87vertible

hey guys new to the forum, just purchased an 87 black convertible, always wanted one, I love it! Anyway I have bf Goodrich 255 50 z 16 on it right now, the way I bought it has some dry rot on the outside edges, my question is do I stay with this tire, I know I can purchase the bf Goodrich g sport for $140 a tire, my problem is there doesn't seem to be many black rims for those tires which I want to eventually get. Do I stay with this tire or go for the 255 45z 17's? More rims available and tires for that size, anyone has done this change or kept them stock size thanks !!!

don hall

First, check the age of the tire..... if there are signs of deterioration on the outside, there may be worse signs inside.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=11

Have fun with the vert

87vertible

its just an old tire, but my question is do I stay with the 255 50z 16's or go to the 255 45 17'S? there like no rims available for the 16 tires. thanks again. jt

RollaMo-LT4

If it was me, I would move to the 17" tires and rims.

As you mentioned, there a lot more options when it comes to tires.

WVZR-1

Really depends on your plans for the car and the miles you anticipate driving it. If the wheels are in better than "good/average" condition you might consider the 16's. Tires should do maybe 5 years, 6 is considered a push.

If there's a 17" wheel that you actually like then maybe the 17's are the wise move. I'd make sure I bought maybe a wheel that wouldn't require the use of spacer/adapter to accomplish a fit.

You mention the 255/45 so a wheel that's 8.5" or 9.0" wide is going to give you the better fit. The 255/45 choice is interesting. It should make a nice driver.

87vertible

[My tires have outside dry rot. Def need to change soon
So not sure if I should stick w the 16's but I want rims too and I can't seem to find any black rims that would fit the 16's so tire rack says alt tire is the 255. 45 17's. And more tire choices and rim choices too. So I'm confused what I should do



QUOTE=WVZR-1;1586788233]Really depends on your plans for the car and the miles you anticipate driving it. If the wheels are in better than "good/average" condition you might consider the 16's. Tires should do maybe 5 years, 6 is considered a push.

If there's a 17" wheel that you actually like then maybe the 17's are the wise move. I'd make sure I bought maybe a wheel that wouldn't require the use of spacer/adapter to accomplish a fit.

You mention the 255/45 so a wheel that's 8.5" or 9.0" wide is going to give you the better fit. The 255/45 choice is interesting. It should make a nice driver.[/QUOTE]

gerardvg

Hi
Do you have a Z51 option they have 9.5 inch wide rims with 255 50 16 tires, the standard vette has 8.5 inch on front and 9.5 inch at the rear.

I went to 9.5x17 inch rims with 275 40 17 tires (nexen N3000 which grip ike glue!) due to the lack of quality tires around ten years ago, look at the corvettecentral website for wheels.
They have the ZR1 type wheels available in the painted silver,
black and chrome wheels. The offsett is different on the 84-87 have a 38mm offset the 88-96 have a 54mm offset.
You can get direct fit chrome ZR1 wheels or you need the adapters, the adapters bolt to your car and the wheels to the adapters.
I have adapters on my 85, they have been fine the last 11 years no problems.
Chrome wheels.

http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....5Z50000050F~~~

Black wheels.
http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....5Z50000050F~~~

Adapters to fit any 88-96 wheels.

http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....5Z50000050F~~~

Of course a lot go for the C5 or C6 wheels, not sure on the adapter requirements but am sure someone will let you know.

c4cruiser

You can get ZR-1 style 17x9.5" rims in black and there are specific versions that have the necessary 38mm offset so the wheels will sit properly in the wheelwell and you won't need to use adapters. Check out AFS Wheels on e-bay. They will be much cheaper than CC. AFS Wheels also has tire/wheel combos for the early C4's that will come alredy mounted and balanced.

I have two sets of AFS wheels for my '87; one set has Hoosier A6 slicks for autocross and the other set has NITTO NT05's for track use. Never had any sort of problems with the wheels.

These wheels will easily allow mounting of a 275/40-17 tire. This size is still very common. The best thing about this tire and wheel combo is that the tires will have the same dimensions as your 255/50-16 tires so there won't be any problems with the speedo readout or the odometer being off.

WVZR-1

Dimensions are one of the reasons I commented on the OP's mentioning the 255/45 tire choice. Dimensional it's a better match than the 275/40 and for a "driver" might make for a very good choice. 8.5 and 9.0 wheels are quite readily available with offset that will do the early C4 very well I believe. Much depends on the OP's use for the car.

ZR-1 replicas may NOT be for everyone and those seem to limit the buys to 9.5's and requires the larger tire for a better fit.