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So what really was the first year that the 4x4 Rally Rim was available?

Was the 4x4 Rally rim available before 1976?

  • No. Brand new for '76

    Votes: 3 30.0%

  • Yes. It came out before then.

    Votes: 7 70.0%
  • Total voters
    10
  • Poll closed .
muddybuddy said:
That picture does it for me. Clear that those are rectangle slots in the wheels. Look like rallys to me.

Never knew the truck beds were called “wide side” and “fender side”
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Those are the 2wd version though. Besides being 5-lug, they have a different center stamping altogether.
 
82355 said:
The GM Vehicle Information Kit lists them as both being available.

Martin
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Yeah, I'm not saying you are wrong... I really don't know. I was just pointing out that the truck in the picture was 2wd. I think they were available before the 6-lug version, but again I'm uncertain of the year.
 
82355 said:
With no documentation. Cute.

Martin
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Well, what's "cute" to me is someone who posts an image of a 15x7, 5 lug wheel as evidence that a 15x8, 6-lug version of the same wheel was available (which it wasn't in model year 1975), and I don't dispute that the 2wd 5-lug 15x7 version of the square-slotted wheel was available in 1975 (I fully agree, and I know for a fact that it was)

But the original poster of this thread was asking specifically about the 6-lug, 15x8 version of the same wheel; And the earliest factory stamp you will ever find on one of these OEM 6-lug rally wheels will be late July 1975, because THAT is when the assembly lines began bolting them onto Blazer CST's and Chalets, and GMC Jimmys, for the 1976 model-year.

I also don't dispute that GM offered something called a "rally" wheel option on earlier 4x4 RPO sheets; but prior to 76, all 4x4 "rally wheel" options were just deeper-dish 15x8 steelies wearing trim rings and dog dish hubcaps. Research it.

Go back to that 75 brochure picture that you posted, and look at the 4x4 stepside truck that is right next to the 2wd truck wearing the 15x7 rallys... See the wheels on the stepside? They are 62 series stamped steelies. Why? Because that's the only style of 6-lug wheel you could get from the factory on a 4x4 C/K truck all the way through 1975...

At this point, I've reached my "peace out" moment with this topic... Unlikely I'll be back. I've stated what I know. I will credential my historical understanding with my family's close association with Courtesy Chevrolet in the 1970's (as I mentioned earlier) plus my 7 years' experience working with GM in the 1990's (during the same time that I owned a '72 K5 Blazer).

plus, I'll mention my several visits to the GM Heritage center, where you can pour over old assembly line photos, technical specs, and you will NEVER find a single photograph, or a single build sheet on any 4x4 GM truck that left the factory on 15x8 square slot rally wheels, prior to late July, 1975...

I'm not here to "prove" to anyone that I know what I'm talking about. I'm here (as I stated) to bring historical fact into a conversation that is totally corrupted by hyperbole, hear-say, and confusion over what the term "rally wheel" actually means. The truth is that the term meant something different from year to year, and from model to model.

Everyone is free to believe whatever they want... And I honestly don't care whether anyone believes me or not... But I do know what I'm talking about.

Not sure if these links will come through, but they are the earliest GM evidence I have found of 4x4's wearing 6 lug square slotted rallys... these are both taken from brochures for the 76 model year:

http://paintref.com/graphics/brochure/1976gmc_recvehicles_01.jpg

http://paintref.com/graphics/brochure/1976blazer_01.jpg


Peace out...
 
So I fell down this rabbit hole again and came across this (my own thread) on this subject. :rotfl:

Today's rabbit hole was 4x4 truck Rally Wheel center caps. Apparently when the Rally wheel first came out in 1974-75 it used a taller center cap. This cap was so tall that GM used it on the front wheels of the fulltime 4x4 trucks and it covered them. But apparently they decided that it was too tall and somewhat awkward looking so they shortened it to the style cap they would then use from 1977 to 1991.

Here are some pics.

Rally Wheel center caps side-by-side:
jBRhzzU.jpg


Here are some 1975-76 caps I found for sale around eBay today:
1kyCX2k.jpg


Here's a really nice 1974 K5 with the caps on it. This truck has manual locking hubs so it did not get the caps in front that covered the front hubs since that would be stupid.
d8yu54S.jpg


And here's that ad that shows the '76 Blazer with the closed tall caps on all four wheels. Someone in this thread earlier mistook it for a 2WD Blazer. Now you know.
zUzmweK.jpg


Hope everyone is still doing well! I know I'm friends with a lot of you on Facebook, but seeing some of these names brought back memories!
 
Craig Artzner said:
I am! About to get the insurance turned back on and get it out of hibernation.
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My God! Craig Artzner lives!

I saw this thread and started to look in my dealer book about the Rally's and then realized it was started last century. I will still look in my dealer book to satisfy my own eyes.

Anyway, good to see you around.
 
I found something in my 1974 dealer book. The Rally wheel is mentioned:

1713213681167899174249242388983.jpg
 
See if you can make sense of that. Does that mean they were installed only by the dealership?
 
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