Weld Draglites: do we like them?

"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile) 03/17/2014 at 13:14 • Filed to: None

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I'm seeing some pretty convincing arguments.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/17/2014 at 13:16

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I like them!

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/17/2014 at 13:18

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I did a thing in MSPaint the other day to see how they look with a body-color center. Surprisingly good - even better with a lug cap.

theuserformerlyknownasaluminumfoil > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/17/2014 at 13:18

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Some cars can pull it off, some cannot.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > theuserformerlyknownasaluminumfoil 03/17/2014 at 13:20

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Are you putting the Falcon in the success bin or the failure one?

It's definitely a good look for Foxbodies and early Camaros, but I can see where, say, a Del Sol would be hideous.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/17/2014 at 13:21

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Interesting. Maybe I will have to see what photoshop does with draglites + montego.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/17/2014 at 13:22

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omg over 200 a wheel?!

f that sticking with the Mag 500 plan...

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/17/2014 at 13:26

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Most mags out there are a "hell no" for the Ranchero, so I'd been leaning toward steelies. However, steelies of the kind I like are not as cheap as they might be (for steelies), and *are* heavy. Artilleries particularly - Gennie style aren't too bad, but are are almost as hard to find used. I'm starting to suspect Draglites are a happy medium that's also affordable.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/17/2014 at 13:28

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I'm finding they're not murderously expensive if you get them used - and there are a lot on the market. Also, not bad compared with a lot of other classic style mags.

The worst are the billet smoothie wheels - more than double that.

crown victor victoria > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/17/2014 at 13:36

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How much do they weigh?

JACU - I've got bonifides. > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/17/2014 at 13:44

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Gee. Folks said that about my del Sol even when it had stock wheels!

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/17/2014 at 13:48

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these things are looking better and better then:

http://www.cjponyparts.com/wheel-vintique…

http://www.cjponyparts.com/scott-drake-ce…

(the center caps are expensive as shit though, and I swear I found red backed ones I wanted at one point...)

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > crown victor victoria 03/17/2014 at 13:52

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I was able to find out that the 3.5" ones weigh 10.8lb, the fuller width ones are probably about 12-13lb a wheel. Not the lightest wheels around, but lower-maintenance than a steelie for sure and very strong.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/17/2014 at 13:54

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My approach is, if I can wait long enough I should be able to get a used set of draglites $100-$150 a wheel (I've already seen some in that range). I like the GT-style five-spokes, but it doesn't seem to be the right look for a Falcon to my way of thinking - not at all.

Gizmo - The Only Good Gremlin, but don't feed me after Midnight > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/17/2014 at 13:54

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Not all cars can pull it off, but Weld has several good looking drag packs.

My favorite:

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/17/2014 at 13:56

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I was of course picking wheels for the Montego.

Heres a listing for some draglites on CL near me:

http://annarbor.craigslist.org/pts/4353149966…

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/17/2014 at 13:59

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Yeah, no way I'm putting 10"+ in the back of the Ranchero. One thing that makes the 15" draglite model quite attractive, though, is that they're dual-pattern like the Wheel Vintiques gennies and artilleries. No need to adapter-plate my Jag IRS from 5/4.75 to 5/4.5.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/17/2014 at 14:00

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No? don't want 10 +?

hahaha

crowmolly > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/17/2014 at 14:01

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Be aware that certian Weld wheels are not DOT approved. Look for a warning sticker on the barrel. They will be lightweight but will taco easily if you hit a pothole.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > crowmolly 03/17/2014 at 14:04

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All the Draglites in sane sizes I'm aware of are rated, and since I'm not looking at going beyond maybe a 7" width, in a car that's half the rating weight, I should be good.

crowmolly > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/17/2014 at 14:08

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OK cool. Just wanted to give you a heads up. Not that I've ever, say, bought a set of those wheels accidentally...

crown victor victoria > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/17/2014 at 14:11

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Wheel weights should be required information. I want to know bolt # and spacing, diameter, width, weight and offset. Usually in that order.

I'm sick of finding something I like and then "aw cripes they weight 22 lbs each!?" after like 30 minutes of searching for the information.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > crown victor victoria 03/17/2014 at 14:26

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I finally found a source on the weight of the Wheel Vintiques Gennie style wheels I was looking at before the Draglites: trimmed, in my size of interest, over 25lb . Yikes. That, and I found some horror stories about WV wheels out of true and with iffy chrome plating. MAG TIME

Philbert/Phartnagle > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/17/2014 at 16:56

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Yes we do! Or at least I do.

