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Well here is my new Old Vette. I've been working on a lot of little things to get some confidence for some longer road time. Today I replace the 15 year old 225/70's with 255/60's front and 275/60's rear. The rears fit OK (not sure if they look to big) but the fronts rub on the fender in front of the wheel. I am wondering if raising a bit with new springs would work, or if going to 245/60's would work. I suppose I could trim the wheel well but I don't really want to do that. Any thoughts? Other ideas?
Thanks.
The factory would trim the fender lip to get the 255/60 x 15 tires in the wells , but not sure what year they started doing it. I have had a 1979 and 1978 that had the wide tires on it, and no problem.
They shouldn't... The factory used 'em, there has to be an easy fix.
Another interesting thing... When i put 295/50's on mine, on 8" rims (3.5" backspace), just to mock it up and sit there all cool... the fronts hit the front fender BAD. Like... i thought i'd crack the fender to fully turn them bad. I chanced a short little drive with them, a few turns, a couple curbs... and ZERO interference... not even a scratch on the paint.Check out the pic. WEIRD.
255s are way too big for the front on a 69. You can try 245s but I went down from 245s to 235s on my 68 last time I got new tires. Not worth cracking the body or chopping it up just for 255s. Front was the problem. Rears were ok even with 255s.
Too late now but you really shoulda reviewed the forum for early C3 tire fitment pointers.
Originally Posted by garkahn60
Well here is my new Old Vette. I've been working on a lot of little things to get some confidence for some longer road time. Today I replace the 15 year old 225/70's with 255/60's front and 275/60's rear. The rears fit OK (not sure if they look to big) but the fronts rub on the fender in front of the wheel. I am wondering if raising a bit with new springs would work, or if going to 245/60's would work. I suppose I could trim the wheel well but I don't really want to do that. Any thoughts? Other ideas?
Thanks.
Well here is my new Old Vette. I've been working on a lot of little things to get some confidence for some longer road time. Today I replace the 15 year old 225/70's with 255/60's front and 275/60's rear. The rears fit OK (not sure if they look to big) but the fronts rub on the fender in front of the wheel. I am wondering if raising a bit with new springs would work, or if going to 245/60's would work. I suppose I could trim the wheel well but I don't really want to do that. Any thoughts? Other ideas?
Thanks.
On 1970 Base model convertible, 255/60 on the front rubbed a little on the inside frame. 245/60 works well.
John
This 69 has had 255s on the front for the last 32 years I've owned it. Has never rubbed.
I just last weekend replaced the 17 year old Dunlop tires with some new BFGs.
First time I've had 275s on the rear of this one though, have always had 255s all around.
255/60R15s started being an optional tire size in 1978. That's when GM started trimming the fenders to allow them. They may fit prior years, and often do, but every C3 is different.
Short of trimming, you could try dialing in a bunch of caster to bring the upper ball joint back, if clearance at the front is an issue. This will also make your car more stable at speed, and increase steering effort.
There are situations where some might benefit from larger tires but keep in mind, unless you have too high a gear ratio to begin with, larger tires do nothing for performance. They will do the opposite actually. For example if you have weak 3.08 gears and stuff larger tires on the car it effectively makes the gear ratio even lower like 2.83 (this depends on tire size) which will make the car more sluggish. Now if you have 3.73 gears and are looking for better highway miles, taller tires may help. once you correct your speedo which will be off.
Last edited by augiedoggy; May 10, 2022 at 07:56 AM.
They shouldn't... The factory used 'em, there has to be an easy fix.
Another interesting thing... When i put 295/50's on mine, on 8" rims (3.5" backspace), just to mock it up and sit there all cool... the fronts hit the front fender BAD. Like... i thought i'd crack the fender to fully turn them bad. I chanced a short little drive with them, a few turns, a couple curbs... and ZERO interference... not even a scratch on the paint.Check out the pic. WEIRD.
When you ordered the 255 tire option from the factory they actually clearanced the fender at the factory, so if your car didn't come with the 255 tires option selected then YOU get to do the clearancing.
There's a thread here on CF that actually has pictures showing the from-the-factory C3 255 tire option clearancing. If you have some Google-fu you might be able to even find it.
New tires too big
