Tire help on Custom Wheels
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2006
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From: WI
Tire help on Custom Wheels
Hello -
For my 2002 C5 Z06 I am looking for tires for my Forgestar M14 wheels:
Front wheel size is 18X10.5
Rear wheel size is 18X12.5
Tire Rack was not able to help - What size tires does everyone recommend running front and rear?
For my 2002 C5 Z06 I am looking for tires for my Forgestar M14 wheels:
Front wheel size is 18X10.5
Rear wheel size is 18X12.5
Tire Rack was not able to help - What size tires does everyone recommend running front and rear?
Night Owl for life
Joined: Nov 2003
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From: Bugs Bunny should'a made a left turn here
I think rear sizes for that width are going to be very hard to find in an 18.
I'm having difficulty finding 345s in a 19 now and will likely need to move to a 20" rear wheel just to have better tire options.
I found this for the rear & they're kinda tall at 27.5" but they should work.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/31372797059...AAAOSwcsNhQ5Vz
Front tires just take your pick; very common.
I'm having difficulty finding 345s in a 19 now and will likely need to move to a 20" rear wheel just to have better tire options.
I found this for the rear & they're kinda tall at 27.5" but they should work.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/31372797059...AAAOSwcsNhQ5Vz
Front tires just take your pick; very common.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 3,573
Likes: 1,002
From: WI
I think rear sizes for that width are going to be very hard to find in an 18.
I'm having difficulty finding 345s in a 19 now and will likely need to move to a 20" rear wheel just to have better tire options.
I found this for the rear & they're kinda tall at 27.5" but they should work.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/31372797059...AAAOSwcsNhQ5Vz
Front tires just take your pick; very common.
I'm having difficulty finding 345s in a 19 now and will likely need to move to a 20" rear wheel just to have better tire options.
I found this for the rear & they're kinda tall at 27.5" but they should work.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/31372797059...AAAOSwcsNhQ5Vz
Front tires just take your pick; very common.
Thank you for all of your help!
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 3,573
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From: WI
Le Mans Master
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I would do 275/35 front and 335/30 rears. Should fit great.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
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From: WI
Thank you - I was thinking of running a 295/35/18 front with the 335/30/18 rear. Would that be better than the 275 Front or will it throw off my speedometer too much?
Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays!
Last edited by JG853; Dec 21, 2021 at 01:10 PM.
Le Mans Master
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The front size has nothing to do with the speedo, but the 295/35 would be a little taller than the 335/30. I dont know if it would be noticeable or not. I think a 275 fits very well on a 10.5" wide wheel, but if you can find a 295/30 it would fit well and probably look better than the 295/35.
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From: Knoxville Tennessee
Agreed. Switching to 335/30R18 from 295/35, you lose around .2" in overall diameter (which will vary by brand). The calculator I use tells me that it'll read about 1/2 mph faster at 60, which is whatever. Nobody's gonna notice that.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2017
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Definitely need more info first. What are the wheel offsets, are you lowered at all, and are you keeping stock fenders? If you're keeping stock fenders, you're going to want to be very selective on rear tires unless you're ok with poke/rub/crack...
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2006
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From: WI
The wheels I am ordering are Forgestar M14.
Front: 18X10.5 +41 (2 inch Lip)
Rear: 18X12.5 +38 (4 Inch Lip)
Melting Slicks
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Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2006
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From: WI
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2017
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The front specs you listed are widebody front specs (1" wider). Unless your vendor spec'd those specifically for you for brake clearance, or you like your wheel/tire to poke noticeably, I'd rethink that front fitment.
Thread Starter
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The rears are perfect for the 2" CF fenders then, no problem there. If you're pushing decent power, a 345/35/18 drag radial would work well. If you just want a street tire that will do street tire things, or even an r-compound like an R888R, you're kind of stuck with a 335/30/18 as others have pointed out. The main problem with your tire options, other than a couple drag radial sizes, is the overall height/diameter. Your CF fenders have a larger opening than a stock fender does, and putting a 26" tire (335/30/18) under there will leave you with even more fender gap to fill. If you're not lowered at all, you're going to have a HUGE fender gap. And if you want to close the gap to even a reasonable level, you're going to need to lower it pretty good. Most of us with 2" rear fenders run a 27-28" tire. Street tires of that height are much easier to find with 19 or 20s.
