Pretty ticked right now...Rally wheels

[bigblock73]

So the tires on my "new" '75 are pretty old, dry rotted, and one has developed a slow leak now. I decided to pick up some Rally wheels, I had 2, found 2 more locally. Brought them to the powdercoating shop and had them coated. Brought the newly coated wheels, along with four used (but virtually new) tires to the tire shop...told them what to do, and I would pick up the truck tomorrow on its new wheels and tires. Just got a call from the tire shop...3 of the 4 wheels will not fit the truck, the hub center is too small to slide over the spindle and drum center...about 3/16" too small.

What the hell?! I thought these wheels were identical from 73 all the way up to the end. Now I have to find a machine shop to hog out the centers, without damaging the powdercoting...and will obviously have to touch up the machined surface with a primer and/or paint.

Has anyone else heard of this, regarding the Rally wheel difference?

Also, any feedback on the machining process...what would be my best option?

So irritated right now, I don't have a bottomless checkbook, and the last thing I needed was this.

[lolife99]

Are these truck rally wheels or corvette style aftermarket rally's
Never heard of them not fitting.
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[bigblock73]

Keith, truck Rally wheels. 5 on 5.

[lolife99]

3/16" seems like alot on the hub diameter.

Are they the old 73-87 version?
I've never had them not fit.

Or are they the 88-98 version?
(even those have always fit for me).

[bigblock73]

These are the old version, typical 73-87 style.

Were ALL van Rallys 7" ? The ones I have are the 8" version, just want to make sure there are no 8" van Rallys that could be causing this.

Going to go to the shop in the morning and take a look.

[SCOTI]

I've never ran across a GM van/truck ralley that wouldn't bolt up to a 71-98 5-lug hub.

[f.monroe]

I have never heard of that issue . I would imagine you will know more tomorrow when you look at them in person. Since you state that they are all 8's I cant imagine what could be wrong . Especialy since you had two already and the other two are from a different source . I would love to see pics .
I bet you will know where the problem lies within minutes of laying eyes on it . I just cant imagine a Rally not fitting a stock truck.
Frank

[rwhit57]

My guess is it's the powder coating, a rotary file should solve the problem.

[54Caddy]

with a set of stock steel wheels after i had them coated they fit tightly around the hubs so i filed them down and there fine.

[Pop's C-10]

Could it be there a build of pc in tha center..

[bigblock73]

The guy at the shop said they are about 3/16" too small...doubt the PC is that thick. I could see it being 1/32" or so and a bit snug...but he was talking about how the wheels were made...fire cut vs pressed, etc. Who knows, will be there at 7:30 when they open to see for myself.

[lolife99]

Van ralleys were 6.5" wide.
Truck ralleys were either 7" or 8" wide.

I'm interested to see what you find out,...

[old Rusty C10]

jeff ive never had an issue.. ive purposely bought van rallyes for the fronts and wider pickup ones for the back. Ive never had any kind of issue with this... is it possible there is an after,aket rotor or something that is a tad wider or something?

[b454rat]

does the bolt pattern match the truck?? I thought GM was 5x5 1/2"?? I haven't had a 2wd in years so dunno. But Dodge and Jeep I think had a rally wheel that is virtually identical to the GM rally, maybe you got those??

[SCOTI]

GM 1/2 ton 2wd truck was 5x5 from 71-98. My guess is PC build-up causing interference.

[b454rat]

Yep just did some checking, 5x5.

As was mentioned before, 3/16 is a lot of build up for PC. Hard to get a mental picture of the wheel, pics would be great when you get them.....

[bigblock73]

Ok, just got back from the shop...no pics, but i will try to explain.

1 wheel has a center opening that is not a perfect circle, but more "squared off" for a lack of a better term, and the holes where the center caps screw to are raised. This wheel fits all four corners of the truck...and the wheel looks factory, un modified.

3 wheels have a perfect circle for the center, the screw holes for the center caps are not raised, and none of them fit any corner of the truck. These wheels look factory as well. The wheels will not seat against the rotor/drum. I would guess it is less than 3/16", but until they can mic the old rims and these, I won't know for sure.

So to sum it up, there is indeed a difference between Rallys...and I am thinking the earlier trucks had different diam rotor and drum centers, whereas the later trucks might have been smaller ones and never caused anyone any problems.

So now I need to find a shop to machine the centers of the rims slightly.

[lolife99]

Jeff,... I don't think there is much room for any "extra" material at the hub.
Combine that with aftermarket "parts house" rotors and I can see where there might be a problem.
Seems like everytime I paint a set of ralley wheels,... the center hub knocks the paint off the bore of the wheel as soon as you install them.
Post up pics when you get a chance,... I want to see the difference in the wheels.

[73gmc454]

Mine wouldnt go on at all untill I took a diegrinder and removed all the powdercoat, even had to remove some metal maybe .010"-.020" , they are still really tight and not easy to get off

[rwhit57]

After thinking about this overnight, it seems I remember running into this years ago. I know several times at the salvage scrounging for Rallyes I have had to go through a bunch to get 4 to match. Normally it's width, but ocassionally I would see slight differences, even offset. I'm sure over the years Chevrolet has had multiple suppliers for these wheels. Also There was the GMC and the Chevrolet line.

[bigblock73]

OK, here is a pic of each wheel. The first pic, with the round center, does not fit the truck. The second one, with the not-so-round center fits the truck. The first one is just a tad over 1/16" smaller than the second. The powdercoating is nowhere near that thick...so I need to get 3 rims machined.

Notice the lug and center cap seating surfaces on the second rim, whereas the first is completely flat?

The offset/backspace and rim width is identical on all 4.

Well, now we all know something new about these trucks...I just found out the hard way.

[Hoods69BadBowTie]

Wow damn I can say I have never seen that before let alone heard about it that I can remember. That sucks though! Hope its an easy fix and you can get them on the truck asap

[SCOTI]

The rims should be 9" outside lip to outside lip (making them 8" wide + bead dimension). Can you verify this on yours?

[Tx Firefighter]

I've powdercoated a lot of rally wheels in the last few years and owned a whole lot of them currently and in the past. They have all been like the first picture and none like the second picture. I went out to my shop and looked at 10 wheels, both 6.5 width and 8 width, all with the round centers. That's a weird one.

[f.monroe]

Jeff, You have to be different dont you. J/K.
I have never seen one like the second one pictured. Just like Tx Firefighter , all of th rallys I have ever seen have looked like the first one pictured. I do remember seeing a Chrysler big Car with a factory wheel that looks identical to a GM truck Rally . I do not know what BP they used on the big car line but I have seen Rally wheels on them so maybe a 5"bp. Some even had a chromed center and painted rim. I wonder if that second pictured wheel is a GM wheel at all. I am also curious about the wheel dimensions.
Frank