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Looking for some advice . I ordered 255/50r17 nitto tires on torque thrust 2 chrome wheels
wheels for less tells me these are the wheels for your car. They will fit. I finally got them and
put them on. There big I backed the car out go to turn the front wheels and they hit on the wheel well
and the fender slightly. Great I called wheels for less and they offered to take them back and install
smaller wheels. There great people and Justin seems very well informed he suggested 225/55/17
could someone tell me if this is the solution? Thanks
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
255/50/17 are 27 inches overall daimeter. Your car was spec'd originally with a daimeter very close to 27 inches. If you look up a tire size comparator you can compare sizes. https://tiresize.com/calculator/ Those should have fit so I would think you have another issue. What are the rims specs that they are on?
Last edited by Rescue Rogers; Aug 6, 2021 at 03:07 PM.
I would think that would be ok. A 255/50 17 has more tread than the factory 15's did, but the offset and wheel with should work. . How much Camber is your front end set at? Can you post a picture from the front looking back at the tires?
I bought 17X8 Torq Thrust II wheels from Wheels for Less, with Nitto 555GT tires on them, and they do not rub on my 77. However,.....the only option I saw for the correct 4.00 inch backspacing was the POLISHED wheels. I did not see Chrome wheels in this size with 4.00 backspacing when I bought the wheels early this year. Polished was the only option in the correct 4.00 inch backspacing. A quick search on that PN you posted, it looks like backspacing is 4.070 inch. That is NOT much difference and may or not make a difference. Too bad, because those Nittos put 10 inch tread on the ground and make a big difference in handling on my car from the 225 / 70/ R15 tires I previously had on the car.....HUGE difference.
Last edited by Shovels and Vettes; Aug 6, 2021 at 04:23 PM.
The section width is the issue when it comes to contact with the frame. Tread width is usually the culprit with fender contact.
Where, specifically, does the tire contact the fender? Same for left as right?
Does the left tire contact the frame any more or less than the right side? How far from the lower control arm stop is the steering arm when the tire first makes contact with the frame (Check left and right sides).
Measure the height from the floor to the top of the wheel well arch - both left and right sides. Measure the rears as well to see if your car is sitting level.
To the OP, your car looks fantastic with the 15's on it......so I say forget about the 17 or 18 inch wheels. They do perform better, but if you are not canyon carving at high speeds, its really irrelevant.
I had a similar issue with the same size wheel and 235/55/17 tires ( the LH front wheel rubbed the fender at the front) I still had an original tire on the spare wheel so I compared this with the new one, the original tire had the same outside diameter as the new one but the new one has a much squarer profile which caused the issue.I fixed the problem by fitting 215/55/17 tires to the front wheels. Since them I have increased the caster to nearly 5 deg and now the 235/55/17 will fit.
Last edited by Haggisbash; Aug 9, 2021 at 12:55 AM.
“Seem” to rub? You need to be certain as you don’t want a tire failure at speed. On the rears, be sure you have clearance to the parking brake bracket on the trailing arm and to the spring.
A slight rub on the frame on the fronts is manageable. By “slight” I mean contact only at/near full lock, typically experienced at very low speed.
If your fender rub in front is minimal, you could consider a spring spacer.
The rears are fine. The fronts are bad . The calipers just clear. Could be the weight in the front end.
as soon as I can get the pics out of my phone I will post them
That is hitting
Last edited by JBrooke825; Aug 6, 2021 at 09:49 PM.
American Racing lists the VN6157861 17x8 fits C3 Corvettes. The backspace is 4.07 and the offset is -11mm.
Anything unusual in the stack of alignment shims on the upper control arms?
Another wheel problem.
