Balanced 89

Going to unstore my 89 Z51, 31K miles with self-tuned built Mini Ram ZZ4 motor. Have been running stock wheels with BFG KDs, but they are almost bald in back; too old 9 yrs; bent rim last year and even though I have a used spare all would need a refinish and I don't have time to do myself soooo - am/was looking for a new staggered set in 17/18 or 18/18 inch sizes. I want to stay with wheel offsets that are reasonable so I don't pack on understeer or stick out too far in back; nor really any wider in front for reasonable front tracking reasons; nor too short a sidewall as Z51 is stiff enough. After looking at side wall heights and available tires I believe Nitto NT05's are the best cost performance bet for spirited street driving and occasional corner carving. $ is a consideration as is safety and performance so the $4,000 sets are in la-la land for me. I started by looking at C5 Z06 sets but the sidewall disparity in the 17/18 inch range kinda ruled this out and moving to an 18/18 looked best. I worried about the quality of reproduction factory wheels and in my days of looking can across the Cray wheels. Really liked the Cray Hawk black inside/ polished stainless lip set at 18x9 and 18x10.5 with 275/35/18 front and 285 or 295/35/18 rear as it "Should have fit ok" and not stuck out in the rear only adding 3.7mm to the outboard side. However I am told there are fitment issues with the 21.7mm (.83 inches) "less" inside clearance. SO I am again reconsidering Factory Reproductions(Black center machined outer rim against my bright red and everything else black car) in 18X9.5 (+56mm offset) with a 275/35/18 front tire and 18X10.5 (+58mm offset) with a 285 or 295/35/18 rear tire.

Need thoughtful comments and real experience here. 1) will the 18X10.5 C5 Z06 rears fit well and has any one sucessfully used these? When I pull I'm going to check the inside rear crearance but the Z06 18X10.5 has a 14.7mm (.57 inch) "less" inboard clearance than the stock wheel tire combo I now have. 2) Any other advice on maker of the wheels or other considerations I need to consider? I wanted to source both wheels and tires from the same source with road force balancing but not pay some huge premium. If sourced seperately looks like you would be best served to get both inhand and mounted balanced at the same time inorder to insure any out of round or tire balance issues are taken care of and covered under a guarantee with less hassle. Thanks for your inputs! Balanced 89

aminnich

Will 18" tires fit on the front without rubbing?

Balanced 89

The 275/35/18 tire on a 18X9.5 wheel with the same offset (+56mm) as my stock 275/40/17 on a 17X9.5 wheel has the same effective offsets (inboard and outboard) AND basically the same total diameter. So no rubbing no problems at all.