17" vs 18" wheels

[Last Ride]

I thought I would see what everyone out there likes. I am going to be getting a set of custom wheels for my '78, but have not yet decided on 17" or 18". I don't think I want to go any higher than 18", and I might be tempted to go 17" up front and 18" in the rear. I am currently looking for fender flares to give the car am more aggressive stance (and allow for wider wheels and tires on stock-style trailing arms). I have heard of some issues with putting larger-diameter wheels being taxing on the brake systems. Can anyone elaborate on this? I am going to go with aluminum calipers from Stainless Brakes along with slotted rotors, but I don't want my brake system to be compromised. I welcome any and all comments. Thanks!

 

[Stallion]

Don't you think 18" might be a little too big? I mean, as far as rubbing goes. I'm not sure, but I would assume something like taht would rub against the fender ruining the fender and the tires which would be terrible and expensive. But I'm not sure if 18" would pose this problem or not.

Good luck!!

 

[cruisin-davey-g]

I thought I would see what everyone out there likes. I am going to be getting a set of custom wheels for my '78, but have not yet decided on 17" or 18". I don't think I want to go any higher than 18", and I might be tempted to go 17" up front and 18" in the rear. I am currently looking for fender flares to give the car am more aggressive stance (and allow for wider wheels and tires on stock-style trailing arms). I have heard of some issues with putting larger-diameter wheels being taxing on the brake systems. Can anyone elaborate on this? I am going to go with aluminum calipers from Stainless Brakes along with slotted rotors, but I don't want my brake system to be compromised. I welcome any and all comments. Thanks!

Hey: Glad to see somebody going to the more "high-tech" larger wheels. You can go either seventeens or eighteens (just watch your tire size). A nice combo is, what you mentioned, seventeens in the front & eighteens in the rear. I'm presently working on a '72 coupe & I'm going with seventeens on all four (17x8). I'm using the standard (stock) offset. My choice of wheels are the "Colorado Customs Leadvilles". They look similiar to the ARE Torque-thrust II, but don't have the ugly lug nuts or the valve stems showing & it gives the rim that clean look. These rims are billett & are not cheap. If you're interested, check out their site @ www.coloradocustom.com. I kept the stock offset so the sidewalls will clear the stock fenderwell if I decide to go to the "bag" suspension & want to "drop" it on the ground at shows. As for "taxing" the brake system. I don't think that's an issue really, unless you're going to do alot of road racing & hard continous braking. Aftermarket braking systems are the way to go. But, be prepared to do some fabrication, because most of the aftermarket brake co. (Baer, Wilwoood, Brembo, etc.) don't make a direct bolt on application for the C-3. Only "SSBC" does. If you're going to rework the braking system, then I would suggest to going to larger rotors for more braking surface, then you would definately not have a problem. Dave

 

[Last Ride]

Dave--
Funny you should mention Colorado Custom, lol. Actually, I have had my eye on their Copper Mountain II style for a while. Not as open as traditional 5-spokes, yet I think they offer a nice blend of classic and modern styling. I like those Leadvilles, but $$$:eek :eek As for the brake situation, I had planned on going with the SSBC aluminum calipers, and was wondering how hard it would be to stuff a larger rotor behind the 17" front wheels. I just don't want to reinvent the wheel just for larger diatmeter rotors. Plus, my current brakes were replaced less than two years ago with SS-sleeved calipers, so they work great for now. I was thinking about 17x8 up front with 18x9 (or 18x11 with fender flares) in the rear. I was told that rims could be custom built for the rear up to 9" wide with stock-style trailing arms and still fit under the fender. I think I would probably run a 275 or 285 in the rear. For the front, I would keep the width I currently have, or 255. I would run a 40 or 45-series up front to keep the overall diameter around 27", which is stock. This would also mean a 35-40 series tire on the rear. I wonder if Colorado Custom will allow me to order 17" and 18" together?!? Now I just have to figure out what offsets to order.

