Heavy duty wheels?

Discussion in 'The Hides' started by Mike Trom, Mar 1, 2018.

  1. Mike Trom

    Mike Trom Platinum Level Contributor

    What is the difference between "heavy duty" wheels offered as part of the Rallye Ride Control Package?

    What if you ordered the V2 Chrome plated wheels and the F41 option were the wheels different? I doubt it but I always wondered what heavy duty wheels referred to.

    Option F41/H6
    Rallye ride control package- HEAVY DUTY WHEELS, rear stabilizer bar, front and rear firm ride tuned shocks, rear firm ride springs and rear lower control arm assembly.
     
  2. pbr400

    pbr400 68GS400

    Wasn’t the GS standard steel wheel wider than the same on a Special/Skylark? (Possibly the GS wheel was the station wagon version?) Maybe on a car that wasn’t a GS the suspension upgrade meant the standard wheel was upgraded to the wider steel wheel, and all the optional wheels were ‘heavy duty’. Just a theory...
    Patrick
     
  3. DBS

    DBS Well-Known Member

    I've wondered the same regarding the Trailer Tow.
     
  4. Mike Trom

    Mike Trom Platinum Level Contributor

    I believe the GS and Lark wheels were the same if you ordered them. My GS rallye are 14x6, same as the Lark version.
     
  5. pbr400

    pbr400 68GS400

    Right, if you ordered optional wheels. But, according to my ‘68 Service manual, the standard wheel on Special Deluxe, Skylark, and Skylark Custom was 14x5. The first two were coded “K”, the third coded “J”. The first two show an option of 14x6 “JK””, which is the standard wheel on GS and A body wagons. Maybe every wheel other than the standard 14x5 was ‘heavy duty’. I wonder if the F41/H6 option was cheaper on a car with 14x6 standard vs a car with 14x5 standard?
    Patrick
     
  6. Mike Trom

    Mike Trom Platinum Level Contributor

    Price was the same for F41. If 14x6 was "heavy duty" and standard on the GS/Wagon why would there be a heavy duty wheel listed as part of the F41 option? Just a marketing ploy possibly?

    So where the V2 chrome plated wheels for the Skylark 14x5 while the GS was 14x6? I believe they were all 14x6.
     
  7. pbr400

    pbr400 68GS400

    I would defer to you; you have all the pricing info and other factory information. I’m just guessing, but I’d think it likely to be either a marketeting ploy or failure to clarify that ‘unless you’re buying a Special, Skylark, or Skylark Custom with steel wheels you already have heavy duty wheels’. That make more sense to me than two versions of every wheel. (It’s surprising they even bothered with the 14x5.) It would have been more expensive to do the latter, plus there’s no part number, code, or size evidence of it, other than the standard steelies. Surely it would have surfaced by now. Might be a question for Denny or Joe.
    Patrick
     
  8. pbr400

    pbr400 68GS400

    If you find an answer, I’d love to know. These little details are fascinating to me.
    Patrick
     
  9. DBS

    DBS Well-Known Member

    So looking @ a '71 Assy. Manual ('70 would be more interesting because of the availability of a 15x7 plain steel wheel but the wheel chart is missing in my '70 assy. manual and I'm too tired tonight to dig into the CSM or Parts books, but I will), there were standard 14" steel wheels (code HJ) which came on all A-Bodies and a heavy-duty 14" steel wheels (Code LR) if Rallye Ride (F41 or F40 Firm Ride), Trailer Tow (G50) or Heavy Duty Wheels (N99 - I think would be considered an SCO option) were ordered.

    There is no separate Heavy-Duty wheel if chrome (14" WJ or 15" WM) or Super-Sport (WL) wheels were ordered so apparently they figured it wasn't worth the extra cost for the optional wheels - They were Heavy-Duty by default and the extra cost of same was worked into the option cost.

    Interestingly, as Mike noted (if you could Mike, check for '71), the cost of F-41 or G-50 was the same whether one ordered chrome/styled wheels or not so at least in theory GM made a little more $ if one ordered the optional wheels and F-41 or G-50 as the customer was essentially paying 2X for the Heavy-Duty wheels. I smell a class action lawsuit here:).
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2018
  10. dl7265

    dl7265 No car then Mopar

    Don’t see it on the order form .
     

    Attached Files:

  11. Mike Trom

    Mike Trom Platinum Level Contributor

    Heavy Duty Wheels do not show up as part of the option package text on the order form until 1971. The original window stickers I have it is listed as part of the F41 option package text starting in 1969 even though it is not on the order sheet.

    Check out Marcos web site for order sheets
    http://www.stage1registry.com/registry.html
     
  12. DBS

    DBS Well-Known Member

    I noticed that too on the order forms. Shows up G50 (at least in '70, didn't look @ '69) but not in F41. At least now I know if I want to put original wheels on my factory G50 GS, they're not as much of a needle in a haystack as I thought. I wonder if it shows up on the order form in F40, which I assume was a Skylark option. I saw a Skylark order form somewhere recently.
     
  13. Mike Trom

    Mike Trom Platinum Level Contributor

    So right now it seems that the "heavy duty" wheels were 14x6 and not the standard 14x5. Even though 14x6 were standard on the GS, GM still called them out on some order forms or in window sticker text as if it were an option.
     
  14. scubasteve455

    scubasteve455 Well-Known Member

    14x6 Heavy Duty ? Seems like a Big Heavy car 15x7 should be.
     
  15. scubasteve455

    scubasteve455 Well-Known Member

    I got 14x6 on my car. They look like Whimpy car
     
  16. Mike Trom

    Mike Trom Platinum Level Contributor

    15x7 was not available until 1970 for "A" body cars.
     

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