hey guys, getting new wheels for the 96 and the guy at TSW says that 10.5 wont fit. He said they ever so slightly rub agauns the exhaust. My car has a corsa kit on it and I faintly recall the mufflers being a tad smaller. I need to know the width of the factory mufflers to see if mine are smaller and the new wheel will fit without an issue

 

the exhaust? I don't buy that excuse for an instant...

10.5" rim? They will fit with the right offset.

 

I know, and thats what I fully believe. but when he said if its wrong on my part once the tire is mounted its not returnable so I figured with that money on the line it wouldnt hurt to double check

315/30/18 tire

 

18" rim? oooh... donno now... that pushes things out a bit.

what is the offset? That is the key here.

 

I believe most of the TSW 10.5's are constructed with a 65mm offset. That I believe would be a 'stretch' - now if they're 58mm then the conversation becomes more pleasant. You just really need to know and mention the offsets OR the back-spacing. It can be calculated from that dimension if they offer that only.

It's all about 'offset' construction.

The tire is important but means nothing, it's the tire/wheel as a package. He mentioned - mounted = no return. That's the way that goes, he was right up front about that aspect of the buy. You were warned!

Do you have a wheel style to mention? Part #? How about a link?

 

its the tsw nurburgring and the bfg rival
i'll get the exact offset tomorrow and post it

 

This calculator is handy. http://www.corvettecentral.com/wheel-offset/

 

The calculator here on the CF does what appears to be an excellent job of comparing. The information in the CC link can be confusing for many if they don't understand wheel/tire fitment. I don't use it. I don't use the CF one either very often but I've checked it for comparisons.

The CF calculator:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/tire_rim_calculator.php

 

I know an 18" x 10.5" can fit with the right offset and tires. That is the size of the C5 Z06 wheels and I have seen them on late C4's with the stock Z06 295/35/18 tires.

What I don't know is whether they used a spacer or not, or how close to rubbing on the inside they are.

For reference, the stock wheel specs are:
96 rear
17"x 9.5"- 56mm

C5 Z06 rear
18"x 10.5"- 58mm


Good luck.

 

thats what ive heard. right now it has 17" zo6 replicas with 275/30/17s on it
there is a solid 2.5" of clearance on the inside of the wheel to the exhaust and it sits in the wheel well about 3/4"
if a 1/4" wheel spacer will fix it thats not an issue

and it is a 65mm offset which is about 8.5"

 

i ran c5z06 10.5 x 18 rear wheels with 295/35-18 tires on my c4 quite a few years ago. fit was perfect.

 

The 315 tire has a pretty substantial "section width" and with it mounted on a 10.5" wheel it looks to me like you would have a "bulge" at the side wall of 1.25"+ for each. Comparing the wheel "only" to something we know that fits, an 11" @ 50mm that leaves the wheel less tire 9mm closer to the rear suspension components than the 11" wheel. I believe that is a push and there will be interference because of the clearance loss.

The hub flange is 19mm deep and the rotor is about 8mm thick at the flange so there's 11mm (maybe) of hub to use for the wheel bore. Split that and maybe add a 6mm spacer to the mix and maybe you can negate the loss at the suspension clearance. The outside of the wheel/tire will sit nearly 4mm outboard of where the 285/17 on a 9.5 presently before the spacer, the 6mm spacer moves it that much further towards the outer quarter edge. That should certainly be a + for appearance.

The tire you chose is nearly identical in height so I see NO issues with the muffler like was told to you and I'd consider it doable but you will no doubt "likely" need to use a spacer.

Ask the wheel people what the "center-bore" of their wheel is? If the wheel has a correct center-bore" dimension I don't see a problem with a "pass-through" spacer that's constructed properly.

Ask your contact the center-bore of the wheel and post back! Questions?

Pull one of your tire/wheels from the car now and get the information cast on the wheel and it will be much easier to compare. Measure (don't guess) at the clearance from the side-wall bulge to the nearest suspension component and also to the rear quarter liner.

 

That was a 58mm offset wheel so the dimension from the sidewall bulge to the suspension would have been the critical dimension to have now. You of course don't have that I'm sure.

 

This thread made me curious, so I tried a set of C5 Z06 wheels on my '95.

They fit fine with a 285/40/18 tire. I could just slide my finger between the tire sidewall and both the sway bar and the stock muffler. Where my finger touched on both sides of the knuckle it is about 5/8" or 3/4" (not to precise, but gives you an idea).

With a bigger tire it would be closer, and I have no idea with a different muffler.

Good luck.

 

how far in the wheel well did they sit?

 

and the center bore is a 70.3mm

 

That's a correct center-bore for a hub-centric wheel fit so I doubt there would be issues with a well constructed pass-through spacer like I mentioned in an earlier post.

Compared to a stock 9.5 @ 56 the wheel/tire QC mounted should have sat about 7/16 further outboard which is "no issue" and the one you're wanting to buy closer to the stock for an outboard location. Depending on the spacer you used/required the wheel/tire would move that much further outboard. You have "no issues" with the outboard fit. The appearance will be very good. If the "replica" your using now is for a C4 and is 9.5 @ 56 everything I mention should be accurate. Pull it and find out!

You didn't pull yours and measure so it's impossible to give you dimensions any closer than what I estimated earlier.

With no spacer you will have something very close to 3/8" less clearance at the points that QC mentioned assuming he used a 58mm offset wheel and you're wanting to buy a 65mm offset wheel. The tire he used is taller than what you mention so that's a plus for you.

I believe you should plan on using longer wheel studs also. I don't think anything super exotic and I didn't check for some either but I gave "Raidmagic" some information a while ago and those might work for you. I would need to do the math again. The studs will not require removing hub/bearings, very straight forward install.

 

since you guys seem up on this stuff, let me ask you.....I have a 85..16" with 38mm offset.....guy is trying to sell me zo6 wheels 17"..275/40/17
tires....checks on tire web sites...looks like they are somewhere around 54 mm offset.....are they going to fit?....they look wide...

 

If your 16" are 9.5 then the 17" 9.5 @ 54 will need a 16mm spacer to mount in exactly the same place. You can get a hub-centric 16mm pass-through spacer for the correction and that spacer with longer studs gets you done. The seller has 4 of these?

 

The C5 Z06 front wheel is very close to the stock C4 9.5" wheels. The measurements are:
C5 Z06 front
17"x 9.5"- 54mm

They will fit basically like the C4 wheels do. For your '85 that means they will sit about 3/4" inboard from the location of the stock late C4's. They should clear, but they will look a little funny. Most people recommend using a spacer of about 3/4" or 1" to mount these wheels on an early C4.

The 275/40/17 tire is the stock size for '88-'92 (all four corners) and optional (all four corners) on the '93-'96

Good luck.