17 X 11 Rears for 90 - Tire Advice

[chevyaddict]

Hi All;
I purchased the 17 X 11 ZR1 wheels with the correct offset for my 90 for the rear. I'm curious who out there has done the same and what tire are you running that will fit? I don't care if I have to move my exhaust to fit the widest tire I can because I want to put some new exhaust on the back anyway. I searched the forum but didn't find a discussion on this particular topic. I'm partial to BF Goodrich but haven't found a good size on their website ideal for this size rim. Help!
Thanks,

 

[WhalePirot]

I found that BFG 315/35x17s fit but the 335 R1s rub the Flowmasters. The 315 cracked the inner well, though, on my lowered car.

My next set will not be BFGs, but probably Goodyears; maybe Kumho if I go low cost.

Nice collection.

 

[chevyaddict]

Thanks! But I can't find anything but the drag radial on the BF Goodrich Website the fits and I use this car for daily driving and really don't want to use those. What kind of 315/35? Someone else told me that too but I couldn't find another tire besides the drag radial.

 

[Toms007]

315/35's are getting harder to come by. Goodyear, Sumitomo, and Vredstein (spelling?) seem to be the only ones making them now. BFG (I believe) discontinued making the 315/35's (except in DRs).

 

[Hib Halverson]

Going forward, 315/35-17 tires are going to get hard to find because the only cars that ever used them were 90-95 ZR-1s and 96 Grand Sport Coupes.

ZR-1 wheels on the back of a C4 stick out far enough to look awful.

Grand Sport Coupe wheels will just barely fit under the fenders.

 

[Steve40th]

I run the 315/35 BFG KD. They fit fine and dont stick out as I narrowed the rearend via GMs article on "Big Doggie" their 90 Vette with ZR1 tires and a 454. It was a test car. But they didnt have the Grand Sport offset of 50mm, only the ZR1 offset of 36mm. So they took the 87 spindles, 13 mm shorter, cut the brake bracket down 13mm, etc etc. Then I went one step further and put the Grand Sport wheels on which are an additional 14 mm and voila, tires fit fine. No rubbing, even though lowered. Sometimes during autocross they touch inner plastic fenderwell.
Give me email and I will email pdf article

 

[chevyaddict]

I run the 315/35 BFG KD. They fit fine and dont stick out as I narrowed the rearend via GMs article on "Big Doggie" their 90 Vette with ZR1 tires and a 454. It was a test car. But they didnt have the Grand Sport offset of 50mm, only the ZR1 offset of 36mm. So they took the 87 spindles, 13 mm shorter, cut the brake bracket down 13mm, etc etc. Then I went one step further and put the Grand Sport wheels on which are an additional 14 mm and voila, tires fit fine. No rubbing, even though lowered. Sometimes during autocross they touch inner plastic fenderwell.
Give me email and I will email pdf article

Yummy! Looks fantastic. Yes, please send the pdf! drdawnhill@gmail.com!

 

[Steve40th]

Yummy! Looks fantastic. Yes, please send the pdf! drdawnhill@gmail.com!

Sent the article. It is called Big Weenies, and not porn. I also stated if you need pics, and little help let me know. Quite a few people have done this modifications, and it takes about an afternoon. You only have to buy 85-87 spindles. Not expensive at all. the rest is minor, and only one precision cut any macine shop can do, for less than 50 dollars.

 

[chevyaddict]

Sent the article. It is called Big Weenies, and not porn. I also stated if you need pics, and little help let me know. Quite a few people have done this modifications, and it takes about an afternoon. You only have to buy 85-87 spindles. Not expensive at all. the rest is minor, and only one precision cut any macine shop can do, for less than 50 dollars.

The thing is, on my 84 I bought these wheels with the right offset and didn't have a problem with the tires sticking out. I was assuming it was going to be the same on my 90... do you think they will, in fact, stick out if I don't do this modification?

 

[Steve40th]

The thing is, on my 84 I bought these wheels with the right offset and didn't have a problem with the tires sticking out. I was assuming it was going to be the same on my 90... do you think they will, in fact, stick out if I don't do this modification?

The 89-96 had longer spindles, 13 mm longer. The 87 and older the Grand Sprt Offset fits fine, without sticking out. But a 90 the wheels will stick out enough that some will put Grand SPort flares to compensate. But, Sumitomos 315 are a little narrower than BFG's and will fit fine without sticking out. Sumitomos measure at a different width, so there tires are narrower. If you run BFGs you will see why I did what the article says to do. Remember the article was done before the Grand SPort offset was made, so with the mods in the article, and the Grand Sport offset, 50mm, it will fit like mine.
Only Fikse and other companies make correct offsets. Aftermarkets like Tomzwheels, AFS etc etc all sell the Grand Sport offset, nothing custom.
A Fikse 17x11 wheel for our C4 88-96 is set a 8.3 inches which is about 64 mm offset.

 

[chevyaddict]

The 89-96 had longer spindles, 13 mm longer. The 87 and older the Grand Sprt Offset fits fine, without sticking out. But a 90 the wheels will stick out enough that some will put Grand SPort flares to compensate. But, Sumitomos 315 are a little narrower than BFG's and will fit fine without sticking out. Sumitomos measure at a different width, so there tires are narrower. If you run BFGs you will see why I did what the article says to do. Remember the article was done before the Grand SPort offset was made, so with the mods in the article, and the Grand Sport offset, 50mm, it will fit like mine.
Only Fikse and other companies make correct offsets. Aftermarkets like Tomzwheels, AFS etc etc all sell the Grand Sport offset, nothing custom.
A Fikse 17x11 wheel for our C4 88-96 is set a 8.3 inches which is about 64 mm offset.

THAT BITES!!!!!! I do have the AFS aftermarkets....

 

[Tuna]

I'm running 17x11x36mm (ZR1 offset) on the back of my 92 and they stick out.

The 96 GS offset is 50mm and would not stick out much at all.

The picture I tried to link to is on the Grand Sport Registry but it requires login there to make it stay up. Sorry. I'll find another place to put them.

I'm running Goodyear F1 D3s now and love them but they are all on back order I hear.

 

[chevyaddict]

Picture didn't show up there Tuna. I actually looked and I believe the rims I bought do have the correct offset to not stick out. 50mm. I'm going to bolt them up to the car before I buy any tires as I really don't have the time to go through all that narrowing business on this car. I have too many other project cars that require big manipulations. If they stick out I'll just sell the rims I bought. I hope I don't have to do that though!!!

 

[Steve40th]

The GS offset wont stick out much , but it does, hence the flares from the factory. Now the narrower tires like sumittomo wont stick out at all, but BFG's, Good Years etc will. So, either flare it, except a little tire sticking out or narrow it. I narrowed it to look factory and flush. Its a personal thing.

 

[Tuna]

Picture didn't show up there Tuna. I actually looked and I believe the rims I bought do have the correct offset to not stick out. 50mm. I'm going to bolt them up to the car before I buy any tires as I really don't have the time to go through all that narrowing business on this car. I have too many other project cars that require big manipulations. If they stick out I'll just sell the rims I bought. I hope I don't have to do that though!!!

50mm is the GS offset and should not stick out.

Fixed the picture link - I think.

 

[pkincy]

The GS Offsets will stick out slightly hence the flares as someone has already posted.

Although not an inexpensive solution Fikse makes 17x11s that have enough backspacing that the 315s won't stick out.

Not a good picture of the rear, but:

Perry

 

[Steve40th]

50mm is the GS offset and should not stick out.

Fixed the picture link - I think.

It all depends on the tires. BFG, Good Year will as they are wider than the Sumitommos. GM put the flareson because they stick out past the fender. Trust me. The tires make the difference. Of course GMs quality control does too.
Go to another forum and request pics of GS offset wheels on non ZR-1 bodies and you will see they stick out just a scosch.

 

[Tuna]

Here's the pictures of my '92 with ZR1 offset wheels and Goodyear D3 tires.

The ZR1 (36mm) offset definitely sticks out and without the flares and splash guards would not look as good.

The GS offset wheel may stick out some, may not - depends on the tires used.

 

[chevyaddict]

Well I'm bummed. I bolted the rims up and you guys were right - the tire will stick out. I don't want to put the flares on it and don't have time to do the modification to fix it so I'm wonder how bad it will look if they stick out with tires for the short term. I can't stand that but at the same time really want the wider tires. I'm probably going to start another thread asking for people to post pics where the tires are sticking out so I can see just how it looks.

 

[Black Bart]

Here is my 89 with 315\35\17 BFG-KD's on 50MM GS wheels
Tire Rack offers several brands of 315 tires but if you want performance then go with the KD
I will never buy another Goodyear tire