I have a set of chrome 17x9.5" ZR1's on my car. I guess they are the 36/38mm offset.

I had to replace one of the wheels but it turns out to be of different offset (50mm, I think) and the lugnuts (regular chrome acorns) go so deep inside the wheel that there is no way to fit a regular socket in there.

When the wheel was installed, the guys @ Discount Tire took a regular socket and ground it so that you could fit it in there so that they could torque the wheel properly.

I'm trying to find another wheel to match the offest of the other three, but in the meanwhile I'd like to make sure I can remove the one, if needed.

So, the question is: What do I need to do? Do I need to get different lug nuts? Get a deep socket and grind it so that it fits over the lug nuts? Or something else...?

Sorry for such a long explanation, but I wanted to give as accurate description as possible... Thanks for all the help in advance!

TS

 

I have the AFS ZR1 replicas, 17x9.5" 56mm offset, and 17x11" 50mm offset, and no problem getting a standard-wall deep socket in the opening. The 17x11's need a larger 7/8" socket, because of larger/longer lugs required for the 1/2-20 x 3" studs on my 12-bolt.

http://cjcfo.fbody.com/members/injun...J/Backlugs.jpg

I would think one wheel with a mismatched offset would have been fairly obvious.... that wheel/tire would be sitting 3/4" deeper in the wheel well.

 

Thanks for the reply, Fred.

Hmm... I don't know... The wheel is definetely not deeper inside the wheel well. I think it actually sticks more out, if anything.

This is what the other three look like http://www.suikkari.net/Camaro_pics/...ure%20245.html and this is what the fourth one looks like http://www.ls1camaro.net/freehosting/Picture%20261m.JPG.

You can see at least a little bit of the difference. On the three the lug nuts are not even near as deep inside the wheel as on the fourth one.

Am I making any sense here...???

 

Looking at those pictures, I "think" you have three 56mm offset wheels - they look like the "hole" for the lugs just tapers slightly toward the bottom. That is identical to my 17x9.5" 56mm offset wheel:

http://cjcfo.fbody.com/members/injun...J/DCP02502.jpg

My other picture was the 17x11 wheel, and even that has a continuous taper to the lug hole, not a "ledge" at the bottom. Your "oddball" wheel looks completely different, with a ledge at the bottom, with another, deeper, smaller diameter hole in it. I could see where you would have a problem fitting a socket in there.

Now.... if the "oddball" wheel sticks out further than the other three, I't almost sounds like that is the incorrect 37.5mm offset. The lower the offset, the more the wheel moves toward the outside of the car. What is the backspace on the wheels? AFS quotes the 56mm offset wheel with a backspace as 7.43" if I recall correctly. I just checked mine, and that's what they measure.

 

Yeah, it sticks out slightly more than the other one, but not too noticeably.

The thing is that I bought the wheel from a guy on another board, never asked about the offset or backspacing (yeah, I know, but I was in a hurry... ) and now I can't even got ahold of him anymore to verify any of those.

Oh well... I guess I'll just have to keep on searching until I find the right wheel with the right measurements. Until then I'll just keep my fingers crossed that nothing happens to that tire... :blah:

BTW, I know that the 17x9.5 is stamped to the inside of the wheel, but are any of the other measurements marked on there?

 

I don't see the offset marked in the back of the wheels. There is a raised block right after "17x9.5" that looks like its intended to have something stamped in it, but mine is not stamped. Does say "AFS", "Made in USA", "Max Load 1,700 LBS", "DOT-T", "H 22 1" and a cast "C" followed by a stamped "051800S"

 

Yeah. I guess I just need to get them off and measure...

If I can find a socket to fit the one wheel, though...

 

Fred,

What kind of lugnuts are those and where can I get them? I'll be getting a set of AFS ZR1s and have 1/2x20 rear lugs for my 9-inch in the back with stock wheel studs in the front. I'd like to have silver lugs to match the wheels instead of the bronze colored ones that are on there now.

 

The lugs on the rear wheels are made by Excalibur, and I think I bought them from JEG's catalog. They are 1/2-20 "DUPLEX" acorns.

But they still were not long enough. I drilled the closed end of the lug out with a drill that would pass through the threads without binding on them. The I took a 1/2-20 tap and started it in the open end, and threaded the lug completely through the hole. The ends of the studs actually stick slightly out of the end of the lug. Those are Moroso 3" 1/2-20 thread-in studs.

I feel you HAVE to do it that way. Someone else here bought the same lugs, and didn't thread them, because his "mechanic" told him not to. He ended up screwing up several studs.... but even when I reminded him that he had not followed my instructions, he insisted his "mechanic" was right, and that it was caused by some other problem.

 

Great tips, Fred. I'll be sure pick up a set of those lugnuts and tap them like you suggested.