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Hello all! I am a proud new owner of a 68 C3 and new to the forum. I'll probably have a lot of questions as I am working on the car, but I'm going to start with the suspension and wheels. I have ordered all of my suspension parts to get the stance I want and now am trying to select wheels/tires.
I really like the look of the American Racing Torq Thrust M and Foose Nitrous wheels. My question is concerning wheel sizes. What is the max width wheel you can put on a 68 without major modifications? What offset and backspacing should I go with? I want to go with a staggered look. Either 20" in back, 18" up front; or 18" in back 17" in front. Any recommendations? What size tires would you recommend? Any photos of your C3 and sizing would be great.
There are several posts on here discussing just your questions. You may want to search and you will find more than you want to read. I just ordered a set of 18 x 8 front w/ 4.5 BS and 18 x 9 rear w/ 5" BS. From what I have researched, there should be no need for any mods to trailing arms etc. Maybe a tweak to the e brake cable. Mine are the Rev Classic 100s. For tires, I will be running 255/40 on the front and 275/40 on the rear. Tire height according to my on line chart is 26.03 front and 26.66 in the rear. My front rims are on b/o, but I did test fit the rears and they fit great. Just miss my rear spring. I am running 9" bolts from a C4.
I have an "80" which should be similar. Fronts are 245/40/17 and the rears are 285/40/17. The wheels are 17 by 8's , ebrake is very close. Best of luck.
Originally Posted by brent2399
Hello all! I am a proud new owner of a 68 C3 and new to the forum. I'll probably have a lot of questions as I am working on the car, but I'm going to start with the suspension and wheels. I have ordered all of my suspension parts to get the stance I want and now am trying to select wheels/tires.
I really like the look of the American Racing Torq Thrust M and Foose Nitrous wheels. My question is concerning wheel sizes. What is the max width wheel you can put on a 68 without major modifications? What offset and backspacing should I go with? I want to go with a staggered look. Either 20" in back, 18" up front; or 18" in back 17" in front. Any recommendations? What size tires would you recommend? Any photos of your C3 and sizing would be great.
Do a search using "17s" and then "18s". As stated above enough reading to make your head spin. The stock tire height is 27". You want to stay close to that other wise the gap between the top of the tire and fender lip gets hugh and doesn't really add to the eye appeal of the car. A 17x8 with a 4" backspace and a 245/45 tire should work fine in the front. A 18x9.5 with a 5" backspace and a 275/40 tire should be good in the rear. Of course there are several other combinations that will work but this should give you some ideas.