R84CORVETTE

what is the difference between 225-50-r17 and 225-50-zr17's and can i run the r's on back and the zr's on front of my 84 vette thanks for your help

Cruisinfanatic

No problem with zr's on front and r's on the back. The ZR is just a different speed rating. Faster!
Stock 84 wheels are not 17's however.

BSenzina

I have the r's all the way around. No issues.....

84VetteMan205hp

funny i just bought a new tire saturday 255/45/17 they said its rare tire size

c4cruiser

1984 thru 1987 C4's came with 16" wheels. The 1988 C4 had 16" wheels as the base wheel but a 17" wheel was an option. Beginning in 1989, all C4's had 17" wheels but there were different widths based on suspension type.

If the tire size currently on your '84 is 255/50-17, those are too small! The original wheel size would have been 16x8.5" for the base suspension with 255/50-VR-16 tires. If your car has the optional Z51 suspension (about half of the total '84 production did!) it would have come with 16x9.5" wheels and the same 255/50-16 tires.

Also note that there are a variety of speed ratings on tires. As long as the tire has a V, W, or Z rating, they will handle high speeds.

Depending on the width of whatever 17" wheel you have on your car, you can use a 275/40-17 tire. This tire size is very close to the same diameter and tread width dimensions as the original 255/50-16 OEM tire.

WVZR-1

It's certainly not very popular any longer. That size was used for a "steer/front" tire on all base '93MY and later C4's. What do you have on the rears? Actually your 255/45-17 is dimensional the same as what an original 255/50-16. Both are something very near 26" tall.

84VetteMan205hp

255/45/17 all around

TA

Tirerack lists 24 different tires in that size

WVZR-1

And most all of them had the "FEWER THAN" notation ! How many would you guess are available in a "drive in - drive away" situation?

TA

There's still 11 different tires listed as "in stock". I guess you have to pick one or go to a new tire size.

315s are becoming much harder to find.

WVZR-1

You missed the point, I mentioned "DRIVE IN - DRIVE AWAY!!

315's Oh well! That's an issue that's been around now for a few years AND there never was a "wide variety"!

Tire Rack doesn't even do what's considered the more popular 315 or the brand that seems to always be second in a choice for the "blue-collar" buyer.

DHobbs

I run 275/35zr18 in the front and 285/35zr19 in the rear...

R84CORVETTE

right now mine came with the 17's 225-50-17's on back and 215-50-17's on front i just want 225-50-17's all the way around will i have any problems with them on front? thanks for your help

WVZR-1

You know they really seem small when you look at the 215 and the 225 but they're actually 215 (25.5) and the 225 (25.9) tall so maybe it's not as bad as one would expect. They seem very small for the weight of the vehicle though. If it drives well then maybe it's fine.

What do you have for wheels? Do you know the widths? If you've some unusual after-market wheels then maybe the widths wouldn't accommodate the larger tires.

Got some snap-shots?

You would NOT have problems with the 225-s up front.

They just seem very small for the weight of the car!

vetteoz

Given on the stock 17" rims ,the GM put either 275/40 all round or 255/45 front, 285/40 rears