Stallion--
I don't think the 18's will be too big. I know of several people running 17's, a few running 18's, and at least one running 20's! I think Chris's (69MyWay) rears are 18's, but I am not sure. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[cruisin-davey-g]

"Last-ride": Ok the real deal with Colorado Customs is to catch 'em at a show. They give Special Show pricing at those times & can save you alot of $$$$ over their regular costs. That's how I picked up mine & I saved over 5 Bills on the cost. So, it's well worth your while to go to a show where they're at & pick 'em up there. As for the brake situation. I'm gonna be running 17's & using the stock Delco braking system. What I'm gonna do is take a set of stock Delco's, smooth & shave the castings, taking out all of the die marks, markings, & imperfections. Then I'm gonna have 'em powdercoated so in the end they'll look just like billett aluminum delco calipers (they'll be sleeved too). I'm gonna be using crossed-drilled rotors (despite what everybody says about 'em not being as practical as the slotted ones). With 17's, I should have no problems with braking, 'cause I'll just be street driving it to shows & such. One thing you can do with aftermarket brake systems is setting 'em up any way you like. What you do is set the caliper on to the rotor & where the bleeder cap is, you feed air to hold the caliper onto the rotor just as if it's braking (of course, you'll have the pads on the calipers). Once you put the caliper where you want it in the rotor, all you have to do then is mock up some brackets & with a little fabrication, make up the brackets & you're in business. This way you can use a larger rotor without much trouble & end up with a much better braking system. This is how we do it on most of our street rods when we're going from scratch. It may sound like alot of work, but it's not. Gettin' sort of like "Monster Garage" (L*O*L). But differences, personality & unique changes is what makes car building interesting & fun! Dave

 

[cruisin-davey-g]

"Last-Ride" Oh, one thing I forgot to mention about you choice of tire sizes. If you go with the 40-45 series tires on the 17's, you won't get the total 27" height you're seeking. With those sizes, you may not fill up the front wheel wells like you want & end up with that "slot-car" syndrom. I'm going with a 55 series (either 225 55 (Z) R 17 or 235 55 (Z) R 17. these sizes will give you the overall 27" diameter. If you want, you can check this out by looking at what's on the 2001 or 2002 Chrysler 300M running 17's. If you measure the height with that wheel on the car, you'll
see the 27" diameter. Also, I believe that same size tire is on the newer Lincoln LS. Dave

 

[69MyWay]

Don't forget our supporting vendor

www.hvydeez.com

Lynn and Dave are super nice people, great prices, and they have an excellent selection of wheels.

I am running 18 on my car,...however with the flares I am extreme in the rear.

Check them out.

 

[Last Ride]

Chris, I really like the wheels on your car. They, along with the Vista's are on my short list as well as the "other" wheels mentioned.

 

[Bob Chadwick]

This site can calculate different Tire Sizes and might be of some help.

Bob

 

[cruisin-davey-g]

Thanx,Bob, for the tire site. I'm trying to stay right around 27" or so for my tire diameter. This is what I've got my speedo cal. for & my rear gears too. So, with this diameter, I'll be right about the same for my speedo & tach readings.

 

[Bob Chadwick]

You're welcome. It's a nice site. People talk about estimating, formulas, etc and all you have to do here is plug in the numbers.

Keep us posted on how yours turn out. At some point I would like to add 16 or 17 by 8 rims to mine but since the tires are brand new it is not a priority.

 

[69autoXr]

Take a look at this thread:

http://corvetteactioncenter.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22071

In it I asked Chris Mc. (69MyWay) about his wheels and what backspacing he is using. If you get rear flares, you won't need the offset trailing arms. The main purpose of the offsets is to allow wider tires and wheels to fit under the stock body, where the added width of the tire is added toward the middle of the car, as opposed to the outside, where they would rub on the stock wheel well lips. But with the flares, you will definitely want the wheel to set to the outside of the car, just to fill up the added width of the body. Take a look at the picture I attached. This is my car with original GM L-88 flares, and note how wide the rears are, they're huge! The wheels that are on the back are 15x10 rallies with 4" backspacing with 255/60-15 tires, and it looks silly. My new racing wheels are going to be 16x11 and 4.25" backspacing, and I'll probably use a 7/16" spacer just to fill up the flares better. So for your case I'd recommend at least a 17(or 18)x11with 4" backspace, or 12" wide with 4.5" backspace. Eckler's also sells flares that are slightly different, and I don't think they're quite as wide as the original type, so you could be less extreme with the wheel dimensions. In my opinion, I think you should do flares all the way around, not just the rear. Ive never seen a Corvette with rears only that I've liked. Keep in mind that the wider wheels with close to standard backspacing will put more strain on bearings.