Another choice is to get some Sport Lite 8 hole wheels from Jegs.com

They are a good bit less expensive, look almost identical to the Weld Draglites and should work just as well for your purposes.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Philbert/Phartnagle 03/17/2014 at 17:06

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Nice pick. They're very similar, with the main difference that they're a cast/machined instead of a rolled/worked/welded. I'd have to mix and match if I used those between 5/4.5 and 5/4.75s as they're not dual-pattern (or use adapters), but as a basic wheel, not bad. The design, having as it does a thick disc, is probably less crippled by being a little weaker from cast vs. forged than typical alloys, and failure is probably way outside anything I'd be doing. I also have encountered a lot of single or pair front runner Draglite wheels (anything from a 3.5" to a 5") on craigslist and the like, so getting a skinny spare that's dual-pattern wouldn't be expensive at all.

Philbert/Phartnagle > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/17/2014 at 17:23

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I've personally seen the Jegs cast wheels used on some fairly high powered strip cars (3000+ pounds & 500-600 HP) and they held up ok with that usage, so I wouldn't be too concerned about them being cast myself either for just average DD usage. I might however, be a bit concerned about using them on anything that does much high speed cornering. I had a high school friend that was killed in a wreck caused by a cast aluminum wheel (Cragar Mag) snapping off on a corner when his car slid sideways, so I'm a bit paranoid about using them for anything to do with any substantial cornering forces.

I actually got both sets of my Weld Drag Lites (15x6 & 15x10) off of online forum classifieds.

IIRC, the 10" wheels I got for around $200 and the 6" wheels were $150 with the wider set being used, but the narrow set were still brand new in the box from a failed project. I don't think you will have much trouble finding what you want, but it may take a bit of searching and patience. Best of luck to you.

P.S. I'll keep my eyes open for a set for you too, dual pattern Ford & Chevy 5 bolt, 7" wide right?

theuserformerlyknownasaluminumfoil > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/17/2014 at 17:25

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Success.. barely.. There are plenty better wheels out there that suits teh Falcon. Thats just me though.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Philbert/Phartnagle 03/17/2014 at 17:35

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Yep, dual-pattern five-bolt 15"x7" is what I'm fairly sure I'm looking for at this point - might go with 6-inchers, though. High-speed cornering is hit and miss - the car is meant to *be able to* corner much harder than, say, a Falcon gasser, but it doesn't weigh much, and is likely to be on thin enough tires they'd lose grip first.

I'm really a fan of the artillery look, but given what Wheel Vintiques charges for theirs vs. how heavy they are, it's probably better to go this route. Also, I can get the drag-still mags, paint the center web, and use these or similar if I want the baby moon look:

Easy peasy - standard item for the 02-05 Explorer, fits 5/4.5" lugs (and presumably 4.75" with slight squabble), and doesn't need gennie/artillery cap rings. The only trick is getting lug nuts deep enough for the mag wheel and the collar clips - though both the Jegs and the Weld have fairly shallow retaining cones.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > theuserformerlyknownasaluminumfoil 03/17/2014 at 17:44

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I'm in a very nebulous area for wheels on an early Falcon: I don't necessarily like the Factory dog dishes much, and while GT and rallye wheels of various description generally work, they're overdone. I was contemplating artilleries, but I haven't actually seen what they look like in place. Wire wheels look great, but have performance drawbacks. Generally, I think the overall best look is a steelie with slightly different center cap than stock, but they're heavy as hell. Modern style wheels are right out.

theuserformerlyknownasaluminumfoil > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/17/2014 at 17:49

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What about Torque Thrusts? like a matte gray?

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > theuserformerlyknownasaluminumfoil 03/17/2014 at 17:51

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I was mostly alluding to them in the GT wheel category - I don't deny they look great in terms of fitting the car, I just for some reason don't care much for them as a wheel. Can't explain it, really. They're still head and shoulders over a modern wheel, but they're not my thing.

theuserformerlyknownasaluminumfoil > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/17/2014 at 17:53

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It's all good! I haven't seen too many Falcons with aftermarket wheels.. just in Forza really.
Different strokes for different folks dude!

The wheels you posted are pretty fitting though. The more I look at it the more they are growing on me

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > theuserformerlyknownasaluminumfoil 03/17/2014 at 17:53

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This? I will accept this as legitimately beautiful. However, a bit too "I'm a custom lol", even if the imputed "custom" is understood as within-decade.

theuserformerlyknownasaluminumfoil > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/17/2014 at 18:00

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I was thinking something like this

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/17/2014 at 23:48

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I've become partial to the pro-stars. Stuck 'em on my old girl. Pardon the garbage quality of the cell phone photo.