Hi Guys,

I have been reading the threads on wheel sizing.
There appears to be a general note not to upgrade to 17". mainly due to there being a lack of tyres available. May of misunderstood this statement.

So I was looking at maybe going up to 18" with a low profile tyre?
I understand that the off-set is different for the 85, so will need to take this into account, but in the end will I be able to up size my wheels to 18"?

And if this is possible how do they look on the car? Unone got a photo of a 85 with 18"?

For information I am still running the fibreglass springs, but I am hoping to find specs to upgrade to coil over, and source from here in NZ. That's another question coming.

Kevin.

 

Hi Kevin
I have 17x9.5 a mold wheels on my vette, the wheel offset is different on the 84-87 have 38mm offset and 88-96 56mm offsets. so you need to get the wheels with correct offset or adapters to allow fitting the late wheels on your vette.
C6 wheels look great on a C4

In Australia there is no problem finding 17'' tires but there are those that have gone to 18 or 19 inch rims thinking of the future. (the hankook tires i have are no longer made in 17'' now but Pirelli, Nitto, Kumho and Toyo making plenty in wide 17 inch (275 40 17) look on ebay.............

It will be hard to spot the difference between 17 and 18 inch wheels on a photo.

Try the link below for corvette central wheel adapters (as on my vette)

http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....Z5Z5Z50000050F

And coil overs they are available for the 84-87 vettes but harder to find, the shock absorber towers need to be "pried" apart a bit to fit them. I modified my vette to fit koni coil overs but i have a friend that got a set from USA and fitted them to his 87 vette with very minor modifications........
Nothing is impossible just costs a lot, then the shipping now that hurts..
around $600 to $800 for a set of wheels from USA to Aust will be similar to New Zealand.

http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corve...1985-1996.html

Remember the 85 vette has different mounting at the top rear shock absorber to the later models ("T" bolt fits horizontally compared with "I" nut screws on top of threaded shaft as later top of rear shocks)

The links should point you in the right direction be it only $ wise

Gerard

 

Thanks for the advise, looking into my options now.
Been to a local Mag and Tire shop and they have nice 18 or 19'' rims for a 85 I could get. Imports from US, so will decide to go through them or import myself.

Cheers.

 

my 1990 has 18s on it you can come look if your ever in hamilton.

 

Thanks for that, will do that when I am down that way. Would be nice to see what I would be in to.
Will drop you a PM soon. Kevin.