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Its a VBP? Fiberglass spring. I did some nutsing around and noticed that the other side has a lot of clearance. the spring was mounted off... to the drivers side.
I centered the spring and it is a lot c loser. I have not aligned the suspensioin yet... everything is new. I think when the camber is correct it will fit.
Note: is it possible to reduce the size of the spacer between the glass spring and the frame. It looks to be about 1" thick. If there is a clearance issue, I think a 1/2" spacer would be solve it. see image
After browsing this whole thread i have settled on these wheels for my 78. Love the rally look just bigger. Might get the inside powercoated to match the silver paint on my silver anniversary or maybe just the inside black
Last edited by BlueLineFish; Apr 1, 2020 at 06:13 PM.
Looking for some input. After 16yrs, I've decided to step up to 18's for my '80 so I can get some better rubber on the ground. I just spent the last week gradually going through this entire thread! I saved all the pictures and info I liked and have been going through it. I think I've pretty much decided on 18x8 with a 4" backspacing for the front, and either 18x9.5 with 5" backspacing or 18x10 with 5.5" with 285/40s in the rear. I do have 2" offset trailing arms.
The input I'm looking for is on my wheel choice. I really like the Weld S76, but for the most part I only see them used on late model cars. I did find one article with them on an old Plymouth Belvedere though. I'm curious how you guys think they will look on my 80. I like the polished/black combo to go with my black car and stainless pipes. Here's some pictures of them, and a picture of my car currently.
Last edited by 80vette21; Apr 19, 2020 at 09:14 PM.
I'm not a fan of black on wheels, but it is a nice accent on your black corvette and wheel choice is in the eyes of guy emptying his wallet, and Weld wheels a pretty cool.
As far a size goes, if you decide to opt for the 10s for the rear, 5.0 B/S will not stick out, in fact that is the size I'm running on a 69 and 80 has much better wheel well flares.
Also you can run 9" wheels up front with 4.5 B/S with a totally stock suspension. T
are those BFG Drag Radials? what are those like to drive on the street? I ran those on the back of my 85 Mustang LX with a 514 and those things had grip enough for 2 cars, but i never drove with the drag radials on a regular basis.
I have drag radials on my 95 it has a super charger on it. With regular radial you hit the gas and the tires spin car goes in all different directions don't like that.
With the drag radials the car goes straight. Only bad thing about is they only last 6k miles
I spent about a week going through this entire thread, as well as the aftermarket wheels thread, well over 100pgs total. I save a bunch of pictures and info, but have some questions.
I've had my 1980 16yrs, and was always against bigger wheels on C3's. However, the desire for better tire options drove me to start looking into going up in size, and after looking through all these posts the 18's really grew on me. I found the key is to spec'ing the right tire size to keep a decent side wall height.
I'm ready to pull the trigger, but I have some questions. I'm curious what the biggest combo you can fit front and rear is. I've seen some guys saying they fit 9 or 9.5 inch wide tires up front. Also, a lot of the posts seem to be cars with stock suspensions. I have offset trailing arms and just ordered tubular a-arms and coilovers for the front. I'm currently running 15x8 TTII's on all 4 corners, with 255/55 up front and 275/60 in the back. I want to go as wide as I can, primarily in the back of course, while staying within my 1980 fender lips. I'd also like to keep the 27-28" overall diameter, (my rears 275/60r 15s are 28", fronts are the stock 27")
It seems the most common for around what I'm looking for is 18x8, 4" backspace, with 245/45 up front and 18x10, 5.5" backspace, with 285/40 out back. I like the look of this setup, but from what I found guys with stock suspensions are running this. Is it possible to go wider in the back with offset trailing arms? I want to take advantage of the arms if possible.
I think you are close to the limit. Just put 18x8 front 18x10 rear. tires are 245/40 275/35
My next set or rears will be 275/40.
You may run into inner fender clearance issues going much wider.
Note: you will need to get a narrow rear sway bar or modified what you have. I have a 68 and needed about 1/2” a side.
the 275s look good and correct as far as width for the car and you really don’t want anything sticking out.
i did offset rear, adjustable front a-arms, Borgeson and a Holley Sniper system. Just getting everything finished up. Ben a winter long project....
she’s still sitting a bit high in the rear. I have not setup the suspension yet.
To estimate how much the tire will move start with your setup. and how much clearance you have. Backspace moves the wheel rim and the tire sidewall. You can get tire dimensions off Tire Rack. Sidewall measurements are very important, that's where it hits first. Then adjust their sidewall width for your wheel width. When you put the same size tire on a 1 inch wider wheel, the sidewall gets 1/2 inch wider. It works! Got that tip from a BFG race tire engineer.
I think you are close to the limit. Just put 18x8 front 18x10 rear. tires are 245/40 275/35
My next set or rears will be 275/40.
You may run into inner fender clearance issues going much wider.
Note: you will need to get a narrow rear sway bar or modified what you have. I have a 68 and needed about 1/2” a side.
the 275s look good and correct as far as width for the car and you really don’t want anything sticking out.
i did offset rear, adjustable front a-arms, Borgeson and a Holley Sniper system. Just getting everything finished up. Ben a winter long project....
she’s still sitting a bit high in the rear. I have not setup the suspension yet.
What backspacing and/or offset do you have in the rear? I like the offset of your rears.
I just don't understand how guys with stock TA's are running the same max width as what you can do with offset TA's.
The 255/45 front 285/40 rear would be exactly 27" diameter front and rear, exactly 4.5" sidewall front and rear, 10" width front and 11.2" width rear. Seems like a good combo if the 285 will fit. Looking at previous posts it looks like it should
I just don't understand how guys with stock TA's are running the same max width as what you can do with offset TA's.
The frame (up closer to where the t arm mounting point) is usually the problem. Beejay modified his to get his 10.5 wide c5z06 wheels to tuck in a bit more.
I think I've decided against those wheels though. I can't justify $850 a wheel lol. That and I think they just look better on late model cars. I think I'm just going to stick with the TTII's. Everyone has them, but I still love em!
I think I've decided against those wheels though. I can't justify $850 a wheel lol. That and I think they just look better on late model cars. I think I'm just going to stick with the TTII's. Everyone has them, but I still love em!
...I like the look of this setup, but from what I found guys with stock suspensions are running this. Is it possible to go wider in the back with offset trailing arms? I want to take advantage of the arms if possible.
I appreciate any advice!
Offset trailing arms give NO additional clearance compared to stock arms with the handbrake cable relocated when using wheels 17" or larger in diameter - the part of the arm that is the problem with wider 15" wheels falls within the rim of the larger diameter wheels. The restriction then becomes the chassis rail as mentioned above.
Also you can easily run any wheel and tyre that will fit on the rear on the front as well, but it will reduce available steering lock (will hit chassis and/or sway bar at the front when approaching full lock).
What backspacing and/or offset do you have in the rear? I like the offset of your rears.
I just don't understand how guys with stock TA's are running the same max width as what you can do with offset TA's.
The 255/45 front 285/40 rear would be exactly 27" diameter front and rear, exactly 4.5" sidewall front and rear, 10" width front and 11.2" width rear. Seems like a good combo if the 285 will fit. Looking at previous posts it looks like it should
10s are 5.75 BS 8s are 4.5BS
These are the wheels:
