Help-GTA wheel question.............
- Thread starter GMLC2V6
- Start date
If it doesn't say front or rear than it's not a GTA wheel. Probably an ARE (American Racing) wheel. Where the lug nuts mount, is it inset or flat with the spokes? If flat with the spokes it's an ARE wheel. Riken made a similar wheel that I believe had wider webs, but I am not sure about the lug nut mounting surface. The ARE's also used a smaller center cap.
Vendor Defendor
Out the window
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2002
My GTA wheels don't have front or rear stamped on them. And they are legit. They are the ones with the dimple in the end of the spoke. Anyways, You can tell the difference by the spacing in the front. The fronts have more of a 'dish' then the rears.
Strange. I have a set of dimpled ones and a set of non-dimpled ones and they both have front and rear stamped on them???? I used to have a set of ARE's on a Trans AM back in the day, they did not have any front or rear stampings because they are generic wheels, not vehicle specific. If you have true GTA wheels there should at least be a part # to distinguish the two. The factory is not going to make 2 different offset rims and give them the same part #. If they are truely not labeled front and rear, they have to have different part #'s. Do you have pictures of your GTA's with no front or rear markings?
stickybones
What?
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2001
TOMS86GN said:
All I know is that's not a GTA/TransAm wheel.
stickybones
What?
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2001
GMLC2V6 said:
Can you post a picture of it?
Measure it. The BS of a GTA front is ~4.5". The BS of a GTA rear is ~5.25".
TOMS86GN said:
I would guess that it's a 16X7. It's not a GTA wheel, but it's very close in design. I would post a pic of my non-dimpled set, but of course the file is too large. Your wheel doesn't have BBS or Riken or ARE or Enkei? stamped on it anywhere?
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2003
The GNX rims are stamped front and rear. The GTA rims are also all stamped front or rear. When buying GTA rims you always want the dimple style. The reason GM made the dimple style is because the non dimple style rims the center hub was too weak and were famous for cracking and opening up when you installed or took tires off of them. Tons of people would get new tires and find the center caps no longer stay on the rim and just fall off. So the dimple style came out with a more hardend center hub. I guess GM added the dimple so they knew what was what. There was also a good number of companys that made GTA look a like rims.
Gary Wells
White turbo Buick trailer park trash
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2002
---------------------------------------phillyturbosix said:
http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/showthread.php?t=190452&highlight=GNX+rims
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Jim:
Real GNX rims were identified with the numbers -17 & -23, representing rear & front offsets, respectively, in metric. I don't beleive that either one carried the term "front" or "rear", and were further identified with the manufacturer's trademark, and maybe molding codes for dates, times, shifts, & so forth.
Real GNX rims were not dimpled, and were not known for cracking. At least I have never heard of any real GNX rims cracking or seperating. On GTA rims, I believe that up through '85 or '86 they were not dimpled, and '86 or '87 and upwards they were dimpled, and less desirable than the non-dimpled GTA rims. Some people have even been known to fill in the dimples for that "Re3al GNX look". I have never heard a specific reason as to why the earlier years were not dimpled and the later years were dimpled, but it would be very doubtful that the manufacturer, who I believe was JLL industries, or something like that would go to the trouble of using the dimples only to signify a different manufacturing process. The different manufacturing process were 1 piece, and 2 piece, and I do not remember which was which. Real GM center caps are not known for falling off, but all, or most of the center caps that fall off are aftermarket made in maybe Taiwan, and are made too small in the area of the mounting dimensions, and therefore fall off of the front rims when the rims expand due to the heat generated by the front brakes. I will not say who imports the aftermarket caps. The replica caps would most certainly stay even on the front running the factory spring wire clips designed for such. You have a good laugh coming as I unfortunately, learned all of this the hard way. Good luck in the upcoming East Coast blizzards, though.
Vendor Defendor
Out the window
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2002
I am 90% sure that my wheels aren't marked. I can see if I can find some pics or if when I get a chance I may consider pulling them off and looking for you :biggrin:
Vendor Defendor said:
One of my sets has them marked plain as day on the inside hub. The other are stamped on the backside of the webs in small writing. If the wheels are dirty or have brake dust/grime buildup, it is very easy to not see the writing. Check those places, if they are GTA's, they will be marked.
