Will GNX offset GTA's fit without fender flares?

[turbobuick1]

This is a little bit long winded but bear with me. Here's the situation. I have on my car two 'front' GTAs and two 'rear' GTAs, mounted that way on the Grand National. I have a set of BF Goodrich 245/50/16s and 255/50/16s for the rear.

Obviously, there is no way the 255s will fit with the 'rear' GTAs. I know it would be a tight but reasonable fit with a set of 'front' GTAs mounted on the rear, but I don't want to go thru the hassle of buying front GTAs and trying to sell my not so desirable 'rear' GTAs that are damaged on the back lip anyway. And I don't want to use spacers or longer studs either.

Now the question is, if I send these wheels off to True Design Wheel to have them change these 'rear' GTAs to a GNX offset, will the tire/wheel combo clear the rear quarter panel/wheel well lip? I know ASC put fender flares on the GNXs, but was it really neccessary? Or was it just to make the GNX that much more different than a GN?

Oh, and from what I understand, a 'rear' GTA wheel has a 5.25" backspacing, and a rear GNX wheel has a 3 9/16" backspacing.

Does anybody have any personal experience with this, or any input?

 

[BlackMetal]

You will be fine. Not sure if they thought the flares were truly a necessity or just a nice design improvement, but you can fit them perfectly fine.

I've have 16x8s with GNX tire sizes (245s and 255s), and a pretty wide stance because I needed to install 1" thick wheel adapters to correct the bolt pattern. Still doesn't rub.

Only issue would be if you want to drop the car really low and have it "sittin in the weeds", then maybe there'd be some rubbing without tucking the wheels further in.

 

[novaderrik]

when i first put my GTA's on my Regal, they had 255/60's on all 4 of them, and they cleared perfect in the rear. at the time, i had just one set- 2 fronts, 2 rears- with the fronts on the rear and the rears on the front with 5/16"' spacers.
everything cleared and fit perfect.
the car looked flat out evil with the 255's all around. the GNX flares are just something that ASC tacked onto the cars to make them stand out from the "normal" GN and really serve no purpose beyond looks.

 

[turbobuick1]

Thanks for the responses guys. I'm definitely gonna go ahead and have my 'rear' GTAs offset changed. Thanks for your input Blackmetal, that convinced me with your setup. Definitely interesting to hear novaderrik's experience with 255s all around, that was something I had always been meaning to ask someone about. Why did you take them off?

 

[novaderrik]

i took them off because the tires were all old and dry rotted, and i didn't get another set of 255's because it's an oddball size that no local places carry
so i got a set of 245/50 Fuzions when it was time for new tires.
someday, i will put 255's back on the car- it just looked evil with that size all around.

 

[theMonch]

There is a guy on eBay rodzgnautoparts296 that sells a complete set of properly rebuilt and offset GNX wheels for $1600 last time I checked. I have purchased a set from him that I have the fronts to right now, and I am waiting for the rears (first set of rears were damaged by UPS in shipping) They are absolutely faantastic. TDW wanted $2300 plus shipping of around 200-300 for a set with ne cores. I know that he is a little back-logged right now with the production of them, but if you can wait a few weeks then I would give him a try. I can dig up his direct contact info if you wish.

Here are a few picts of them that he used in the auction I had won.

I have the same size tires you are attemting to run as well. As soon as the rears and the tires show, I'll let you know how they work out.

 

[BOOSTD1]

4 Gta Fronts

255/50/16 Rear
245/50/16 Front

 

[turbobuick1]

I have the same size tires you are attemting to run as well. As soon as the rears and the tires show, I'll let you know how they work out.

Please do; man that GNX offset looks great. I didn't know about the guy on ebay. Post up some pics when you get it all mounted. I sent the guys at True Design Wheel an email, hopefully they'll give me a quote on Monday.

Sweet car Boostd1! How close to the frame are you in the rear? I know the body on frame mounting of regals are all a little different, but I hear that about a finger/hands width is the typical clearance.

