16" or 17" rims for my '82?

[Twin_Turbo]

I have 16" wheels, IMO 17" is too large. I want to keep the vintage looks.

As for filling the wheel wells, 295/40/R16 in the front and 31.5x16.5xR16 (that's about a 410 wide tire, about 31,5" tall) will fill it pretty good I think

 

[Robin7TFour]

tomi, ecklers and others make spacer kits for adapting your zr-1 wheels on your vette. they run about $300 for the set. then wheels will fit just perfect.

robin

 

[tomj1404]

I ordered some different rims, my dad and my girlfriends dad both were dead set against the spacers, plus spacers are illegal here. My new rims should be here a week from today, I'm pretty excited about it

 

[tomj1404]

speedometer?

My stock wheels are 255/60 on 15's, the new ones are 255/45 on 17's

So the guy at the tire shop told me my wheels would be the same size as what I have now, but I just used the tire calculator and it says my new wheels are gonna be a little smaller: 1/2 inch smaller radius and 1 inch smaller diameter; 746 revolutions per mile on the old ones versus 775 revs per mile with the new ones.

Is this gonna screw stuff up? How much does it cost to get a speedometer recalibrated? I've read other things about transmission shift points needing adjusting too if the wheel size is changed, what do you think?

 

[Crickett]

I'm buying new rims and tires and I can't decide what will look better. Do you think lower profile tires will look good on my '82 vette? I'm trying to decide between a 16 or 17 inch 5 spoke rim, and I don't know if i should go with the 16's with a taller tire or the 17's with a shorter tire, what do you guys think?

I'd go with the 17s.

 

[wichitacorvette]

how many more inches in offset would i need to make say y2k 17/f 18/r wheels fit my 82? 1 1/2" 2"

Tony

 

[zwede]

Here's my 71 with AR CL205's. Tires are 255/50-ZR17. This size has the same diameter as the stock tires.

 

[clar2001]

Very Nice great look

 

[MaineShark]

Definitely nice. Have you noticed any change in the ride quality?

Joe

 

[elseyj]

Tom,
Did your new wheels come in? What wheel/tire and offset did you go with?

 

[tomj1404]

The rims still haven't come in yet. I'm pretty mad at the tire guy, he just doesn't seem very professional, but the rims are ordered and i'm expecting them anytime now. I went with these 17" rims

http://store6.yimg.com/I/racerwheel_1754_28466943

And now I see that I need 50 series tires to match the stock height on 17's, and this tire guy set me up with 45's so now I think my wheels aren't going to be the right height.

Plus, to top it all off, I called him this morning to find out what's going on with these rims, if they're shipping or what, and he said he'd find out and call me right back, then he never called back.

I'll tell you this much, when my new tires wear out, I'm not going back to this guy for replacements.

Sorry about all the complaining, I'm just frustrated with how long it's taking.

 

[clar2001]

I installed America Racing tt2s
one rim was such poor quality had to go back then 2 more werent round could not tell this until you went to ballance the rim & could see the wobble.
Just cause if these are two piece rims have them spun first on the ballancing macine to make shure they are true.
Have you thought about what kind of ballannce you are going to do, this also is very important.
Nice looking choice on the rims I'm sure you got the correct back spacing I found there weren't that many rims that would fit with out being coustom made ..

front 225/60/15 rear 255/60/15

 

[cruisin-davey-g]

The rims still haven't come in yet. I'm pretty mad at the tire guy, he just doesn't seem very professional, but the rims are ordered and i'm expecting them anytime now. I went with these 17" rims

http://store6.yimg.com/I/racerwheel_1754_28466943

And now I see that I need 50 series tires to match the stock height on 17's, and this tire guy set me up with 45's so now I think my wheels aren't going to be the right height.

Plus, to top it all off, I called him this morning to find out what's going on with these rims, if they're shipping or what, and he said he'd find out and call me right back, then he never called back.

I'll tell you this much, when my new tires wear out, I'm not going back to this guy for replacements.

Sorry about all the complaining, I'm just frustrated with how long it's taking.

Tom: Nice lookin' Rims. Look like Boyd Coddingtons to me. Who are you dealing with anyway? If those are boyds, you're paying a pretty hefty chunck of change for 'em & should be treated better than what you say you are. There are a million tire & rim places out there who'd be happy to do business with you. it's too bad that some places; once they get your money, it's like, no big deal to them if your inconvenced by their incompetence. Anyway, hang in there. Also, you will need at least 50 series tires on those seventeens to get the right ride height of your stockers. I checked a C5 the other day (the 17's on the front were sporting 45 series tires & they wern't even close to the 27" needed. They fell about an inch & a half short). So, 50 series are about the tallest in 17's you'll get without going into a SUV type tire & you don't wanna go there. So, keep me posted & please let me see 'em (tires & rims) when you finally get 'em on your vette.

Dave