New 6x5 black wheels for Trailblazers

[Chickenhawk]

I went from 16-inch to 17-inch winter tires (Michelin Latitude X-Ice Xi2) and wanted to get black rims to match my beloved American Racing black Trench wheels but if course they are no longer in production. Not wanting to settle for black steelies, I did some shopping around plus visited my local tire shop. I was quite surprised.

As our platform ages, wheels choices are getting slimmer BUT there are a couple of new models on the market that are - surprisingly - available in our 6x127mm (6x5) bolt pattern.

Tire Rack has a couple of new choices in black. I almost ordered the Sport Edition TK7 wheel:

These are the ones my dealer recommended. Vision Wheels "Milanni" line has a 9042 Sultan wheel in our bolt pattern.

http://www.visionwheel.com/wheel/32065/9042-sultan-matte-black-wanthracite-spoke-ends/

They were delivered to me in Winnipeg Canada in under two weeks and my dealer had them ready to go right away. I was originally going to spray bomb the anthracite accents to match the black, but now that I got them on, I will stick with the factory color.


There seems to be more choices in Trailblazer wheels now than there was two years ago.

Anyone else found some great choices?

If anyone is on the Manitoba area, my local garage is Canadian Supershops on Portage Avenue in Winnipeg. Good folks and they delivered what I wanted, at the price they promised and faster than expected.

 

[Mooseman]

Very nice! But now you need to upgrade your front brakes!

 

[Chickenhawk]

LOL! I will assume you are talking about the EXT brakes with the larger diameter rotors, now that I have more room and never need to fit 16s again.

You couldn't possibly be talking about cross-drilled rotors, as I am one of the ones who exposed the junk science behind the principle of cross-drilled rotors. I also showed photos of what a grooved rotor looks like when it starts to delaminate in areas of snow and salt.

My opinion:
1) New cross-drilled rotors are better than old rotors of any kind.
2) Good quality cross-drilled rotors do not perform nearly as well as good quality solid rotors.
3) On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with good quality cross-drilled rotors if people are going for the looks. The decrease in performance is minimal.

I will go with cross-drilled rotors when high-performance police cars come with them, airliners use them and NASCAR racers put them on their road-course cars. Until then, they are just for looks.

But you are right my friend. Those new wheels make the rotors look a bit small. Mind you, with NAPA premium coated rotors and NAPA Adaptive One brake pads (with the same Nucap Retention System waffle-like "hooks" bonding the pad to the backing plate as the Raybestos police pursuit-rated brake pad) I think I am pretty well covered. In every emergency stop, my first thought has always been, "Wow. Nice brakes!" and not, "Damn! I wish I had a larger rotor."

On the other hand, if we as owners didn't do stuff sometimes just for the looks, enthusiast forums probably wouldn't exist.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

I did feel like the larger diameter made a difference when I did the switch. If you need brakes it is too cheap od mod not to take advantage of, but I dont see a reason until then.

 

[Mooseman]

Oh hell no about drilled and slotted! Pads are no problem to keep since they are the same. Just the EXT sized rotors to change. I'll have a pair of brackets if ever you're interested (shameless plug for parts).

If you think your brakes are great now, imagine with bigger rotors!

 

[Chickenhawk]

Next pad and rotor change, it will be done. Good suggestion!

 

[trager]

Great new set up. One guy here got those vision wheels on his Trailblazer and it does look great on red truck.

 

[LouisTB]

Can you run those vision wheels without spacers on stock height?

 

[Chickenhawk]

Yes, it is close to stock offset and were made specifically for the Trailblazer/Envoy.