Please bear with me, I'm a novice when it comes to mechanics and cars but I'm trying to learn. Thank you!

Recently bought a set of the 16x8 in. five point chrome TA wheels with the "ABS" centercaps. I spent about two weeks cleaning them and sanding, priming, and finally painting the inner wheel wells because they were all pitting horribly (This was conveniently left out of the buyers description). Finally got them painted, polished them up today and put the front two on no problem, but the two in the rear wouldn't fit over the hub. That is to say, mounts on the wheels would not lay flat against the hub because the recess in the center was not deep enough to accomodate the 3 in. wide half inch deep cylinder that protrudes from the hub assembly. So I took one of the wheels of the front and it fit right on the rear. I also noticed that the little cylinder I'm referring to does not stick out as much on the front as it does in the back. I checked the wheel that did fit and found that the hole in the center had been machined to make it fit in the rear. Why don't these wheels fit right and what can I do to make the wheels with the tires with more tread fit on the rear?

 

Its in the General FAQ sticky........

WHY WON'T MY NEW WHEELS FIT OVER THE REAR HUBS ON MY 4TH GEN?

The 1993 to "late" 1996 4th Gen F-Bodies have a larger hub on the rear axle than on the front spindles. The rear axle hubs are about 0.03" larger in diameter than the front hubs. This problem was corrected in late 1996 model year or possibly in early 1997.

As a result, if you buy C4 or C5 wheels, or if you buy 1997 or newer F-Body wheels, they may not fit on the rear hubs of your 1993-1996 F-Body.

The solution is very simple. First, DO NOT FORCE THEM ON WITH THE LUGS! Very dangerous, and you may not be able to get them off. You need to lightly sand or grind (e.g. - Dremel) the inside diameter of the hub hole in the back of the wheel. Don't go nuts.... just remove enough metal so the wheel cleanly fits over the rear hubs, with no interference.

Think about doing this to all 4 wheels, so you can "rotate" the tires in the future.

This will not harm the wheels.... you are taking off the thickness of a sheet of paper. Just be sure you do a neat, smooth job. This will also NOT affect the centering of the wheels on the hubs. The 4th Gen wheels are "lug-centric" - they are centered by the conical lugs, not by the hubs.

 

oops...I've actually looked that over a good deal Thanks.