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That looks nice. I've been considering these for my '71 coupe.
On these wheels, do you think that a wider tire would fit the the rear, or would it stick out?
I'm thinking 275 in the rear and 255 in front, both on the 18x9.
If I'm correct, that would put the outer edge of the tire out about 1/2" further than yours, and the inner edge of the tire would be about 1/2" closer to the frame rail.
Thanks,
Chris
You would probably need to relocate the parking brake cable, it's a very close fit with the 255's so wider tires would probably rub.
I've read a number of threads where members have shared their tire/wheel upgrades. Moderator advises that if we have enough interest, we may be able to create a 'sticky' thread.
Here's what I would like to see (I will use my stock config as a baseline format for order/capture of components/parameters). Perhaps we could omit stock parts to keep the details to ONLY the changes from stock. I'll include here just as an example. If there are other fitment/parts details that are essential please share. I would like to make it easy for those of us considering upgrade to make informed purchase decisions and minimize frustration:
Car: 1980 L48 with Gymkana suspension
Front:
Stock style VB&P rubber bushing kit
Stock stamped steel upper/lower control arms
Stock style spindles
Stock 4-piston calipers & rotors
Stock swaybar
Stock 15x8 aluminum wheels with stock backspacing (what is stock backspacing?)
Stock style acorn lug nuts
Goodyear Eagle GT II P255/60R15 RWL tires
KYB shocks
No wheel spacers
Stock wheel well opening (no flares)
Stock springs/ride height
Rear:
Stock Van Steel rebuilt standard t-arm assemblies (not offset)
VB&P Poly Adjustable Strut Rods
Stock Van Steel rebuilt half-shafts with Spicer greasable u-joints
Stock calipers, rotors and stainless parking brake hardware from Van Steel
Stock diameter swaybar
Stock 15x8 aluminum wheels (same as front)
Stock style lug nuts (same as front)
Mastercraft Avenger G/T P255/60R15 RWL tires
KYB GR-2 Shocks
No wheel spacers, no relocation of stock parts (ie. parking brake, etc.)
Stock wheel well opening (no flares)
Stock steel 7-leaf spring/stock ride height
No changes to location of rear exhaust pipes or mufflers (2.5" pipe and Dynomax Super Turbo mufflers)
Include representative pictures:
I'm ordering the 2009 ZO6 black wheels. Fronts are 18 x 8.5. Rears are 18 x 9.5.
Tires are, front Nitto 235 / 50 / 18, rears are 285 / 40 / 18R. Doing just a last of research before I actually order them. They're going to need the adapters for the hubs.
nice color on that vet. Mine is the exact color. I think they call it something different though. I put the fiberglass front and rear ends with no more seam. And the Indy pace car spoiler on the rear.
Hi everybody, I'm a new member and a new owner of a 1968 convertible. Just got my wheels and tires from Discount Tire. 255/50R17. Wheels are old school 5 spoke in gun metal. Look fantastic, don't fit. Rims rub on the calipers. Waiting for a call from them for a fix. Any ideas?
Last edited by ReaganT; 10-10-2017 at 03:15 PM.
Reason: rim size
I read in another thread about backspace problems and it was mentioned about the use of spacers. It was advised to only use " Concentric Adapters". I know nothing about these but it's probably worth looking into. Have a great week, Bill
I liked the original white letter tires on my car but they were over a decade old and rock hard. Couldn't find another affordable set of letter ones. Thought the white lines would be cool but I hated them and they got dirty so. damn. fast. I'm sorry but I am not going to bleach them every time I wanna drive it.
So....hopefully now I am a trend setter? the red tire paint solution is unconventional but I like it a lot better at least, especially with my bright red interior.
Hi everybody, I'm a new member and a new owner of a 1968 convertible. Just got my wheels and tires from Discount Tire. 255/50R17. Wheels are old school 5 spoke in gun metal. Look fantastic, don't fit. Rims rub on the calipers. Waiting for a call from them for a fix. Any ideas?