 

[BOOSTD1]

3/4 Of An Inch

 

[BlackMetal]

Those eBay GNX wheels look great. Much better than the shallow GTA offset.

 

[bad V6]

On the street I run a set of GTA wheels that have been refinished by True Design Wheel. They do quality work, the wheels are absolutely beautiful. The set that I have are 4" BS on the front and rear. On the front are have 245/50zr16 and on the rear 255/50zr16 BF Goodrich g-Sport tires. I have no fitment issues.

 

[ccognetta]

GNX Rear Offset

Let me know the cost, and if he will give us a deal for a couple of sets.

 

[turbobuick1]

Any pics Badv6?

 

[bad V6]

I have no pics with the GTA's mounted. I'm going to be swapping them out and bolting up the Centerline wheels and drag radials either today or tomorrow. I'm getting prepped for the track this weekend. I'll get some pics of them prior to removing and after.

Don't hold me to it, but I've think I read on here that GBody Parts wheels are redone by True Design Wheel.

 

[phillyturbosix]

I know ASC put fender flares on the GNXs, but was it really neccessary? Or was it just to make the GNX that much more different than a GN?

The reason for the fender flares were because when you run the GTA's or GNX rims they stick out further then a typical GN rim. That means your fenders and quarter panels will get all chipped up from rocks and road crap flying up on your car. The flares protected the fenders and quarter panels from rock chips for the most part. I ran 4 fronts on my GN and I always seemed to hear "stuff" hitting the sides of the car.

 

[ttypewhite]

If I could through my 2 cents in, I would say to support our turbobuick vendors. brian at G-Bodyparts did my rear GTA rims. i wanted to put a large tire in the rear and and wanted it on a wider rim. I was always a fan of a deep dish lip in the rear,"IF" it stayed in the fender and didn't poke out like the ol Joe Dirt style. I had sent Brian 2 GTA fronts (which to my understanding didn't make a difference). He had the center section cut out of the rim and welded in new 10" shells to change the 16"x8" to 16" x10". In my signature is the final product mounted on 295/50/16. If you wanted to put GNX flares on it, then IMO you would have to add more lip to the front so the tire/rim combo sits properly in there. My rim/tire combo with a set of GNX flares would look odd because they would be to far recessed in the wheel well. But Brian has GN's at his disposal where he can take measurements and make sure you get exactly what you are looking for. Get in contact with him and let him know your plan, then the rest is history. Good luck.

 

[GSX-PKV]

Last weekend, I put new Classic Industries GNX repro wheels with 255's on the rear and 245's on the front and there is plenty of room! Paul

 

[daturbosix]

Last weekend, I put new Classic Industries GNX repro wheels with 255's on the rear and 245's on the front and there is plenty of room! Paul

how was the overall condition of them?
how do they rank up to OEM gta wheels?

 

[GSX-PKV]

They are VERY nice! They are dead on replicas IMO. I don't see how they could be any nicer and they were packaged extremely well and shipped to me super quickly!

 

[turbobuick1]

Here are some pictures of GNX offset wheels on a T-type with no GNX flares, courtesy of Rodz on ebay (I asked for his permission to post em). He sent me a message what it took to make this work:

"You do need to do some cutting on your car because the offset is exactly as the GNX wheels, on the gnx car was done the same thing, on bought of T's i only cut on the rears only... I cut about 5 inches on the top of the lip. on the front turning wise is perfect no promblems what so ever"

So I'm thinking if cutting the inner lip is not your cup of tea, maybe you could use the Eastwood lip roller to gain clearance.

Other than that, those GNX wheels sit just great in the non-GNX flare wheelwells!

I asked him too about road debris being thrown at the body with the GNX wheels, and he didn't mention anything about it.

Unfortunately for me, buying those GNX-offset wheels is not in the car budget right now, so I will be restoring a set of front GTA's for my GN. But someday....

Enjoy the pics!