Rims or Wheels, what size do you have on your car, ha!

[Steve68Cougar]

....and why do we motor on down the road, ha. Google car/truck wheel, and some ads will list wheels and rims. I get really confused about where exactly the steering wheel rim is, since it is not nearly as defined as the lip of a wheel. It is no wonder someone from a Foreign Country has trouble understanding the nuances of our language as it changes and morphs, when banging on a road course can get you a shot rim, but it is not a rim shot.

Well, they did make rim blow steering wheels for a while. If you can activate the horn on one of those, then you've apparently found the rim. We have people over from other countries frequently (currently have a Uruguayan PhD student living with us), and it has definitely made it clear just how much slang we use and how confusing it can be. While I like to speel things correctly (yes, I meant that), I've also learned that spelling ability has nothing to do with how smart someone is.

 

[funksouljon]

When my 12 year old daughter hangs out with her friends at our house I hear them calling each other "bro".

YES! Mine do that as well. When they call their mother that, its also a good laugh. "Come on bro, can't we....... ?"

 

[RodS197]

Apex 18x11 wheels with 295/30-18 Toyo RR tyres mounted to the rims. (If that wasn‘t a catch all phrase)

Growing up in California, distance was measured in minutes, not miles, it was ”you guys” regardless.

Went to Autozone the other day for some Jetta rear dampers, and the guy looked at me funny until I called it a shock…

 

[Dave_W]

I'll typically say wheel vs rim. Growing up in the SW part of CT, most of the regional lingo is influenced by NYC, though there's some New Englander thrown in for good measure. "Guys" is a generic, genderless term to me.

My sister went to college in TX, so I learned that "y'all" is singular, even though it has "all" in it - the plural form is "all y'all."

Sometimes I have to do car term conversions in my head, as the first car I really wrenched on was a Triumph Spitfire, so I learned Little British Car names for things from the manuals - gudgeon pin, escutcheon plate, propeller/prop shaft, etc. My Dad also had a series of LBCs when I was little, and one of the local autocross/gymkhana clubs he raced with was Bonnet & Boot.

 

[KazarS197]

You gies sucked me in to this thred. Now I don't no wat to call nothing! Does "felly" only work for wooden or can it be used with metal thingies that hold a tyre?

 

[Bill Pemberton]

FunkSoul -- thanks for the little tidbit of knowledge about " Goodwin's Law." I started this silly thread only because I kept catching myself typing in rims every time I spoke about the size of wheels someone might want to use. Love the " Edit " button as I could go back and change to " Wheels " because BS1 is correct, but like so many words I wondered if it was a regional thing. So just having fun with this , because over the years selling the majority of performance vehicles around the Country ( since there is only a tiny population in Nebraska ) I found many words used only in certain areas. Now I wonder if " Goodwin's Law " is for folks who want to correct grammatical mistakes what do we call goofy old men who like to have fun with the play on words ---- drum roll, with RIM shot, ha!

I will admit I have never experienced rimspin under power coming out of a turn, ha. Play on words and double meanings can often be fun and I have 18x11 Apex Wheels on my Boss S, with some tiny 18x9.5 BBS rims for rain tires. Hmmm.......wheels does sound more massive and masculine, maybe rim is a female term?

 

[racer47]

Too bad they can't spell tire correctly......

 

[Bill Pemberton]

I find the English spelling tire-ing , but then I wonder what TymeSlayer would think?

 

[funksouljon]

Apex 18x11 wheels with 295/30-18 Toyo RR tyres mounted to the rims. (If that wasn‘t a catch all phrase)

Growing up in California, distance was measured in minutes, not miles, it was ”you guys” regardless.

Went to Autozone the other day for some Jetta rear dampers, and the guy looked at me funny until I called it a shock…

Did you ask for a damper, dampener or a shock?


I had a long discussion with a Brit about the propensity of referring to distance in time. Reality is, I don't care how far, only how long it will take.... which is obviously a measurement fraught with unknown variables. It's 9 hours for me to get to SLC from my house. That ignores traffic, snow, road work, etc. I had to learn that is actually @600 miles.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

It is usually damper here in Nebraska than it is in California, which likely does not come as a shock to you?

 

[xr7]

Another term for wheels that was common when I was a kid was Mag wheel. I gotta get some Mags for my car. IIRC my first was a set of Fenton's, aluminum center with chrome steel barrel, no magnesium.

 

[TMSBOSS]

True mags were too expensive and they were often porous. They would leak down. But yes, mag was the term back home, back when

 

[Bill Pemberton]

Heh, XR7 , you are showing your age, we all wanted a set of Mags back in the 60s or 70s, yet today, if you tell someone you want some " Mags " they would be handing you magazines.

By the way those mags on your car are groovy, and the car looks out of sight!

 

[Dave_W]

Too bad they can't spell tire correctly......

"Two countries separated by a common language."

 

[Bill Pemberton]

We can all thank Noah Webster for cleaning things up and making spelling easier --- bias based on American English , not that Anglican English based on what Guttenberg printed back in the Middle Ages and caused the British folks to lose flexibility, ha,ha. Heh, I can say that, since 75% of my ancestors were English and hence they gave me their warped sense of humor ( or is that humour ?).

 

[TMSBOSS]

Vanna. Can I buy a “U”, please? Sorry, no, the Brits used them all.

 

[xr7]

True mags were too expensive and they were often porous. They would leak down. But yes, mag was the term back home, back when

The Fenton's center was a 5 spoke design that was riveted to the steel barrel, had to run tubes in them because they leaked just like the magnesium wheels. Cragar and Keystone were the popular wheels back then.

 

[Fabman]

18x12's w/ 335/30/18 Hoosiers square

 

[drj2k1]

Winters: 19x8.5 with 265/35/19 Nexen Winsport 2

Summers/local autox: 18x10 AMR wheels 285/30/18 Falken RT660

Strictly business competitive setup: 18x11 Apex EC-7 with 315/30/18 Falken RT660

 

[funksouljon]

Winters: 19x8.5 with 265/35/19 Nexen Winsport 2

Summers/local autox: 18x10 AMR wheels 285/30/18 Falken RT660

Strictly business competitive setup: 18x11 Apex EC-7 with 315/30/18 Falken RT660

How do you find the winters work? Im trying to convince myself that if I get a set of 18x11s for track use, I can get some a designated winter tires for my current 18x9.5 and really drive the car in all winter here. We have a steep hill coming into the hood that many FWD and almost all RWD gt stuck on in new fresh snow, so in legit storms I just drive the truck, but my race rubber is pretty dicey in general in the 30s and 40s on clean pavement.