wheels

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Howard Handy
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wheels

Postby Howard Handy » Fri Jan 23, 2015 1:14 pm

I amsearching for any type of CUSTOM wheels for my 1974 Toronado. PLEASE HELP!!!

bluecab
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Years Owned: restoring a '66, have Moto Guzzi motorcycles, an Audi convertible and a bunch of other junk
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Re: wheels

Postby bluecab » Fri Jan 23, 2015 4:05 pm

Look in the Technical talk area for a thread I started called Aftermarket Wheels for early Toronados.

There are not a lot of conclusions there, but lots of food for thought.

You need to look for a 5 x 5 or 5 x 127mm high offset wheel.

What diameter are you looking for?

Howard Handy
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Re: wheels

Postby Howard Handy » Sat Jan 24, 2015 10:21 am

bluecab wrote:Look in the Technical talk area for a thread I started called Aftermarket Wheels for early Toronados.

There are not a lot of conclusions there, but lots of food for thought.

You need to look for a 5 x 5 or 5 x 127mm high offset wheel.

What diameter are you looking for?

STOCK, 15 inch wheel. set of 4

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Otto Skorzeny
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Re: wheels

Postby Otto Skorzeny » Sat Jan 24, 2015 2:43 pm

Hi Howard,

These are the GM specs for the Toronado wheels.

Bolt Pattern 5 on 5"
Width 6 inches
Offset +3.25 inches
Backspacing 6.75 inches
Load Rating 1600 pounds

It's extremely important that the offset on the wheels meets these specs. If not, the weight of the car will not be properly centered over the front wheel bearings and you will wear out or ruindn the bearings and most likely the spindle assembly as well. You also don't want a wheel breaking off while driving.

There are only 3 aftermarket wheels that will work on Toros. They are the same ones made for Eldorados of the same era. They were made by Appliance, Western, and a Texas company that made some in low volume production.

Look for them on ebay. In my opinion, they are all pretty ugly and humdrum. I personally think the best looking wheels for the first Gen Toros are painted wheels with beauty rings and chrome center caps. They are similar in appearance to Chevy rally wheels. The rims can be chromes as well for a nice look.

Go to this link and read all about Toronado wheels. This guy has the Toronado wheel situation pretty well sorted out. He has some photos of the Western and Appliance brand wheels.

http://www.breznick.com/toronado/wheels/

Howard Handy
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2015 12:56 pm
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Years Owned: 1974toronado

Re: wheels

Postby Howard Handy » Sat Jan 24, 2015 3:25 pm

Otto Skorzeny wrote:Hi Howard,

These are the GM specs for the Toronado wheels.

Bolt Pattern 5 on 5"
Width 6 inches
Offset +3.25 inches
Backspacing 6.75 inches
Load Rating 1600 pounds

It's extremely important that the offset on the wheels meets these specs. If not, the weight of the car will not be properly centered over the front wheel bearings and you will wear out or ruindn the bearings and most likely the spindle assembly as well. You also don't want a wheel breaking off while driving.

There are only 3 aftermarket wheels that will work on Toros. They are the same ones made for Eldorados of the same era. They were made by Appliance, Western, and a Texas company that made some in low volume production.

Look for them on ebay. In my opinion, they are all pretty ugly and humdrum. I personally think the best looking wheels for the first Gen Toros are painted wheels with beauty rings and chrome center caps. They are similar in appearance to Chevy rally wheels. The rims can be chromes as well for a nice look.

Go to this link and read all about Toronado wheels. This guy has the Toronado wheel situation pretty well sorted out. He has some photos of the Western and Appliance brand wheels.

http://www.breznick.com/toronado/wheels/

dcalhoun38581
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2014 5:41 pm
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Years Owned: 1967
I have one, but it's needs exceed my abilities and I'm putting it up for sale on EBay.

Re: wheels

Postby dcalhoun38581 » Thu Feb 05, 2015 8:17 pm

This whole "wheel offset" thing is just so unbelievable to me. What sort of "engineer" would ever design a car in such a ridiculous manner?

I've given up and sold my '67 Toronado, partly due to this stupid design , but mostly due to my own failure to separate my attraction to physical beauty from mechanical design

.I truly LOVE the visual beauty of a '67 Toronado, but the mechanics ... nope.

BTW... sold mine for half what I in her and had to hold bad tears as she left.
--
Dennis D. Calhoun
AKA Grasshopper

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Gator
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Years Owned: 1970 Toronado Custom

Re: wheels

Postby Gator » Fri Feb 06, 2015 3:30 pm

Good points about the engineering of the wheels.

Sometimes when you want to put out something that supposed to be revolutionary, some details are intentionally/unintentionally left off.

Can't really get into the heads of the automotive engineers of the time, but here are some considerations:

-No American company had done front wheel drive on this scale--not recently anyway. Everything required re-engineering. These guys had to think of it all. They didn't have any good or bad examples to learn from. "A 455 with FWD!!! Ludicrous! How do you plan to make it all fit?" "Oh hey, we'll just widen the stance a bit." "A bit? You'll never fit in a parking place." "Sure we will. It's called OFFSET." "Brilliant!"

-No one was really doing serious after-market work to the luxury brands. Custom wheels? Not like it is today. Some could argue that Olds isn't really lux, but that was the target audience for the first gen Toros.

-Who kept cars more than three years back then? The big three didn't want you to. Durability wasn't the main focus: I.E. Almost all power and weight is burdened on the two front wheels. 1600 lb load rating given above is probably a minimum requirement and doesn't speak to the real torture that these things get.

Anyway, we own them now--problems and all. I've rebuilt the following cars: 1970 Mustang Mach I, 1969 Corolla, 1974 Datsun B210, and 1985 Mustang GT (Drive-train Only). I've only just started on my Toronado project and I think it's going to be the most technically challenging rebuild I've done--by far. I'm not sure if I'll have the intestinal fortitude to stick it out, but I will try. Everything is just sooo...big. Many of the parts may as well be manufactured with spun glass and titanium--being delicate, expensive, and difficult to find.

Ah...good times!
Todd
1970 Toronado Custom

dcalhoun38581
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2014 5:41 pm
TOA Membership Number: 1138
Years Owned: 1967
I have one, but it's needs exceed my abilities and I'm putting it up for sale on EBay.

Re: wheels

Postby dcalhoun38581 » Fri Feb 06, 2015 6:23 pm

You've made some good points, Gator.

I wonder why someone even THOUGHT about trying to design and build these things with front wheel drive. I'd LOVE to see a Toronado built on the same configuration as a Cadillac Deville was back then, REAR wheel drive. What a beauty that would have been!
--
Dennis D. Calhoun
AKA Grasshopper

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Otto Skorzeny
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Years Owned: 1966 Toronado

Re: wheels

Postby Otto Skorzeny » Sat Feb 07, 2015 6:26 am

Jay Leno built one. You can see it on you tube or Jay Leno's garage.com.

dcalhoun38581
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2014 5:41 pm
TOA Membership Number: 1138
Years Owned: 1967
I have one, but it's needs exceed my abilities and I'm putting it up for sale on EBay.

Re: wheels

Postby dcalhoun38581 » Mon Mar 23, 2015 4:47 pm

This seems like another good source for original wheel specs and fitment for Toronados.

http://www.wheel-size.com/size/oldsmobile/toronado/
--
Dennis D. Calhoun
AKA Grasshopper


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