14" to 15" wheel/tire conversion

[91red]

what is the best (least expensive) wheel to upgrade my 1991 s-10 2wd with 14" wheels/bald tires to a 15" package?
Thanks

[TopDogg]

I just recently spent a lot of time figuring out which tire size I wanted when switching to 15"s. I bought a set of Corvette/Monte ralley wheels 15x7 off of ebay for a decent price. They have a 4 inch backspacing. I would of preffered 3-3.5" backspacing. I then chose a set of BFGoodrich radial T/As 225/70/R15. Over all diameter of this tire is 27.4". They fit the 7" rims real good and tires dont rub when turning. And the cost wasnt high at all. I have a much better ride also. I could of went with 235/70/R15 which probably would of gave me a better look (for my preference) but I got a great deal on 2 of my current tires. My S10 is a 92 by the way. A lot of 4x4 S10s I see around that year have 235/75/R15. After reading your question again it seems though you might only want to know about a cheap set of rims. What is your taste? Steel? Aluminum? Wide? Have you searched ebay for a used set of rims or a wheel/tire combo? Local newspaper? If you want an off road look US wheel and Rock Crawler (all found at Summitracing.com or any offroad magazine) make a decent steel wheel in chrome, black, or white. They range from $30 up per rim. The street locks look real good. You can also find reproduction chevy ralley wheels at wheelvintiques.com or look them up on ebay. They sell rims there cheaper than thier website. Ebay user ID is wheelvintiques. If you have more specifics reply with post. Good Luck.

[91red]

Thanks for the reply dogg. What I am looking at is my 14" tores are toast and I figure now is the time to get a little more rubber under this truck at the same time. I will be happy with the stock 15X7 s-10 rims, but was wondering what else I can look for in the junkyard that will give me the same backspacing and bolt pattern.

[TopDogg]

You should be able to find factory S10 wheels 15" in the bone yard. Any 5 lug rear wheel drive GM cars should work with some exceptions. A lot of people use 15x7 5 star Camaro ralleys. They are aluminum and are found on 3rd generation Camaros. They go real cheap on ebay. I will reply again to this post with auction numbers on ebay of wheels that I am talking about. .. The aluminum S10 4x4 rims found on years around late 80s to mid 90s are 15x7 but I am not sure if the front ones will fit. Someone told me just to get 4 rears. This was my plan til I found some old vette ralleys. Any wheels from newer S10 will work too.

[TopDogg]

Go to Ebay.com and in the search type in 2440244094 or try 2439727809 These are each a set of Camaro ralleys from the 80s that might go pretty cheap. Dont buy from anyone with a bad feedback rating though.

[91red]

thanks for the help!

[el_oscuro]

I have 15" Cragar chromies on my S10 (rwd) with 235/60's (S-rated) all around. My truck does not have power steering or power brakes and is the 4 cyl "Iron Duke". When backing up, I sometimes experience tire rub in my front left well, but it only happens when I'm backing up.
A 4x4 will not have the same problem since they have solid front axle and sit quite a bit higher. A 6cyl 2wd might sit even lower than the 4cyl in the front and could rub even more. Even though my tires are almost low-profile, the wheel spacing itself lends to that rubbing (i.e. the wheel is not "deep enough").
Old school Camaro wheels (IROC) with 70 series tires will probably have some kind of rub. Last-gen Camaro wheels will definitely NOT work unless you get the spindle and hub-spacing right, not to mention some lug studs may not be long enough for some wheels.
As stated before in this thread, most OEM GM RWD wheels will probably work if they are from older models.

[TopDogg]

You might want to check that theory on S10s having solid axles. One could only wish they did. Any GM 5x4.75" bolt circle wheel will fit. If your backspacing is excessive or different from front to back (camaro or vette wheels) you can simply buy wheel spacers to correct problem. You can install NEW Z06 vette wheels if you wanted to spend the $$$. All you would need is spacers to put between wheels and drum/rotors. You wont need longer studs either because they make spacers with both studs and stud holes. Go to ebay and search for "wheel spacers" or "wheel adapters" My 225/70R15s dont rub at all. A real good look would be the 91-92 16x8 camaro wheels which came on RS and Z28 models. They will fit with a set of spacers and they look great with the all terrain look or street look. 93-96 camaro rims will work also but the styles werent to attractive in thos years. How about some 94-96 Impala SS wheels? They would look great if you can find them. Dont worry about the center caps which say IMPALA or have the logo. You can get a set of caps from the newer models of Impala,Malibu or Monte Carlo that will fit. Same goes for the Camaro wheels from 91-96 which say CAMARO on them. THe caps found on newer models have a bowtie logo on them. Mid 90s Montes have red bowties on their caps. I installed a set on my friends RED 92 Z28 and its one of a kind. Possibilities are endless. You can even get adapters for your S10 (5x4.75" stud pattern) to fit many different bolt circles. Just check out all the adapters on ebay.