You need to insure they ordered the correct wheels for a corvette. Back in 68 many passenger vehicles still had drum brakes and the wheels were manufactured differently. Are the wheels rubbing on the inside of the spoke or on the inner rim area?
Are you running the OEM calipers?
I thought the C5 sizes were 17x9.5 and 18x10.5? I guess I am mistaken. It could just be, because when I ordered a set of Z06 replicas from OEWheels, that was the size I ordered for a different application, my 2001 Z28. I was looking for width, and this set was the widest available. Before I traded a pair of the stock wheels from my first Camaro, and an ex-wife to someone I thought was a friend, I had planned to go with the ZR1's in 17x9.5 and 17x11's. I guess the front wheel sizes of both of these sets threw me off.
Going from 15" to 18,
1/4 "spacers, longer wheel studs, re locate parking brake brackets.
Car already had 550 fronts with one coil cut & 330 rear fiber glass ,lowering bolts 8 or 10", forget length
Not much clearance for exhaust & mufflers with the 18 set up.
So I pretty much decided to go with Thrust Torqe 17x 8 (F) 4.75 BS 17 x9.5 (R) 5.5 BS
255 /40/17 (F) and 275/40/17 (R) or lil bigger on rears if I can .
Getting real good deal on rims so pocket book says yes lol.All though I really like the Coy's
SO who has pics of their sled with this set up or real close with these rims and tire size and what did you do to make it all work smooth .
READY SET GO
Last edited by IronMaidens2.0; 10-19-2017 at 10:09 PM.
I like the look of the wheels you have...can you provide the details...what is the backset and is there a 12mm offset..i would like to duplicate what you are running...im assuming those are AR torque thrust 11s..
I'm ordering the 2009 ZO6 black wheels. Fronts are 18 x 8.5. Rears are 18 x 9.5.
Tires are, front Nitto 235 / 50 / 18, rears are 285 / 40 / 18R. Doing just a last of research before I actually order them. They're going to need the adapters for the hubs.
nice color on that vet. Mine is the exact color. I think they call it something different though. I put the fiberglass front and rear ends with no more seam. And the Indy pace car spoiler on the rear.
Thanks. PO said it was an "80's Buick Garnet Red with Pearl Base Coat". It was applied in 1994 so it is pushing 23 years this year. I still run the 15's but with MasterCraft Avenger GT (Cooper tire) on the back. The front's are from 2005 and are due to replace from age. They look almost new.
I put new wheels & tires on my '71 last month and finally got around to taking a few pictures before work on Friday.
These are Ridler 18x9.5 wheels with 0 offset, which works out to 5.25" backspace.
The tires are 275/40-18 Nittos on all four corners.
Once the tires were on, I noticed that there's a slight difference in where the two rear wheels sit relative to the fender lip. I also found that one side cleared the spring bolt just fine, but the other was a bit too close, so I ended up with a 1/4" spacer on each side.
No spacers up front and no rubbing so far. However, there was just a bit of rub on the rear fender lip when I would hit a large bump. I sanded about 1/8" from the lip and changed to Bilstein shocks and haven't had anymore issues. If I didn't have to run the spacer, I'm sure it would have been GTG from the beginning.
As for the suspension, it's a VBP dual-mount spring and a-arms up front, along with a 1 1/8" sway bar and a Borgeson steering box.
In back I have offset trailing arms (not really needed), heim-jointed strut rods, a 7/16" swaybar, and the original 7-leaf spring. I do have a dual-mount rear spring for it too, but I just haven't put it on yet. Same with the front Wilwood calipers and the spreader bar. I just have too many other projects around the house that I need to take care of before I put the car back up in air and tear into it again.
Last edited by CA_WxMan; 11-29-2017 at 12:30 PM.
Reason: Spelling; Wrong tire brand
CA_WxMan Nice choice with the wheel/tire combination. The wheels compliment the color of the car perfectly. You certainly filled the wheel wells.
On a side note that 1st picture is poster quality.
08-26-2017, 04:15 PM
the red tire paint solution is unconventional but I like it a lot better at least, especially with my bright red interior. 
