15" wheels

M

mwood

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The recent thread on 14" tires made me think posting this up might be helpful...a pic of a soon to be available, new wheel option for our cars.

I've been working with VTO wheels, the supplier of the Minilite replicas Tim Suddard used on the Classic Motorsports Tiger project wheels, towards production of a 15" replica of the old American Racing Libre wheel. The picture is of a prototype, which has a mocked up 4X108 bolt pattern for test fitting purposes. Final versions will have the 4X108 pattern, along with pressed steel inserts to allow use of modern 60 degree conical lug nuts.

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Very Cool Indeed! Thanks for your efforts. Any idea of cost? Will they be a square set up or???
 
Forgot to mention...I have no financial interest in this project. I went to VTO because: a) I wanted something different and b) I love the vintage Libre look. So, my efforts are a labor of love. :)

First run will be both 15X6" and 15X7". Offsets are being finalized, but should be fairly close to the common Panasport set up. The 7's may have just a little bit less backspacing, which should work nicely.

I'm assuming cost will be in line with their other wheels...under $200/corner.
 
Actually under $200 a corner is cheap--hope it comes in that low. The last 2 sets of wheels I purchased were right around $1000 for all 4 and that was with my jobber discount.
 
cobrakidz said:
Actually under $200 a corner is cheap--hope it comes in that low.
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Yes it is and yes it will :)

The foundry work is done in a new facility in China which keeps cost reasonable. QC appears to be very good, based on the VTO wheels I've seen and measured. Only real give up is weight. They will be about .5 to .7/lb heavier per corner than the Panasports. I ran the 8 spoke VTO's on my car at SUNI and got TToD on 195 Toyos vs. Dale's monster and Tom's car on V710's and never felt the extra weight :lol:
 
I like the libre look on the tigers and alpines but wonder if 15 with only 4 spokes will end up looking a bit hollow when on the car? The 23 look great as the spokes are chunky and not to much fresh air between them... Think they offer 14 for our application currently ? The correct offestes would be a bug help... Keep us up to date... Be nice to have some other options and the PSE halibrands seem to be harder to get from new supplier and the image whhels out of UK are prohibitively expensive
 
michael-king said:
I like the libre look on the tigers and alpines but wonder if 15 with only 4 spokes will end up looking a bit hollow when on the car? The 23 look great as the spokes are chunky and not to much fresh air between them... Think they offer 14 for our application currently ? The correct offestes would be a bug help... Keep us up to date... Be nice to have some other options and the PSE halibrands seem to be harder to get from new supplier and the image whhels out of UK are prohibitively expensive
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I was thinking the same thing. Someday I hope to trim down a ford 8.8" rear end that already has the 5 bolt pattern with disk brakes. Up front I am hoping to have some kind of modified 5 bolt hub or some such custom hub with fancy brakes.
Until then, this is my computer background shot. Yep it's photo-shopped...

American racing still makes these but not too sure the offsets are right for the wheels offered. The rears don't matter cuz the axle can be cut to fit. The front might prove to be more difficult.

Cheers, -Kevin

1965_sunbeam_tiger_3_0copy_zps676011c5.jpg
 
There were a few folks I spoke with who were worried about the "translation" going to a 15" in the Libre. When they saw the actual wheel, they felt VTO had gotten the dimensions right. Wheels are a personal choice and these may not work for all, of course :)

I had the prototype set on my car at the concours at SUNI. To be honest, I felt the wheels looked fine, but the overall look was very much let down by the small 195 Toyos and my 4X4 ride height up front. Once I get the production wheels, I'll figure out what tires to run...good news, there are tons of choices in 15" diameter. You have to go all the way to 17" to find an equally supported wheel diameter.
 
mwood said:
There were a few folks I spoke with who were worried about the "translation" going to a 15" in the Libre. When they saw the actual wheel, they felt VTO had gotten the dimensions right. Wheels are a personal choice and these may not work for all, of course :)

I had the prototype set on my car at the concours at SUNI. To be honest, I felt the wheels looked fine, but the overall look was very much let down by the small 195 Toyos and my 4X4 ride height up front. Once I get the production wheels, I'll figure out what tires to run...good news, there are tons of choices in 15" diameter. You have to go all the way to 17" to find an equally supported wheel diameter.
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I dont suppose you have a picture of the wheels on the car? Would be great to see to get a feel for the proportions.
 
I had the American Libre 13" wheels on my first Tiger and the offset was perfect! They do show a fair amount behind the wheels- seeing discs is a lot more appealing than seeing rusty drums!
 
hottigr said:
I had the American Libre 13" wheels on my first Tiger and the offset was perfect! They do show a fair amount behind the wheels- seeing discs is a lot more appealing than seeing rusty drums!
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That's my concern with going to a 2" larger wheel... there is a fair bit of air on 13" I have seen 14.. and they were alright... just wondering about 15...

that said.. its great to have the option.


IIRC wasnt modtiger at one point looking into 15" LAT70s?
 
These VTO Libre Wheels Look Great

I have a set of 14" on my black car and like the look. Do you know if the VTO wheels will take the original hubs? Mine have the fake knock-off spinners.
Bugz
 
Doctorbugz said:
I have a set of 14" on my black car and like the look. Do you know if the VTO wheels will take the original hubs? Mine have the fake knock-off spinners.
Bugz
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Those wheels look terrific on your car! And, I should add, I dig those spinners. Full Discloser: My Tiger is triple black running silver Panasports at the moment. Hmmmmm…..
 
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Doctorbugz said:
I have a set of 14" on my black car and like the look. Do you know if the VTO wheels will take the original hubs? Mine have the fake knock-off spinners.
Bugz
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The hub bore will be correct for the application, but I don't know that it means your spinners will fit. Do you know the OD?
 
Erich said:
Yes he was. I emailed him about them a couple of months ago.

He said the project was dead. I am still sad about that.
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Yep. But, there may still be hope for a 15" LAT70. Just not from that manufacturer. Too early to really get hopes up, though.
 
Original Libre Spinners

The spinner is attached to a separate machined hub that is held into the wheel by three setscrews. The thread is 3" in diameter and the spinner is locked on by a set screw after snugging down. The wheel casting is machined inside for the thread adapter and outside it blends with the spinner. From the look of the VTO wheels on their website I do not think there is much opportunity for a match.

A custom hub would have to be machined and adapted to the VTO for me to use the spinner.
 
Erich said:
Yes he was. I emailed him about them a couple of months ago.

He said the project was dead. I am still sad about that.
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In the real world it costs more than a thousand bucks each wheel to make a
set of one off wheels.. I know I have done that several times not counting the investment cast SST spinners. There are plenty of places to get this stuff done
but not for two hundred bucks a wheel...it is what it is.....

Moondoggy
 
Moondoggie said:
In the real world it costs more than a thousand bucks each wheel to make a
set of one off wheels.. I know I have done that several times not counting the investment cast SST spinners. There are plenty of places to get this stuff done
but not for two hundred bucks a wheel...it is what it is.....

Moondoggy
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Yep. To get cost down requires a production, cast (whether gravity or spun cast) wheel and some scale to amortize the cost of the molds. For most manufacturers (whether CCW, Jongbloed, Kodiak etc) doing custom one offs, cost is mostly around time spent machining custom centers (if a typical three piece design) as the halves are off the shelf. We've gone through that with race wheels, but cost has been less because we haven't spec'ed the design of the wheel center...more in the $700/corner range.

Doctorbugz, after seeing how the spinners are configured on the 14" wheels, I agree with your assessment. New threaded adapters would have to be machined to use the spinners on the VTO.
 
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