Rear Caliper Grinding for Drag Wheels

[1999Black_Z28]

I have officially given up on the Greg Weld rear drag wheels that were supposed to fit over LS1 rear calipers without grinding. I ordered them in March 2008 and they are still not available. I already have the fronts mounted with tires and instead of missing another drag season I have decided to buy different wheels for the rear.

I have narrowed my choices down to either 15x8 Summit stars or 15x10 prostars. The prostars are lighter and allow for wider tires but the Summit stars are cheaper and require less grinding (or so I have heard).

Does anyone have any pictures of rear LS1 calipers ground down to fit either 15x8 Summit stars or 15x10 prostars? Or at least, can you tell me how much you had to grind and where? Oh, and I'm not interested in running spacers (for appearance and safety reasons).

[DETROITMUSCLE]

I know Larry OF1VET has done this and he said it wasn't too bad at all. If it were me though I'd find a set on LS1tech that someone already ground down and buy them and swap em on, that way if you ever get rid of them or go to greg welds or bogarts you can resell them or w/e you decide.

[1999Black_Z28]

That's not a bad idea but I'm just too anal to trust someone I don't know to grind my brakes. And if I f' them up or if I decide to buy different wheels I can get re-conditioned calipers from Autozone for $60 + $25 core.

I was hoping that someone on here (i.e. Larry) might be able to give me a couple hints before I pull out the grinder and go to work.

[OIF1VET]

I'm here!!! LOL It wasn't to bad grinding, the summitts require MUCH less grinding then the Prostars.. I first ground down the high points on the caliper and then it was a matter of putting the rim on, checking, taking off and grinding, repeat till they fit.. I had to grind front and rear. Sorry I don't have any pics of just the calipers and my car isn't here.. I'll look through my photobucket and if I find anything I'll post them.. It really isn't that bad, 20-30 minutes per caliper. To save grinding, if you don't mind the wheel weights on the outside of the rim it will save you a lot of grinding. Mine are on the inside of the rim so had to grind more for clearance.. I probably only have an 1/8" of clearance and after a full season I pulled the rims for storage and not a mark on the inside of the rims.. Also I know on Tech they say the stars don't really save you any weight over stock, I beg to differ. I asked Summitt, they say 4 lbs per rim heavier than prostars. As an example I went from 12.68 on 18's w/DR's to a 12.12 on the stars w/DR's.

[1999Black_Z28]

I'm here!!! LOL It wasn't to bad grinding, the summitts require MUCH less grinding then the Prostars.. I first ground down the high points on the caliper and then it was a matter of putting the rim on, checking, taking off and grinding, repeat till they fit.. I had to grind front and rear. Sorry I don't have any pics of just the calipers and my car isn't here.. I'll look through my photobucket and if I find anything I'll post them.. It really isn't that bad, 20-30 minutes per caliper. To save grinding, if you don't mind the wheel weights on the outside of the rim it will save you a lot of grinding. Mine are on the inside of the rim so had to grind more for clearance.. I probably only have an 1/8" of clearance and after a full season I pulled the rims for storage and not a mark on the inside of the rims.. Also I know on Tech they say the stars don't really save you any weight over stock, I beg to differ. I asked Summitt, they say 4 lbs per rim heavier than prostars. As an example I went from 12.68 on 18's w/DR's to a 12.12 on the stars w/DR's.

Thanks Larry!!! I agree that for the few times I go to the track in a season the extra 4 lbs over prostars really isn't worth the extra grinding or money. I think I might order the summit stars very soon.

[OIF1VET]

Thanks Larry!!! I agree that for the few times I go to the track in a season the extra 4 lbs over prostars really isn't worth the extra grinding or money. I think I might order the summit stars very soon.

Mine are 15x4 w1.75BS up front with MT Sportsman SR's 26x6x15 and 15x8 w/5.5BS and MT ET Streets 275x50x15. Tires cost me more than the rims..lol

[kammi10]

yep im gonna order mine in a few months for sure..

[1999Black_Z28]

I'm still planning to keep my greg welds up front. I think it looks good with the summit stars in the rear and the greg welds up front. I have attached 2 examples from LS1-tech. Let me know what you think...

[c0ncEpT]

One advantage of a Prostar is going to be the fact you can get them in 10in wide. 325's look way to bulgey on an 8in wide rim.

[1BADAIR]

325's are HUGE. I have a set here, well two sets and theres no way I am puttng them on my car

[OIF1VET]

One advantage of a Prostar is going to be the fact you can get them in 10in wide. 325's look way to bulgey on an 8in wide rim.

U'd be crazy to put 325's on an 8" rim.. I run 275's and that's about max..

[DETROITMUSCLE]

no guys, he means that he loves the look of 325s on our cars and that can only be done on a 10" wide wheel. Its a bit overkill lol but I agree looks very mean.

[1999Black_Z28]

This time around I plan to run a bias-ply, probably MT ET Street 27x10.5" which is designed for an 8" wide wheel. I ran the MT ET Street Radials in the past and they drove awesome on the street but they didn't work well with a manual trans in my opinion.

[OIF1VET]

This time around I plan to run a bias-ply, probably MT ET Street 27x10.5" which is designed for an 8" wide wheel. I ran the MT ET Street Radials in the past and they drove awesome on the street but they didn't work well with a manual trans in my opinion.

They sure work great with an A4!!!

[1999Black_Z28]

They sure work great with an A4!!!

Yes they do. I've seen plenty of single digit cars running them and they are more than sticky enough; they were just too stiff to absorb the shock of a 5k+ clutch dump (according to Mickey Thompson and from experience).