I recieved the AR Santa Cruz wheels during the monsoon wednesday, so I didnt get a chance to dry fit them until yesterday afternoon. They seem to fit just fine with no clearance issues at all. Which I might add simply pisses me off since there is no reason they cant produce a 15x8 wheel with similar design, but I've spun that rant before so I'll shut up.

The issue now is what jaybur had mentioned in previous post. The offset of this wheel places the tire back under the fender pretty much in the stock location. As a result the wheel looks like a glitzy stock wheel. I does have a small lip and the rivet heads around the rim but with out the dish the other rims had it makes this one look small. Maybe I'm passing judgement since I'm sure it would look different with tires mounted on them. I stare at my PT Cruiser and almost find it hard to believe these two wheels are the same size. I'm not really knocking so much it just this wasnt the look I was shooting for. I like the way my present wheels move the edge of the tire out to the fenderline, tucking them back up under the car will detract from the look I think.

I dont know if I will be able to return these since they were not a stock item but I'm going to check Monday and see what the cost might be. If its too much then I guess I might as well eat my humble pie and be quiet. On the other hand when you spend this much money you should be able to get what you want.
I'll see what my options are on Monday. It may wind up costing me another $60-90 to return them but if I dont like the look after Imount tires on them then trying to sell them off will result in more of a loss than that.

gosh you must like to throw away your $$ trying to make up your mind, but hey wheels are cheeper than a whole car like me

you are right about it being cheaper to return them, than selling them after you mount tires up.

I see it all the time on craigslist, guy spends $2600 on rims and tires for his truck, guy finds out his truck is a big dog since he didn't re-gear, and also gas mileage is even worse.

guy decides to put stock wheels back on and sell the hardly used aftermarket.

guy puts add on craigslist for $1200 for wheels and tires.

guy gets no replies at $1200 for 2 weeks straight, guy drops price to $900 (now a $1700 loss) still trying to sell them.

live and learn??


as for you tbat,

I am sorry you are going through so much hassle with finding wheels that fit, and then finding ones you like.

maybe look into craigslist?? yea they are used, but let the other guy absorb the losses...

so far I've only spent about $60 sending back the single wheels that didnt fit. I did take a $50 hit and $39 restocking fee on the chrome Jeep wheels that I had to send back...so overall it really hasnt hit me that hard. I dont know what I'll find out on the Santa Cruz wheels but we'll see. It really is a shame they dont offer an 8in wheel in this style...if it had the deep lip on the front it might look pretty good.

If I can send these back I'm pretty sure I'llgo back to one of the Weld styles and just use the .25in spacers.

If you don't like it, don't run them. You're going to dislike it every time you look at it.

well, where is the update tbat?


just curious on what you decided to do.

Sorry, been out of town for a couple days...my wife took me on train trip to NYC...Xmas lights, snow and visiting friends...pretty fun trip and its the first time I've ever traveled by train.

Back on topic, I spoke with Jim and he contacted his rep at AR and they agreed to allow me to return the wheels as long as I pay the shipping charges...more than fair since they didnt impose any kind of restocking fee.

I am pretty sure this is my last dance so to speak since I had to do alittle "talking" to get this done. So my next choice had better be the right one. I can either stick with the Weld Rodlites in 15x8/5.5 backspace and use a .25in spacer to clear the caliper bracket. I feel certain this setup will work but this also means a polished aluminum wheel that will require regular polishing to keep it looking nice (Santa bring me a Mothers PowerBall!)

The other more surefire option is to just dump the whole RWL idea and settle for nice set of 17in wheels from the AR warehouse that I know will fit. The 235/55/17 tires comes in many varieties and some at very good prices. I have considered the "Rogue" wheel with the gloss black center in 17x8.
I'm packing the Santa Cruz wheels up tonight and shipping them tomorrow so I'll have to decide soon before I call him back. I want a solid decision since I dont want to push this situation any further.

gosh you go threw wheels like i do undies

TBat, If you go for a 17x8 wheel there's no reason why you couldn't go for a 245/45/17 or a 255/45/17 tire. I think your car rides high enough for either, but the 245's would fit really nice in there. I preferred the extra width on mine though, even if it did rub every once in awhile.

I'm not going thru whole sets of wheels...most of these I have had just one wheel shipped to test for fitment and when it didnt fit it was returned and another tried. So far my credit card has only been charged for one set of wheels which I am returning and I'll have credit towrds whatever other set I choose.

Keep in mind these people want your business and all the advertising online doesnt mean they dont want to do business there. Jim has been extrordinary in his level of service but thats also why I wont look at other brands since he has "won over" my business. others would be wise to follow his lead.

Has anyone else had to deal with polishing aluminum wheels?...and if so was it something that must be done constantly to keep them looking nice?...or was it a "once a month" touch up kind of thing?

Tbat have you looked at spoked wheels?

Slick Tim want's a taller sidewall to take some of the jounce off of his kidneys.

Aren't stockers aluminum alloy? Should be similar to the upkeep of a non-alloy aluminum I would think.

stockers are aluminum. But they usually have a clear coat over the metal so they'll retain their shine.

is there anything to shine up the stock hi-po torque stars? bring back the bling? haha

My mom has polished wheels on her car and I use eagle one nanopolish on them once a month. But I wash her car every two weeks and use soap on the wheels to keep them clean but the nanopolish does pretty good far as keeping the salt, snow, rain, etc on the wheels.