dragnasty62

just getting started on this progect deciding on what type of susp. system to go with.

7t9l82

can we get some more pictures from different angles? i have 8.5 inch rims I'm thinking that may work.

bebezote

Keep us informed... i'm kinda in the same boat..

stock 82 w batwing... looking for cast iron conversion...

wanting to buy whats needed for that and get a suspension for weekend drag racing...too...

diehrd

Like a charm

bebezote

hi diehrd,

excellent...love that blue too...is interior same (blue)?

diehrd

Thanks and yes it is dark blue in and out !

v2racing

My 2 cents!

I've put 285/40/18 on 9.5" wide rims on two different Vettes now. They fit really well and are the stock 27" height. One set of rims had a 5" set-back and the other has 5.25". The 5" set-back bolted on with no mods, but was really close to the parking brake cable bracket. The 5.25" required relocating the parking brake cable bracket to the top of the trailing arm. I think the 5.25" set-back is probably a little safer for the body. The tires never hit the body while I was driving my 80 with the 5" set-back, but I could see where in the right conditions such as a hard high speed turn and hitting a dip or bump could cause contact with the fender lip, especially on a lowered car.

My 75 had 295/50/15 BFG TA's on the rear when I got it. The wheels were 10" wide. The tires were real close to the trailing arms and stuck out from under the fenders about an inch. The PO had the back end jacked up so they wouldn't hit. They might fit under better on stock 8" wide wheels, but that's way under the recommended rim width. I wouldn't do it.

On the front I put 265/40/18 tires on 9.5" wide rims. They are 26.6" tall, .400" shorter than stock. They fit both my 80 and my 75 without issues. The front fenders on my 75 were trimmed like Chevy did on the 78 pace car, but I think they still would be OK because of the shorter height without trimming. Again one set of wheels had a 5" set-back and the other 5.25". With the 5.25" set-back the tires still clear the frame in full lock in either direction. The driver side tire will hit the end of a Steeroids rack on a full lock left turn. I need to extend the stop on the left side to prevent this.

On stock 8" wide wheels I would stick to 255/60/15 all the way around on late C3's. On some earlier cars the 255's can hit the front fenders. 245/60/15 tires will usually clear on the front of the earlier C3 cars.

275/60/15 will fit in back on most cars and is the largest I would go on a stock 8" wide rim. They are pretty tall and roll over quite a bit in hard turns. That size works well in drag radials for racing though.

TheSkunkWorks

No reason for the snide remarks just because you happen to be satisfied with what is, in fact, a less than optimum tire fitment. Oh, and welcome to my ignore list. Feel free to reciprocate.

dragnasty62

To make things more interesting the tires need to fit inside the stock wells so i can lower the body over them

v2racing

Skunk was just sharing his knowledge and experience. If you didn't like his post, you won't like mine either.

I found in racing that a tire mounted on anything more than 1" narrower than the tread width resulted in a huge loss of stability and tire performance. This was a subject discussed with many other racers and everyone came to the same conclusion. Just because you can roll down the road with a 10.4" wide tire on an 8" rim doesn't mean it is the right thing to do.

7t9l82

WAIT! we have an ignore list?

diehrd

Look he acted like a child so I gave it back to him. He then did what a child would do. I wont play with you

As far as how my car performs you nor he can tell me what topics you discussed or papers you have read and then say my tires are unstable or rub or do anything I know for a fact they do not do.

Also the vast majority of corvette owners are not racers. And my tires fit my rim because they are MADE to by the manufactures of the tire to fit a rim our size.

So relax , And I here ya , "you" or mr know it all would chose to not run them , but I bet you also run wheel spacers ..

v2racing

I'm not talking about papers I have read, I am talking about my personal experience and the personal experience of a lot of fellow racers, mostly who were also friends. I can say with 100% confidence that your car would feel more stable and handle better with a 9.5 to 10.5 inch rim. Can you run a 295/50/15 on an 8" rim? Of course you can. You are doing it. Is it the optimum thing to do? No. There are much better alternatives.

The manufacturer tries to fit as many size rim widths as they can because that gives them more sales. As long as testing shows the tire won't fail at a given width, they will call it out for fitment. They will give the measurements on a more optimized size rim though. That is why the tread and cross section measurements for a 295/50/15 are given on a 9.5" wide rim.

Bee Jay

I got 315s back there now. I tried the C6 Z06 wheel/tire combo back there, and they were too tall. I posted pictures of both. Like the man said, do a search under my username.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...-18-tires.html

Bee Jay

jb78L-82

One of the reasons that I finally went to a 17 inch rim a few years back, despite resisting the need to change forever due to the severe limitations of serious performance tires in the 15 inch size and the desire to going slightly wider with a much lower profile, was I simply wanted to keep the OEM look of the aluminum 15 inch stock rims. The difference in ride, handling, and steering between my 255/45/17 ZR tires and 255/60/15SR BFG TA's is simply astonishing! Again, going to oversized zero performance balloon tires make look cool but in terms of a real performance gains in steering response, handling and ride, it is a step backwards.

Jason Staley

I would get a Percy's wheel & tire simulator to determine the exact wheel offset and if any of the frame, control arm, or fender will need to be modified. I would leave at least 1/2" if not more between the tire and any rub points. A 335 is going to be a tight fit and this will show you exactly where your pinch points are at.

Also, you didn't mentioned why you wanted to go with a 335 tire. Is it mainly for looks, drag racing, or handling? If you want to get the largest handling improvement then I would follow v2racing and TheSkunkWorks advice about wheel width. And as jb78L-82 mentioned, you're better off upgrading to a larger diameter rim to obtain a more modern tire design. Tire companies are just not that interested in designing a high performance 15 street tire anymore (at least with a 27" OD) because the demand for it is so low. Of course there are still some specialty tires out there that are DOT approved, but they typically have very low wear ratings.

Now if your talking drag racing, that's a different story to some point and there are good 15" tires out there for that particular application.

Good luck

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/php-01201/overview/

SLOW84VETTE

Will 255/60/15 work all the way around on a 70 coupe?

ddawson

Yes

The13Bats

Ignore list!? so that is why so many replies I make are ignored or echoed...

I dig this thread but likely will offend people because of my opinion on it, but I do not want to offend I learn something from lots of you cats.

I want to run wide tires and in my case L-88 flares and need to fill them, I wanted to keep old school as in 15" but 295 is the widest tire in 15" and a while back I was depressed to see it on doorgunners 68 on stock 8" rims even... thought that due to the width of the thread that a 10" would be much more suited for a 295 which I still have to admit believe squeezing them to fit on an 8" rim can't really be safe. be I can see that in a street car it "works".
Now as we see diehrd runs them on 8" rims and has no issues, ( they do stick out a little ) but with stock back spacing and 8" they do not stick out enough for my flares...

I would love to see a 10" rim with a 295 on the rear of a stock c3.

So back to the op topic,
If I have to step up to 17" - 18" to get a good wide tire,
Will the 355 the op asked about fit with say a 3.5-4" backspace to clear things inboard and then 10" wide or what does a 355 like?
How much would that hang out, would it fill an L-88?

MakoJoe

Depends on the wheels if they are Standard Offset like the Factory Rally Wheels they may scrub the inner frame just in front of the doors on the front since your going from an 8 Inch wide tire to a 10 inch wide tire. If they scrub a 1/2 Universal Spacer will stop it from happening must make sure you buy four of them. they will also stick out of the fender wells just a little.

245/60/15 are a better fitment and you will only lose 3% speed on the Speedometer. I used to sell and install tires for a living.