According to Cragar, they now make the classic S/S wheel for the 97 on up F150. Does anyone have these wheels and could you please post a picture? Have you ever seen a vehicle that didn't look better with Cragars?

 

I bought four Cragars for my resto 1970 Cutlass. What a nightmare. I couldn't get anyone to balance these worth a s*it. They are lug centric and not hub centric, so balancing must be done with the wheel mounted via the studs on a balancing machine. I found only one place in this area with such a machine. They took and hour and a half to do all four wheels. I was excited. Then I dove it. Rattled my teeth out at 35mph. My last resort was an older mechanic who had one of those "Balance them on the car" spinner machines. He had to put a new electrical cord on it since he hadn't used it for years. Well, that worked very well. Pretty smooth now. But, I can't rotate without another balance, and I have to pray he doesn't retire anytime soon as no other mechanic at the shop even knows what that balance thingy is.
I'd LOVE to throw my Cragars in the dumpster, but after $400, I'll have to wait a while. The chrome is starting to pit after one year also. And this is on a car that doesn't go out in rain or snow.
Does that help? Just say no to those POS Cragars.

 

I really love the way Crager S/S look. They were the first custom wheels I ever had. If they were available for my truck when I got my wheels, I would have gone for them in a second.

Linetest sure has had some bad luck with them. I went with a look-alike in the Centerlines. You don't even want me to get started on how lousy the finish is on them. It’s to bad that two “old” custom wheel makers have let the quality of their product suffer.

 

I didn't mean to light off. I'm actaully a nice person. But when I blow $400+ on wheels and can't a smooth ride, I get pissed.
There are Cragars out there from some twenty-thirty years ago that are holding up, but the new ones are crap. When I went to buy these, I had to order twelve wheels before I ended with four that had no scratches, blemishes, or pits. I should've walked away right then, but I wanted that Cragar look! They've just gone to h*ll over the years. AR makes the torque thrust, and the slider, which look pretty decent. Anything but a Cragar.

 

Linetest:
I feel for ya buddy. But what does a 70 Cutlass have to do with 97 on up F150s? Does anyone out there know where Cragara is located?

 

I reference the Cutlass, as that is what I put them on. The quality is poor. You think the wheels for an F-150 would be of higher quality or easier to balance ????? Whatever.
www.cragar.com

I believe they are in Nevada.

 

Linetest What do you mean by Lug Centric? I would think that the wheel's center hole is center. If the lugs were slightly off of center you would get a wobble regardless of how you balanced them.

 

The problem is that there is not much care taken to ensure the center hole is perfect. Because of the mag style, the center hole is not perfectly shaped (according to Cragar). They say the only way to balance is via the lugs. You are right about the wobble using this method. The lug holes are oblong to allow "universal" applications. So, these have to be mounted on YOUR vehicle with YOUR lugs, tightened before a decent balance can be performed. I can't believe this had to be done with all the wheels they sold in the sixties and seventies, but back then it wasn't unusual to have an on the car balance or to have the staic "bubble" balance performed. You'd have to find an old school mechanic to get either of those done these days. Nothing against those in the auto service industry, but without the new computer "guidence", some of these "mechanics" would be lost.
There are far too many wheels out today that can be balanced correctly on modern spin machines to have to deal with this nonsense. To make my point clear again, when I look at the Cutlass with the Cragars, it looks superb. Of the two wheel types I wanted, only the Cragar SS still existed and I went with it. It's just a pain in the A** to deal with them. Just wanted to give those interested (even though they are not on my truck) some heads up about this particular wheel in hopes that I can save someone some grief.
I also doubt that the load rating for this wheel (if Cragar even knows), is not high, making it a poor selection for a truck that may see some load bearing duty.
My F-150 is going to see some American Racing wheels soon. I haven't seen any complaints about those.

 

I have contacted Cragar. They are making wheels for the F150s specific bolt pattern.

 

If they are making it a specific application without the "universal" stud holes, that would be impressive. I can't imagine them doing it, as they would have to create many different wheels for the various truck applications. Anyway, that wouldd be great. And maybe, they can do a better job plating them too.
If you get a set, let me know how they look out of the box.

 

Linetest I am not talking wheels with the uni-lug type bolt pattern.....I am talking about the direct bolt wheels that are purpose drilled for one bolt pattern only.
I had a set of uni-lugs wheels back in the early 80s and every time you removed them, the balance changed.