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The problem I am facing is that there are FEW IF ANY 18x8 wheels with these specifications. I find MANY tires that fit this profile.
Q: Do I need to go with 18x8.5" wheels? Will this create a problem for installation? What about tire issues? Will this wheel require something other than P255/45R18? Will it create tire fitment issues?
Q: Do I need to go with 4.5" backspacing? I read that the maximum backspacing without mods needs to be limited to 4.25".
I am finding this to be a frustrating and disappointing endeavor. American Racing offers ONE 5-spoke wheel with these specifications. But, not my preferred anthracite spoke finish.
Ted,.......I think American racing will custom build wheels to 4.0 inch backspacing, but the price is ridiculous, like over $500 a wheel. If you search the forum for Ddawson, he has a Riverside Gold 69 convertible with 18 inch American Racing wheels that IMO are the coolest look of all.. His car inspires me to go big wheels on my 69 convertible......but I am not paying $500 a wheel. I think there are more options with 17 inch wheels, but I guess tires are getting fewer and fewer. His car is on the Wheels for Less gallery,.....here:
Ted,.......I think American racing will custom build wheels to 4.0 inch backspacing, but the price is ridiculous, like over $500 a wheel. If you search the forum for Ddawson, he has a Riverside Gold 69 convertible with 18 inch American Racing wheels that IMO are the coolest look of all.. His car inspires me to go big wheels on my 69 convertible......but I am not paying $500 a wheel. I think there are more options with 17 inch wheels, but I guess tires are getting fewer and fewer. His car is on the Wheels for Less gallery,.....here:
I agree. $500 wheel is out of my reach. Same for $250/wheel. I'll keep replacing my 255/60R15 tires until there are more wheel options. I am certain the current economy is resulting in the limited options. I'll wait until/if it approves.
Anyways, I think the factory aluminum YJ8 wheels you have look better than any aftermarket wheel. That's what I have on my 77, and it goes around the curves of PA roads as fast as I need to.
<snip>
Q: Do I need to go with 4.5" backspacing? I read that the maximum backspacing without mods needs to be limited to 4.25".
I am finding this to be a frustrating and disappointing endeavor. American Racing offers ONE 5-spoke wheel with these specifications. But, not my preferred anthracite spoke finish.
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I believe that 4.25" "limit" for backspacing applies to 15-16-17 " wheels because of the parking brake bracket. 18" wheels go around it and that is no longer an issue. So you gain an extra 1/2" So std 4.5" bsp wheels fit easily.
In fact Cargotzman has some of the largest tires/wheels I have seen fitted to a stock car, with zero trailing arm / fender mods. 18x9.5" with 4.75" bsp! (Note that the offset is -12mm just as factory.) Tires are an equally wide 285/45-18!! Inside the fenders. No rubbing. Several others have duplicated and confirmed the setup. I may duplicate also. But wheels meeting those specs are pricey. But those tires are so big a 9.5" rim is the minimum you should run. But it does show that the large 4.75" bsp can work.. So 4.5" bsp is "easy" Just try to keep the offset very close to OEM so the tires are visually centered in the opening in/out. So a 18x9 with a 4.5bsp would work great. (Still -12mm offset)
Last edited by leigh1322; Mar 2, 2021 at 09:36 PM.
Rat, I didn’t know you had a C3, too! My C2 is much more radical with the 315s, but the C3 is no slouch with a built sbc.
I built up my 69 in 2012,the paint on my 69 is original paint and the car was flared in 1974 and the original owner had the paint matched it is not perfect but it has patina so i will be leaving alone the only thing I never did was the tire and wheels and a big brake kit this will be my autocross car my c2 will be my street machine .I love corvettes .
So I see the go-to is torq thrust II's, luckily I like them.
Where is the best place to get them? I see such a wide variety of prices and not sure about the ones that seem a little less cheap than the big box stores.
Wanting to go 18X8 in front and 28X9.5 in the rear.
I’m going with this 18x8.5, 4.5” bs wheel with Michelin 255/45-18 tires on my ‘69 coupe.
Should be here and tires mounted in two weeks.
FYI.....I was looking at these wheels, and discovered the pictures found on the Summit website show the color of the Gunmetal to be much lighter than they really are. If you look at the Vision website, you will find that gunmetal is actually very dark compared to the above picture, and not too far from being black. I confirmed this with Summit, who contacted Vision. The pictures below is off the Vision website and is what the real wheel looks like.
Last edited by Shovels and Vettes; Mar 9, 2021 at 02:34 PM.
Hmm...might actually look better on my dark blue ‘69. I’ll post pictures once I have them. Supposed to arrive today and get the tires mounted tomorrow.
I talked with Darrin Schilling today at ride tech very help full .
Darren is excellent and knows their products inside and out. When I was designing the front suspension on my ‘64 fat boy coupe, I wanted the big bearing C3 hubs and spindles and Global West control arms as I don’t care for the F-body spindles Ridetech uses for their coil over solution. Darren asked me for ride height and range of motion and then built a true coil over solution (most coil overs for C2/3 Corvettes are not true coil overs as the frame upper spring mount is still utilized to capture the top of the spring). I knew I would have to clearance the upper spring mount and reinforce the upper shock mount, but that was fine for my purposes.
Just wanted to find out from people about how your ride is affected by having smaller walled tires, the suspension on these was designed for 60 and 70mm walled tires, how does the car feel with say 35 and 40mm walled tires, it must have an impact on harder and uneven roads?
They're not 60, 70mm, or 35, 40mm. It's a percentage of the tread width.
225/70R-15 = 225mm tread width, and the profile is 70% of that ( ~158mm) on either side of the 15" wheel diameter. That's what gives you the tire height, and if you divide that in half (radius), square it (r^2), and multiply by pi (~ 3.14), that is your rolling circumference.
Let's hope, cause they're ordered! I finally just said screw it, I've put enough time into doing the measurements and calculations of I still can't get it right so be it lol. I'm pretty sure they'll be good though, I triple checked everything.
I ordered 18x9.5 with a 4.75" backspacing for the front and 18x10 with a 5.25" backspacing for the rear. Going with 275/40 and 285/40. I stuck with the Torq thrust II in a custom 2pc ordered in the backspacing I wanted, so they're about a month out. Going with Continental extreme contacts for rubber.
So, how did this come out? Curious minds want to know!
I believe that 4.25" "limit" for backspacing applies to 15-16-17 " wheels because of the parking brake bracket. 18" wheels go around it and that is no longer an issue. So you gain an extra 1/2" So std 4.5" bsp wheels fit easily.
In fact Cargotzman has some of the largest tires/wheels I have seen fitted to a stock car, with zero trailing arm / fender mods. 18x9.5" with 4.75" bsp! (Note that the offset is -12mm just as factory.) Tires are an equally wide 285/45-18!! Inside the fenders. No rubbing. Several others have duplicated and confirmed the setup. I may duplicate also. But wheels meeting those specs are pricey. But those tires are so big a 9.5" rim is the minimum you should run. But it does show that the large 4.75" bsp can work.. So 4.5" bsp is "easy" Just try to keep the offset very close to OEM so the tires are visually centered in the opening in/out. So a 18x9 with a 4.5bsp would work great. (Still -12mm offset)
What year is that? I can’t believe those would fit on the earlier 68-72 cars without rubbing (or shredding) on turns and hard bumps.
