03LingenfelterC5

Is any one familiar with, or have a comment on installaling larger inner wheel wells by Lingenfelter on a brand new C5. I am getting the 430 HP package and want the extra traction (yes, 345's lurking in the wheel wells would look cool too, I think). With the correct offset wheel, the wheel protrudes no further out than stock.

Want to do it but cutting into a perfectly heathy patient makes me think twice!

Thanks for the input. :flag

NoMercy

I had the Lingenfelter kit installed. I also had HRE make the wheels with the specific offset for the Lingenfelter kit. My wheels are 19' HRE 541s. Tires are Michelin Pilot Sports. 345/30/19 rear and 275/30/19 front.

IT DID NOT WORK!!! The rears are rubbing badly and I have since had to change my tires to Pirelli PZero sized at 335/25/19 rear and 275/30/19 front.

I am a little PO'd about wasting well over a grand for pilot sports that are now useless and only have 20 miles or so on them. They are rubbing everywhere and my only solution was to change to a 335 and a smaller sidewall. I had 20's on the rear before and the overall diameter was smaller than the 19' Pilot Sports are. The 345s are not only wide but the sidewall is pretty damn thick! They hooked up great but with the significant rubbing I had to change.

rwj383

this is interesting, No Mercy. I should be getting my 19x12 HRE 541's real soon and i too have the 345/30/19 Pilots for the rear. Over the next 2 days i will be tubbing my back end. I did not order the LPE kit. Instead i went and got all the materials to do it myself. How much does the PLE kit suppose to tub? I have already removed the panels and carpet to get an idea of the work involved. The brackets on the floor that the removable top sits on when you have it in the back of the car are the limiting items from tubbing real huge from what i can tell. I will take it that i need at least a couple inches tub on each side. I will be taking pics while i do this.

Godspeed

I'm running HRE 18x12's with Pilot Sports 335/30/18. LGM did 2.5" tubs and there is no rubbing.

ChrisTinaBruce

Wow..Looks great. What is mini tub? Do they still cut out the inner wheel well? If so why not get a full tub? Just curious. Would you mind tell what the mini cost. I love the look.

NoMercy

The problem is the diameter of the 345 in a 19' size. The tire is friggen HUGE!! Lingenfelter specifically told me this would work as long as HRE did the offsets right. Now I have been told that Pirelli doesn't make the size Pzero for the front and I may have to get different tires for the front and back ... when will this poopie stop!! :mad :mad

ambitin

Pirelli tire sizes for front tires are extremely limited. I ended up running PZero's in the rear and Pilot Sports in the front. Thanks for posting info about the Lingenfelter kit/tires not fitting- saved me some money if that is any consolation!!!

Don't worry NoMercy, you'll get your car some day!

Lates,
Justin

03LingenfelterC5

rwj383 very cool. If you don't mind, please keep us updated on your progress. Thanks to everyone for the info.

FYI- Lingenfelter mini tubs only-$700, everything Lingenfelter uses for the mod is about $1,300, and they will do the entire job for $2,500 (ouch). No rubbing promised with their mod. Whatever you do, don't mess your relative front and rear wheel OD's or your 2nd generation Active Handling won't be able to think strait.

HIGHRPM

I just had my rear wells tubbed....just 1 ". I'm running 18"x12" HRE 547's and 345/35/18 Pilot Sports. Had to do some minor grinding for proper clearance. I have the standard HRE 73mm offset....these tires are taller than stock by about .8" (275/40=26.8, 345/35/18=27.5)....but I like the look. It fills the well nicely....335's look small and leave a large gap in the wheel well. Also the taller sidewall has better flex and hence better grip.

ghost.rider

Hmm interesting that they don't fit your C5 because the Lingenfelter C5 (427TT) in the latest Motor Trend is running 345/30ZR19's on the back and the tester makes no mention of any rubbing problems, just talks about lack of traction to 100mph :eek:
I think a few people on this forum have seen theis particular vette being driven on the street by its owner without any problems .

gstama

I would guess the rubbing was from the offset of the rims. I would look at the CCW rims John is good at what fits.

:chevy :chevy

levrac68

A friend of mine just got his 01' Z back from Lingenfelter with the 427 TT pkg. He had the mini tubs with the 345s and it looks great. If he didn't tell me I wouldn't have noticed a thing from inside the trunk. He says they make a big difference in traction too. Good Luck. :cheers:

YELLOHHH

NoMercy, I'm not sure what size you want to run in the front, but Pirelli does have a huge selection of sizes to choose from. I'm running 265/3518 front, and 315/3018's rear, and love them. They look great, and no rubbing, or tubbing. I hope you get it all worked out, your car is awesome!

Greg
:cool:

NoMercy

Are those Lingenfelter cars lowered at all?? Mine is lowered, not by too much but it is dropped. I think that may be the problem. MTI is going to raise it up about an inch and see if that helps. I want my car lowered but for now I would rather just get it home. I can fine tune the suspension here.

John's vette

Hey Bill, you don't need all those problems. I tell you what, just give the car to me. :yesnod: :yesnod:

NoMercy

Nope! :D

ghost.rider

Then how about ME :smash:


[Modified by ghost.rider, 5:38 PM 5/3/2002]

ambitin

Hey, my car is all dialed in and I got all the kinks worked out...I'll trade you up even-steven.



:cool:

Oh, heads up though- the air-bag indicator started coming on today but don't worry, I'll reset any codes before you take delivery

:jester


[Modified by ambitin, 8:16 PM 5/3/2002]

Bill C

I had LPE install mine with Mich.MXX3 335/30/18 tires.Before I went with them I called the TireRack and they said the 345 & 335 both have a section width of 13 1/2in. I wanted to go with the widest tire that I could and the said they were the same width.

The wheels are 12in Fiskes. Could not use a 12 1/2in Fiske on my car. Also went with Penske adj. shocks that may be the reason. Have seen three LPE cars with 345/35/19 wheels and thet looked great. And not sure what width they were. Slow C5 has 345's alos on Fiske wheels.

Hope this helps.

Bill :)

NoMercy

The question is ... were these Lingenfelter cars lowered??? :confused:

Oh yes ... there will be no swaps!!!!! :D :D :D


[Modified by NoMercy, 7:35 PM 5/3/2002]