Stock wheels

[brothapig]

Ok, all this work on my suspension has me looking closely at my wheels. I have stock chrome wheels, which are in ok shape on the outside, but the inside chrome is all coming off and peeling.
Where is there a good place to get really nice stock wheels at a resonable price? And what is a resonable price for that matter? $200? $400?

Or maybe it would be cheaper to get corvette wheels, since they don't make firebirds anymore? This is just something I've been seeing a little of on this forum.

I really want to keep the chrome.

[Injuneer]

You can get a wide variety of aftermarket wheels, including copies of the C4, C5 and C6 wheels, etc. And most of the OEM Corvette wheels will fit. The Repro wheels are in the range of $700-900 per set, dependig on size and finish. There's a small chance you may have to sand/grind the inside diameter of the new wheels to fit over the rear axle hubs, since up to some point in late 96 model year, the rear hubs on the F-Body are larger in diameter than the front hubs.

Your stock wheels are 16x8" with a 55mm offset, and a 5 x 4.75" (120.65mm) bolt circle. Most people move up to 17" or larger diameter wheels, since there is not much available in 16" wheels. 17x9.5" with an offset in the range of 45-56mm will work fine, with a 275/40-17 tire. In the back you can go to a 17x11 45-50mm offset wheel with a 315/35-17 tire, but it will involve a bit of hammering and cutting.

For Corvette wheels, watch out for the offset. Some of them have very large offsets that sink them too far into the wheel wells, causing rubbing on the inside fender liners.

If you want replacement stock wheels, check the various "for sale" forums on all the F-Body websites out there. Or look into getting you stock wheels rechromed. Its probably about the same price to get them rechromed as it would be for a full set of chromed aftermarket wheels.

Might also want to look at "polished" finish, with clearcoat. No problem with peeling, almost as shiney as chrome.