone else had this problem and what is the smartest way to fix it. I thought I could dremel either the rims, or the hub, but would prefer not to be grinding if there is a better way. Thanks.

 

You'll have to grind the rims. I had to do the same thing with a set of OEM corvette ZR1 rims back in 1995. The rears would not fit over the hub, but the fronts fit fine.

I'm surprised you would have this problem with rims originally off a f-body??

 

The early LT1 hubs are about 1/8 of an inch bigger than the Later LT1 and LS1 style hubs. You can grind the inside of the wheels to make them work. There is an extra lip inside the wheel. It takes very little grinding to make them work. Another trick if you are that worried about the wheels is to sand a little off the hub of the car. (BTW grinding won't effect the balance of the wheel or the way it fits because it is inside of the lugs)

 

Thanks for all of the input. When I get home from work I will bust out the dremel!

 

NO dont "grind " them sand them by hand . I had the same problem with my 97 C5 wheels. I used some sand paper and a lot of elbow grease also it more like a 1/16 that you need to sand

 

I die grinded them. Whats it matter? You'll never see it once they're on the car and they're only twisted spokes, not Z06 wheels.

 

The number I've seen in print is the rear hubs being 0.03" larger in diameter than the front hubs. I think they corrected this problem in 1997 or so. SLP used to include a caution with their take-off wheels that the inside edge of the wheel opening needed to be ground. You only need to grind the rear wheels, but if you plan to "rotate" the wheel/tires in the future, you need to grind all the wheels.

Like anything you do to your car, exercise restraint... light sanding will probably take a little longer than a high speed air powered die grinder, but it will produce a smoother, more uniform result.

Or another, slightly more expensive solution... buy a 12-bolt rear.... they will have hubs that match the front hub diameter.

 

Funny you should say that. At a family Easter dinner my wife's cousin who used to drag race (but now works on a oval track stock car) told me he has a 12 bolt from his old Nova in his garage that I could have for free. I assume that the axles will be a different overall width than the F-body rear end, but what ever it costs to get it set up right would be worth it. I think they were leaf spring suspension, and drum brakes, but I am sure all that is fixable. He is just sick of tripping over it. ......Maybe that will be a project for this summer.