 

[groovyjay]

I'm using 20" TT IIs all around on my 79. You can go as big as 20" with out messing up with stock wheel/tire diameter, which is 27". I actully got my set up 26.73" which makes the car sit even lower than stock.

As for the brakes, I'd stay away from SSBC alu calibers, no real braking improvemen, just less unsprung weight (which is a very good thing) If you are looking to use stock size rotors, just slotted ones, get some Wilwood dynalites all around. Hydroboost is also the way to go.

Just my 0.02 Euros.

PS. I'm getting 15" front and 13.25" rear rotors with Monoblock brembo calipers all around.

 

[LIRacer]

I have an orginal (ish) LT-1. I went the offset trailing arm route. I didnt want to do any 'glass modifications for the obvious reasons of value. With the new trailing arms, I was able to stuff a set of 15 x 10s in. Really a very tuff look from the back. I went with 15s instead of 17s or 18s cuz NYC area is potholes city and I have bent my share of 18 inch rims. Also, the ride is a bit better.

I took my car to Sebring race track for a "track day" and it ran a 2:27 which is faster then the Panoz Race car I was race trained in.

 

[Last Ride]

As for the brakes, I'd stay away from SSBC alu calibers, no real braking improvemen, just less unsprung weight (which is a very good thing) If you are looking to use stock size rotors, just slotted ones, get some Wilwood dynalites all around. Hydroboost is also the way to go.

Just my 0.02 Euros.

PS. I'm getting 15" front and 13.25" rear rotors with Monoblock brembo calipers all around.

Jay--
I looked at the SSBC calipers for exactly what you stated; less unspring weight. I have also heard the the aluminum dissipates heat better that the stock iron. I have seen some people making brackets to fit the Dynalites on our cars, but never really considered them. As for the larger rotors, I was thinking of keeping the rears the stock size, but trying to put 13" up front. I am not sure how to go about doing this. Are you making your own brake system or are you buying it from somewhere? I would be interested in a setup similar to yours!

Bryan

 

[Twin_Turbo]

I wanted some larger and wider wheels but I didn't want those ultra skinny tires so... I chose 16" diam wheels. I have modular magnesium wheels with rim halves to convert to 12", 11"or 10" width. The only tire manufacturer that will make DOT tires for them )not yet available) is Hoosier.

 

[69autoXr]

Those wheels are nice, who makes them? How much do they weigh? Are they direct bolt on, or do you need adapters?

Chris

 

[cruisin-davey-g]

Those wheels are nice, who makes them? How much do they weigh? Are they direct bolt on, or do you need adapters?

Chris

Chris: Whereabout's in Michigan are you at? Dave

 

[Twin_Turbo]

Those wheels are nice, who makes them? How much do they weigh? Are they direct bolt on, or do you need adapters?

Chris

Do you mean my wheels?

They're made by revolution in England. They weight about 16lbs a wheel. They bolt right on, the bolt pattern is 5x4,75 and they fit the C3 (with huge flares) They are custom made. No adapters needed.

The fronts & rears are different, rears have more bolts on the rim halves (stronger) and are 12"wide. The fronts are 11"now but I have 4 halves to convert to 10" too. I actually have 5 wheels, 3 fronts and 2 rears.

 

[69autoXr]

Twinnie,

Yeah, your wheels, sorry, I should have specified! I just ordered a set of Real Racing Wheels in 16 x 11". They're about 15lbs and bolt on directly, I hope.

Dave,

I live in Livonia.

Chris