my 12 to 13 inch steel wheel upgrade project PICS

[RossT]

The trim rings finally came in. They were cheap. $22 for a set of 4. They are ABS plastic. Thanks to those that suggested trim rings. They look great.
Here are some pics of the rings, lugs and center cap just laying on the rims.

Next step will be to have an alignment done. Then I will put the new rims on and take before and after pics.

[dwendt1978]

Wow! Those are definitely sharp! Great job and great write up so far. Can't wait to see them on the car.

[RossT]

Looks like this thread is coming to an end. Had my alignment done today. $42 after coupon. So on went the new 13 inch rims and tires from the mitsubishi mirage. Here is a before and after.





One final pic is more than likely enough, but I got carried away with the camera!!

[GM Line Rat]

Excellent job on the 12" to 13" rim swap Ross...... I read this thread earlier this morning, then this afternoon, My Son and I were coming back from Home Depot on the interstate with a full load of ceramic tile and underlayment in the Chevy Truck.....Then what pulls up in front of us???.....An early 90's front wheel drive Mitsubishi Mirage with 13" rims..... .

[RossT]

GM...

That is strange! But did he have chrome trim rings?

I have to admit, it took some nerve to pound those trim rings into the freshly
painted rims, knowing that they will scratch the HXXL out of them.

To me, they look better in person than in the photos. I am happy so far. There is a big difference in ride. I am going to check my mileage
to see if it dips any.

I too have a son and he learned how to drive in a metro. I think it was easy for him to learn on it.

The car in this thread is my daughters. She just doesn't seem to get how excited dad is about the upgrade. I even hinted that the boys may strike up a conversation over those awesome looking rims. Sadly, she just doesn't understand.

Thanks for the compliments. It's alway satifying to do something yourself.

[RossT]

Just an update. I have ran a couple of tanks of gas thru the car with the larger tires on it. The assumption is that the larger diameter tire would decrease mileage in town and raise mileage on the highway. My intown mileage has actually has gone up by about 2 MPG. I attribute this to having an alignment done. The car now drives in a straight line.

The car handles better and there is alot less road noise too.


So far so good. Hopefully these tires will be better in the winter. That is the whole purpose of doing this.

[RossT]

One last update...

It occured to me that if you do what i did you will need to remember the following:

1. The new bulge lug nuts use a different size lug wrench than what is in the trunk
of your metro, so you need to carry the proper size in case you have a flat.

2. If you have a flat, it would be a good idea to have 4 of the old lug nuts to
match your old spare.

[RossT]

Another update. After two winters my new wheels are doing well.
But the gorilla lug nuts are starting to rust, some worse than others.
These bulg lug nuts from gorilla are not covered under their lifetime warantee.

I am going to switch to the all black ATV lug 10x1.25 that others have used.
They are cheaper and the reseller claims that if you only use a 6 point lug
wrench they shouldn't rust. We will see.