I just acquired a really nice set of 15x6 Buick Rally wheels. Will these fit my 71 Riviera, or should they be 15x7? I need to know before I put any work into them. Thanks!
I "believe" the 71 Riv wheels would be a 5" bolt pattern, not the 4.75" bolt pattern that is on the Skylark/GS cars. The "spokes" on the big car rims have a distinct curve inward, while the 4.75 BP rims have spokes that are relatively straight. 15x6 sounds right for 5" bp wheels, I'm sure someone else here can say for certain.
Not all 15 x 6 wheels are created equal. A few subtle differences exist between years. Check backspacing, contour, hub diameter, existence of ring in back for locating... Maybe search this site for references... But 15 x 7 were a little later-'73 although they are the best for putting wider tires on the car.
There's a difference between the Ralley wheels on cars with drum brakes and cars with disc brakes. If I remember well: drum brake wheels don't fit on the disc brake cars. (that's only for the front wheels ofcourse)
What you really need to determine is the bolt pattern of these wheels. If they are not a 5" BP, they will not fit your 71 Riv. Can you post a pic of them?
from an old post about big car chrome wheels: The later wheels used a 3-7/8 backspacing while the 70 and earlier ones used a 3-3/8 backspacing. If they are 15x7s they will have 4-1/4 backspacing. Both of these wheels take adapaters to be used on 70 and earlier cars. They actually made 6 big car wheels, 1 design in 64 for the large wheel hubs, a different one in 65 for the new smaller wheelhubs, 66-67 saw a non disc wheel identical to the 65 except for a larger center cap hole, 67-70 wheels were made to fit discs and drums (67 they where brake specific), 71~85 depending on the car was the last 15x6 and had altered back spacing and back to the small center cap hole, finally the 80-87 15x7 came out with the big backspacing and small center cap hole. Thanks to the June 02 Bugle for all of that. There were many versions of the 5" bolt pattern wheels. The first one was available on 64 Wildcats only. It had charcoal colored center, larger hub diameter, no register ring and 2" hole for center cap mounting. the size was 15X6. Their backspacing differed from the more common 71 and later wheels and allowed to clear the drum fins (the wheels stood about " outward compared to the later ones) The second type was available on 65 Wildcats and Rivieras and was identical to the 64 wheel save for the addition of a register ring because of the smaller hub diameter. The Third type of wheels available on the 66-67 Wildcats and Rivieras without disc brakes and were painted a darker charcoal and had 2 1/8" hole for the center cap. The fourth type were available on 67 Wildcat/Riviera with disc brakes and on all 68 Wildcat/Riviera models and on some 69-70 full size cars. They were similar to the third type but thd space for caliper clearance and were painted black. The fifth type is the common 71 and later wheels and they had a new smaller hub diameter whitout a register ring, were having a different backspacing that made them stand inboard of the car and switched back to a 2" center hole like the 64-65 wheels. A 15x7" model similar to that wheel also came later.
I have found in the past that your best chance of finding the 15x7's are on the Estage Wagons of the 80's.
