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17" Frontrunner tires

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Old May 15, 2006 | 06:24 AM
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Default 17" Frontrunner tires

The Mickey Thompson and Goodyear web sites both list 17" frontrunner tires. The Mickey Thompsons have a 2.7" section width and the Goodyears come in a 2.5" or 4" section. Is there a point where a frontrunner tire becomes too narrow to run on a Corvette?

Is anyone running 17" (narrow) front tires? If so, what brand and size?

Thanks,
Charles
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Old May 15, 2006 | 09:37 AM
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Charles,
Where did you find the 4" front runner? I looked on Goodyear's website, but couldn't find it. I've been looking for a 17" front as well. The 2.7 tire listed by MT is mainly intended for dragsters and is too narrow. I ran a 3.5 Weld draglite with a 165/15 tire on my mustang, and I thought that was pushing it. One more thing, is the Goodyear tire a bias ply or radial?

Josh
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Old May 15, 2006 | 11:31 AM
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The goodyear site does not specify if they are radials or bias. Here is a link: http://www.racegoodyear.com/products/dragspecial.html
The size information is in a PDF file.
Charles
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Old May 15, 2006 | 11:57 AM
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Those 17" tires are for dragesters not full size cars.
Most use 15" front tires.
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Old May 15, 2006 | 12:08 PM
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yes Charles you will find those 17's are too skinny for any classes we run.

You can fit a 15 if you buy a Strange Engeering front brake kit and cut off stock mounting ears.

or

One guy put rear brakes on the front and got a 15 to fit

or

one guy shaved half the caliper off to fit a 15
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Old May 15, 2006 | 04:48 PM
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I checked with the local Goodyear race tire dealer and their frontrunners are bias ply and are not suitable for a car that weighs as much as the Corvette. The narrowest 17" radial tire I have been able to find is a 205/60. For those of you running 15" rims, what size tire are you using?

Charles
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Old May 15, 2006 | 06:31 PM
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I am afraid I bought my used so I an not sure of the rim size. Maybe 4.5 or 5.4. I am using MT ET Street 15 inch 26" tall, but again, don't forget the new calipers and roters as they will not fit stock

here are some pics before the install
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Old May 15, 2006 | 08:23 PM
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I was thinking of trying some rear motorcycle 17" tires...4.5" width, but don't know if they will handle the weight....
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Old May 15, 2006 | 08:24 PM
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I'm thinking of narrowing a pair og Zo6 17"s so they would fit.
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Old May 15, 2006 | 09:08 PM
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Originally Posted by TLewis4095
I was thinking of trying some rear motorcycle 17" tires...4.5" width, but don't know if they will handle the weight....
I thought about 17" motorcycle tires also but I'm not sure of the load rating for these tires.
I have a set of 1998 wagonwheels (17" x 8.5") that I was thinking about cutting down to about 4"-5" width.

Charles
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Old May 16, 2006 | 04:10 PM
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I wouldn't use motorcycle tires and I never liked the idea of cutting/narrowing/rewelding factory wheels...either go with the CCW skinnies (if you can still get them or find them used) or do what Edgar did and get smaller brakes with some good 15" skinnies/frontrunners.

If on a real budget then just go with a lightweight battery and pull the front sway bar for weight savings off of the nose, pump the hell out of the stock front tires to lower rolling resistance.
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