The front specs you listed are widebody front specs (1" wider). Unless your vendor spec'd those specifically for you for brake clearance, or you like your wheel/tire to poke noticeably, I'd rethink that front fitment.
The front specs you listed are widebody front specs (1" wider). Unless your vendor spec'd those specifically for you for brake clearance, or you like your wheel/tire to poke noticeably, I'd rethink that front fitment.
I have not seen any pictures of guys running a square set-up with OEM Z06 wheels on the front (18X11). The reason I wanted a 10.5 inch lip is that the Forgestar engineer told me in order to get a 2 inch lip, I would need a minimum of a 10.5 inch wheel. What would you suggest?
Thank you again for all of the help.
Melting Slicks
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Good call, 19" rears will be much more ideal. A 325/30/19 or 345/30/19 will be perfect for those.
Ahhh I see, you specifically want a 2" lip, so they're just choosing to push the wheel out to accomplish your goal. You'll have 2" lip, but the wheel won't fit under the stock fender. If you don't want it to poke, my recommendation would be to not do a 2" lip.
Ahhh I see, you specifically want a 2" lip, so they're just choosing to push the wheel out to accomplish your goal. You'll have 2" lip, but the wheel won't fit under the stock fender. If you don't want it to poke, my recommendation would be to not do a 2" lip.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2006
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From: WI
Good call, 19" rears will be much more ideal. A 325/30/19 or 345/30/19 will be perfect for those.
Ahhh I see, you specifically want a 2" lip, so they're just choosing to push the wheel out to accomplish your goal. You'll have 2" lip, but the wheel won't fit under the stock fender. If you don't want it to poke, my recommendation would be to not do a 2" lip.
Ahhh I see, you specifically want a 2" lip, so they're just choosing to push the wheel out to accomplish your goal. You'll have 2" lip, but the wheel won't fit under the stock fender. If you don't want it to poke, my recommendation would be to not do a 2" lip.
Thank you and all of the other members who have helped in this post. Happy Holidays to everyone.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2017
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Invos used to be a popular tire, you'll be fine with those if you want to stick with a street tire. A drag radial, or any low treadwear/ r-compound tire, isn't what you want if you want something that will last more than a few to several thousand miles (and feel comfortable driving in inclement weather).
Those fronts will stick out about an inch (assuming you're not running aggressive negative camber). They would be more suitable under a C5 wide fender for factory C6/C7 wide fender. But if you're set on wanting a 2" lip, that's what you're dealing with.
I'm familiar with the 2 piece M14 and that CCW has been owned by Weld for quite a while now, but I actually didn't know Forgestar was acquired by Weld. That's disappointing.
I ran some of CCW's 2 piece hybrid wheels for a while. The front 10.5's with 295/30/19s poked about 3/4"-1", which drove me crazy and forced me to order widebody front fenders.
Those fronts will stick out about an inch (assuming you're not running aggressive negative camber). They would be more suitable under a C5 wide fender for factory C6/C7 wide fender. But if you're set on wanting a 2" lip, that's what you're dealing with.
I'm familiar with the 2 piece M14 and that CCW has been owned by Weld for quite a while now, but I actually didn't know Forgestar was acquired by Weld. That's disappointing.
I ran some of CCW's 2 piece hybrid wheels for a while. The front 10.5's with 295/30/19s poked about 3/4"-1", which drove me crazy and forced me to order widebody front fenders.
Race Director
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Big difference between an oem C5Z 18x10.5 with +58 offset and those M14 18x10.5's with +17 offset. As Jon already mentioned, that latter combo will poke alot, with oem fenders.
My suggestion would be an 18x9.5 with +50 offset or an 18x10 with +56.
My suggestion would be an 18x9.5 with +50 offset or an 18x10 with +56.
Drifting
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Good call, 19" rears will be much more ideal. A 325/30/19 or 345/30/19 will be perfect for those.
Ahhh I see, you specifically want a 2" lip, so they're just choosing to push the wheel out to accomplish your goal. You'll have 2" lip, but the wheel won't fit under the stock fender. If you don't want it to poke, my recommendation would be to not do a 2" lip.
Ahhh I see, you specifically want a 2" lip, so they're just choosing to push the wheel out to accomplish your goal. You'll have 2" lip, but the wheel won't fit under the stock fender. If you don't want it to poke, my recommendation would be to not do a 2" lip.