Suspension , Brake & Wheel upgrade complete !!

dynoman

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Nov 30, 2009
This all started back in January with a Wilwood 6 piston front brake upgrade and morphed into Global West upper & lower A-arms plus Champion billet wheels all around . Because of the new wheels I needed longer studs and you can't have new wheels without new tires , so MT's all around . I almost forgot new wheels also need new 2-tone 12pt billet lugs to complete the package . All of this because my son said " you got to show off those brakes !! " , He likes spending my money ! Sam
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275 / 60 / 15 on 10" rims . I thought my old rims were 10" wide but they were 9" , so now these same size tires are 1 1/2" wider . I thought they looked wider after I had them mounted , so I laid them down next to each other and laid a 4' level across the new tire , yup 1 1/2" wider. These are slightly different than the old DR's which have been discontinued . They have a 3rd groove down the center but the same compound rubber . Maybe they are a tad wider for the size listed ??
http://www.jegs.com/i/Mickey+Thomps...198237259031&gclid=CLWr9aL4v84CFQKNaQodxZkNuA
 
Looks awesome Sam!! I love the wheels. I think you should do the Willwood on the rear now. Lol. What size are the front tires?


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Any notching or fender roll to make those rear wheel tire combo fit? If ya don't mind, what did the wheels cost ya?
 
Any notching or fender roll to make those rear wheel tire combo fit? If ya don't mind, what did the wheels cost ya?
No notch or fender roll , but they will hit right now if I hit a big bump . I will probably roll the the fenders since I have wb_7354's fender roller !! I would like to tuck the rears in at least 3" , but that would require a notch or mini tub + narrowing the rear end $$$$$$ . The body sits above the tire by about 1" where it would make contact with no air in the air bags . The air bags help stiffen up the rear suspension and keep the body off the tire . I haven't had it out on the road yet since I just finished yesterday and it finally rained for the first time in weeks .
 
The wheels with lugs and shipping were just a little over $2000 . The lugs alone were $250 . Plus a 10 week wait for the custom build , and NO returns if you measure wrong ! 15x10 -4" back space for the rear & 15x3.5 - 1.75" back space for the front . Here is a link to their website
http://www.championbillet.com/drag-wheels/
 
Wilwood doesn't make rear disc that fit 15" wheels , something about not enough room for the internal drum E-brake .
The fronts are MT S/R radial 26-6r-15

http://www.jegs.com/i/Mickey+Thomps...172118410151&gclid=COecs56Mwc4CFYsfhgod_SEBqg

That is not entirely true. I had 140-2112-b rear brakes and they are 12,19" diameter disk. Had to drop down to Wilwood to drop down to 140-11398 kit that has 11 inch rotors. You are correct that neither has E-brake. Both will fit a 15-inch wheel.
 
Looks great. I wonder if I just took out a loan and bought a set of $250 lug nuts my car would be any faster. Can't afford the wheels or the brakes, but 1/2 lb less rotating should be good for something. One day I'll be able to. After both the kids are out of college in 10-12 years.

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Scott , The Bling factor and less rotating mass , How could I resist !!
 
Dyno man
Your wheels are gorgeous. Now I want to buy some champion billet wheels for myself.
Have some questions:
Are you using the stock size wheel studs?
If you are, is this the right size:
7/16"-20 THREAD STUBBY END 60° TAPER

Front 15 by 3 1/2 with 1.75 back space
Rear = I want to get 8" wheels with a 4" back space, cause I don't want to notch the frame or roll my fender lip. This should work right?

I have stock brakes front and back. Is there something else I should be looking into before I place my order?
Thanks ahead of time.
 
Dyno man
Your wheels are gorgeous. Now I want to buy some champion billet wheels for myself.
Have some questions:
Are you using the stock size wheel studs?
If you are, is this the right size:
7/16"-20 THREAD STUBBY END 60° TAPER

Front 15 by 3 1/2 with 1.75 back space
Rear = I want to get 8" wheels with a 4" back space, cause I don't want to notch the frame or roll my fender lip. This should work right?

I have stock brakes front and back. Is there something else I should be looking into before I place my order?
Thanks ahead of time.

I am not using stock wheel studs . First they are too short , and second I'm not using stock rotors & calipers ( Wilwood )on the front and Quick Preformace 9" on the rear .

Stock studs are 12mm x 1.5 , I went with 1/2 x 20 x 3" , front and rear .

The proper lugs are listed with each wheel but not included . Go to the billet lugnut drop down box on their site to select .

I wish I could say yes those measurements will fit on a stock suspension , but I can't .On the front I had to use a 1/4" spacer to give me just a little more clearance from the 6 piston Wilwood calipers ( cleared but was about a 1/16" ) . On the rear , I went from a 15x9 ( I thought they were 15x10 ) with the exact same 4" back space . The new mounted tires were 1 1/2" wider at the sidewall , and went from 1/4" tire to frame , to 1" with the new wheels !!! I don't have an explanation for this and yes I measured them side by side with straight edges more than once . Maybe it has something to do with the thickness of the wheel center section ( which is thicker than the old wheels ).
This is how my front brake up grade snowballed into a narrowed 9" & frame notch . I didn't like how the tires stuck out and had to get them tucked in a little .
On a side note , at your power level if your still using your stock driveshaft and rearend , keep an eye on them . Your at 3x stock power !! Sam
 
I am not using stock wheel studs . First they are too short , and second I'm not using stock rotors & calipers ( Wilwood )on the front and Quick Preformace 9" on the rear .

Stock studs are 12mm x 1.5 , I went with 1/2 x 20 x 3" , front and rear .

The proper lugs are listed with each wheel but not included . Go to the billet lugnut drop down box on their site to select .

I wish I could say yes those measurements will fit on a stock suspension , but I can't .On the front I had to use a 1/4" spacer to give me just a little more clearance from the 6 piston Wilwood calipers ( cleared but was about a 1/16" ) . On the rear , I went from a 15x9 ( I thought they were 15x10 ) with the exact same 4" back space . The new mounted tires were 1 1/2" wider at the sidewall , and went from 1/4" tire to frame , to 1" with the new wheels !!! I don't have an explanation for this and yes I measured them side by side with straight edges more than once . Maybe it has something to do with the thickness of the wheel center section ( which is thicker than the old wheels ).
This is how my front brake up grade snowballed into a narrowed 9" & frame notch . I didn't like how the tires stuck out and had to get them tucked in a little .
On a side note , at your power level if your still using your stock driveshaft and rearend , keep an eye on them . Your at 3x stock power !! Sam
I have after market studs but the stock length and stock treads. I always wanted to be able to swap from my weld wheels to stock wheels and I didn't want the studs to stick out. On my weld Draglites I have a 41/2 back space in the rear , with a half inch spacer on the driver's side and 1/4 inch spacer on the passenger side. When I use to run the Mickey Thompson drag radials, I was using a 1/4 inch spacer on both sides, but my Hoosier drag radials are a little wider. My weld Draglites in the front have a 1.75 back space, si I don't see a problem there.
So you are telling me that if I use the stock length studs, they won't work with these wheels?
When you measure studs, do you measure from the front part of the disk and from the flat part of the drum brake in the rear?
I run a bigger Denny's Chrome moly drive shaft .
I have a stock beefed up rear diff, with C clip eliminators, 30 or 31 spline moser axles, Eaton 30 or 31 spline posi unit, girdled and braced.
Thanks for responding.
Marco
 
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