09-07-2008, 11:22 AM | #1 |
Drives: 2006 Cobalt, 2004 Taurus wagon Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: California
Posts: 3,812
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Cobalt Wheels
Warning: Rant below.
So when I bought my 2006 Cobalt LS, it was a dealer dress-up including aftermarket wheels. With the aftermarket wheels, they used slightly different wheels in the back, identical to the fronts except for a slightly deeper lip created by angling the spokes back from the hub (same offset front/back) toward the center-line. I guess the deeper lip was supposed to make it look like wider wheel/tire combo in the back. I went along with it anyway because the wheels themselves looked great. Unfortunately, this setup nixes the possibility of tire rotation, and I bought this car to be affordable. So I come up with the great solution to just get a set of Cobalt SS wheels and sell my old ones to make up part of the cost. I found a brand new set on craigslist for 400 bucks, and everything looked great until I realized: GM, in all its wisdom, gave 2006 non-SS Cobalts 4-100 bolt patterns, while all SS models got 5-110 bolt patters. AAAARGH. End rant.
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"It's kind of fun to do the impossible" - Walt Disney
There's a great big beautiful tomorrow shining at the end of every day There's a great big beautiful tomorrow Just a dream away |
09-07-2008, 12:19 PM | #2 |
I used to be Dragoneye...
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Did you buy them before you knew that?
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09-07-2008, 01:02 PM | #3 |
Not That sad..considering
Drives: Man Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: the part of washington the capital forgot about.
Posts: 3,747
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i use staggered heighths and widths on all my vehicles and have not had any problems not rotating. biggest thing is to make sure all the wheels are spinning true and your front end is aligned
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Stop Whinging
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09-07-2008, 02:03 PM | #4 |
Drives: 2006 Cobalt, 2004 Taurus wagon Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: California
Posts: 3,812
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I'll man up and confess to being stupid. When it was on the showroom floor, they actually put the deep lips on one side and the shallow lips on the other, and the difference was subtle enough that you couldn't tell. It wasn't until later that they were put on in the correct pattern. I also didn't realize at the time but this wheel/tire combo was slightly bigger than stock, slightly altering the speedo (2 mph off at 60 mph). Being the first car I bought dealer dress-up, I naively assumed they would have put on a same-size combo rather than just bolting on whatever looked good. Oops. I figured the easiest way to get back to a GM-quality set-up would be to bolt on some SS wheels, but no, the bolt pattern is different. So now I'm trying to find a wheel/tire combo that matches the stock hight and offset, is affordable, rotatable, and long-ish lasting. :bangdesk: I understand I have no one to blame but myself, and I take this as a learning experience, but it is an expensive learning experience.
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"It's kind of fun to do the impossible" - Walt Disney
There's a great big beautiful tomorrow shining at the end of every day There's a great big beautiful tomorrow Just a dream away |
09-07-2008, 02:07 PM | #5 | |
*new car smell*
Drives: 2007 Ford Mustang 'Natasha' Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Jamestown, NY
Posts: 2,127
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Quote:
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"May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house."
George Carlin |
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09-07-2008, 05:23 PM | #6 |
I used to be Dragoneye...
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Ouch...
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09-07-2008, 05:45 PM | #7 |
Drives: 2006 Cobalt, 2004 Taurus wagon Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: California
Posts: 3,812
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Semi-good news. Currently the wheel/tire combo I have (what the dealership put on, the one that's too big) is 225/45-ZR17 on 17X7.5 inch wheels. It looks like I can fit 215/45-ZR17 tires of the same brand on the same wheels. Not only are they cheaper, but according to my tire-size calculator they are almost exactly the same total diameter as the OEM wheel/tire package. I still can't rotate, but otherwise everything is good. Given that I'm getting over 30,000 miles on the tires, not rotating isn't a huge deal.
Still, when I get my Camaro, I'm not doing any dealer-dress up. If the dealer puts anything on, it will only be at my exact ordering at time of purchase. I'm older, wiser, and a little poorer now.
__________________
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible" - Walt Disney
There's a great big beautiful tomorrow shining at the end of every day There's a great big beautiful tomorrow Just a dream away |
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