Wheel Fitment for a 1985 17",18",19"
 

I am looking to change wheels on my 1985 and really want this wheel. https://www.ebay.com/i/152459980435?ul_noapp=true Looking for advise on what I would need to do to make them work? I do work in tires and really wanted to go with Michelin 4S tires but it appears they do not make anything for the front unless i was to go with 18" front and 19" rear, or even 18" at all four corners. Will 18" or 19" work? or should i stick to 17" and just run g-force sports. Also should i go staggerd or same from and rear?

Rich

I have C6 Z06 275/35/18 on my 1985 in the correct offset and they are gorgeous! I did get them from Ebay also

You can fit 18 or 19 wheels on a C4. IMO, 18 is about the max for proper looks - the C4 is much smaller than later Corvettes and larger wheels start to look disproportionate on it. Also, if it were me I would not go with staggered diameters: later Corvettes had disproportionately giant rear sections, and the staggered diameters were done to help hide that. C4s don't need that, and look best with same-diameter wheels front and rear. That is, of course, just my opinion.

Regarding those wheels you linked, I didn't see an offset specified. Maybe I missed it? But if they're sized to fit 88-96 C4s, then they will have around 18mm too much offset for proper fitment on your 85. You can make that up with spacers. But I'd really want to know from the actual offset of these wheels before buying them.

When I bought mine it had 9.5"x16 38 offset rims on it with 245x50zr16 tires on it. When I looked for tires, there were a lot more 18" tires so I checked those out.


Here's a site that I used to help determine what would fit: https://www.wheel-size.com/calc/?wheel1=245-50-16X9.5ET38&wheel2=255-40-18X9.5ET40&fcl=50mm&wcl=30mm&scl=50mm&sr =0mm
Here's my 86 with the rims and tires I got for it.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...6aa8ab37d0.jpg

Based on what I found I decided on 9.5"x18" 40 offset rims (went 4 square) with 255x40zr18" tires to be my best selection to fit as close as the originals did.
I found a place that could get the rims I wanted: http://www.streetdreams.org/oe-replicas-wheels/

No connection to them, other than purchased the rims through them and I felt good about the price, quality and fit. Watch out, many places that listed rims couldn't get them when I tried to order them. The place I noted could so that's where I bought them through.

I'm happy with the selection, they fit as they should and still look good after 2 years now.

Personally, 18 is about as big as will work for looks. I'm running C6 wheels in 18" and looks pretty good. I don't like how 19s look on the car.

ty or advise guys, Emailed seller to ask about offset. Probably going to go with 18" as they are offered in the tire i want. What would be recomend rim width? looks like rim comes in 8.5 9.5 and 10.5. Looks like based on size tire of 275/35R18 that 9.5 would be best.


Rich

For that tire size, the usual recommended rim width is 9-11". So you could do either 9.5 or 10.5. At 10.5, the offset becomes more important. You still have a few millimeters either way to play with, but you'll want to keep it close to 32mm on your 85. If you want wider tires in the future and you keep your offset correct, you can go as large as 315/30/18 on a 10.5.

Agreed, I've had 17s, 18s and 19s on my 87 and 94 C4s - Presently running 18s all around and lowered

265/35/18 front and 315/30/18 in the rear

When I ran the 19s in the rear there wasn't much suspension travel when combined with some lowering to make me feel comfortable and after a slightly cracked rear fender after hitting a bump at highway speeds, I changed back to 18s. Not saying that would happen when running 19s as some guys run them fine but I like my cars lowered and 18s was the largest wheel size I found IMHO to be acceptable

So I received a reply back from seller for info on wheels. so the Satin Black ones I was looking at only come in 18 x 8.5 or 10.5 width. I wanted to go with 275/35r18 so 10.5 would be only suited width. Will a 10.5 fit ok on the front of a 85 c4? the offset is 56mm. what size spacer would I need? They do offer a similar wheel in gloss black as a 18 x 9.5 and that has a offset of 40 mm. but i think satin would look better, but who knows lol



https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...76ccf54128.png
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...a9ee1c0074.png
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...21f2d41a86.jpg

I have 18x10 275/35/18 in 40mm offset all the way around on my 1985
and they fit perfect.

I really want to go with the satin i think which are the 18x10.5 with a offset of +56. what size wheel adapter would I need to make this work and look good? ty

Rich

You'd want to get 32mm offset, give or take a couple mm. So you will want to use 1" spacers or adapters.

how much do you think the wheels with stick out past the fenders? if any at all?


Rich

With the 56 offset you need 1" adapters, so it'll sit IN the fenders about 0.95" without the adapter and look stupid.

10.5" wheels with 315 or narrower tires can sit fully within the fenders. You just have to get the offset correct.


Without spacers and with a 56mm offset, 10.5" wheels will have 7.95" of backspacing and will probably not even bolt up on an early C4: they'll hit on the inside edge. With a 1" spacer they'll have good clearance on the inside and sit about flush with the fender edges.

decided on going with the 10.5 and using spacers. Now looking for advice on spacers. I found these https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-1-inch-Hu...ox!48152!US!-1 but it shows they wont fit a 1985. kinda confused. Can anyone verfiy that these will work? dont know much about spacers etc

Rich

The only things I can think of that would prevent this adapter from working on a C4 would be the center bore size or the type of lug nut seat it has. The latter may require different lug nuts. I'm not sure what center bore the C4 requires.

EDIT: Everything I'm seeing says the C4 and later Corvettes all have a hub bore of 70.3", so these adapters should be fine in that regard.

All done
 

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...9e959dd6b3.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...4a40292a8b.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...b0159ad9dc.jpg

Hey, Gremlin I love the look of your 85. I have an red 85 and i just got a flat tire on the way home from storage last weekend. perfect reason to buy new rims and tires. The spacing on your car looks just right. How does it drive now and do you have any issues with such wide tires in the front? Any turning restrictions? Also, do you have any pics that you can share of the rear end? Im curious about the look with such wide tires? Thanks for your help, your car looks money with the help of Matt.

So what size spacers did you use? Is the back and front spacera the same thickness? Could your front wheel sit more inside the fender?