Optional tire size for 82... will they fit?

[jim's82]

I still have the original P225/70R15 tires on my 82 & it's about time to change them. I noticed on the spec's page that the optional tire for my car was the P255/60R15. I would really like the look of the 60's tires if they will fit. Does anyone know if the 60 required a diferent rim or dish depth? It looks like if I mount 60's on the stock rims the wheel well will be pretty full. I don't want to create rub or other suspension problems. Any input before spending the $$$ would be appreciated. Thanks, Jim

 

[69MyWay]

They will fit fine, just have a more bubbled look on the edge of the rim bead than what you have now, but you will get use to looking at it pretty quick.

I ran 255 60 on the front and 275 60 on the rear of my 74 with no problems on stock 8" wide rims.

 

[jim's82]

Thanks

Thanks for the quick response..... I'm really glad to hear they will work. I've always been a fan of beafy tires. I'm thinking of putting on "255/60" all the way around. Do you think the look will be a little too drastic or should I go with a smaller size in front?

 

[69MyWay]

It will look great.

 

[JHL]

It depends on your preference but the 255/60`s were available as an option and would be fitted to all four corners. I had an 80 which had this size all round on the original alloys and it looked fine. I have 255/60`s on the front of my 81 and have no rubbing problems.

J.

 

[jim's82]

WOW!! Do those 50's stick out of the fender well & if so, how much clearance is there to the tire? 50's look great, I'd have to give that a thought if yours are on stock rims. I'd really hate to take out a chunk of fiberglass on my 1st big bump though.

 

[JHL]

Hi Jim

I have no clearance problems with 295/50`s on the rear even fully loaded with a full tank of gas and a bit of scary driving they don`t rub or catch the fender, they don`t stick out either, in fact they are a perfect fit. They list the 295 as being suitable for an 8 to 10 inch rim. The only minor modification was to the the rear exhaust pipes which needed a slight bend to clear but this was with a true dual aftermarket exhaust and I don`t know how close to an original exhaust it was. Any way I have solved that problem by fitting sidepipes. You can see some pictures of the back of car on my site. I have also seen a few other late C3`s on various sites with 295`s on the back so it can be done. Some say you need to do something with the parking brake cables on the trailing arms but I didn`t.

Cheers
J.

 

[DDLS3]

jim's82,

I have the optional 255/60 on my 81 and there are no clearence problems. They are on the stock aluminum 8.5" rims. You may see a slight tendency for the front end of the car to be moved around by ruts in the road with the wider tire, but overall the handling is improved over the 225/70.

 

[KANE]

I run 255/50ZR16s.

I noticed some rubbing on the front with the tie rods when I had 255/15H15s. But that maybe because I would corner WAY too hard most of the time.

I don't have that problem now, and that's even with 4.5IN backspace on my MANTIS wheels.

 

[quickjagg]

re

Hey JHL how much did you pay for those tires (total price) and where did you get them?? those look soo nice!
THanks for the help
-Chris

 

[quickjagg]

re

Hey JHL how much did you pay for those tires (total price) and where did you get them?? those look soo nice!
THanks for the help
-Chris

 

[Hijinx]

Darkshark, are you running the 255-16's all the way around? I am working on an article on wheel and tire combo's for C3 and have not found much info on 16 inch tires. In fact, I had kinda dismissed them because I felt like the tire selection was not broad enough. What are your thoughts. I hope to have this article finished and posted in Shark Bites for January. Thanks.

Chris, You are running your 18's with no spacers and stock control arms, right? Just the flares and custom offset wheels to clear everything. I stated this from what I thought I remembered you told me. Thanks

 

[KANE]

Hijinx-

Well, I good number of years ago I had a 94 Formula Firebird. I was running 255/50ZR16s on it too. I could drive it in the snow, sleet, and even patchy black ice. It would hook up so quickly on any condition. It was great. Based upon that experience, I would buy another set of 16s with that combo for any muscle car that didn't originally come with them.

I attribute the great performance of my Firebird to the tire size, because lets be honest- its the tires that get the power to the pavement! Anyways, its just my opinion.... but the 16s shod with that size give enough of a contact patch to really bite into the ground and the height keeps the overall performance aspect identical to that of larger diameter wheels.

If you look at the Mickey Thompson tires of guys that race, you'll see that they 'wrinkle' as they make the intial rotation to keep the car planted - and thus accelerate faster without a lot of useless wheel spin. Although its much different with regular street radials, you get to keep the large contact patch generated by the como of 255/50ZR16s. The principle is the same- having the best contact patch upon launch. The key to 'hooking up' with tires is all in the contact patch. True, a good suspension can make up for alot... but running 7 inch wide rears with 225s will never give you the patch advantage offered by a wider tire.

I have seen these ratios-
255/60 - 15s
255/50 - 16s
255/40 - 17s
255/30 - 18s

I personnaly feel that too little tire is just asking for trouble with bent rims, alignments, trailing arms, wheel bearings and other suspension components. I offer a word of caution to Vette owners about the nature of the IRS (indi. rear suspension). In stock configuration, your drive shafts are a load bearing member of the suspension. Larger tires will give a little more on the sidewalls and absorb some of the force genarated by rediculously fast cornering. Wheel bearings, U-joints, and even the rear diff. yokes are all strained a little more when the tires don't give as much as the originals the Vette was designed for. So, if you already need a rebuild in the rear end... you may need one even sooner if you stress the rear too much

I have some pretty good pics on my web page of what a 255ZR5016 looks like with a wild wheel combo.

http:///www.geocities.com/chiphihawk/index

Hope I have given you some food for thought!

 

[Hijinx]

Thanks for the info, DarkShark, very helpful. Here is a shot of my 295R50 15's;

 

[KANE]

Hijinx-

Wow. Those look great. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm- makes me almost wish I hadn't sold my ralleyes.

Those do look great though. Let me know how that article comes out!

 

[Hijinx]

Here is a little better angle on the setup. However, its almost too dark to see the back side of the tire.

 

[JHL]

Quickjagg,

I am in England so the price here is grossely inflated and will be nowhere near what you would be able to buy them for. If you call a parts supplier here and say Corvette in the opening sentence he doubles the price and then adds some extra just for good measure. We also pay 17.5% tax on almost everything we buy. One dealer recently advertised saying he could supply anything from the Summit catalog at a price - your dollar price converted straight to sterling + 10% + 17.5% tax !!!!.

J.

 

[Herrmajor]

Hi

I bought my '71 with the original steel rims with 225/60-15 tires (reason why the car often hits the road on speed bumps, which of there are plenty in Belgium)
I'm going to replace them with 255/60-15 on stock alloy rims
I consider 275 on the rear but wanted to know if the tires come outside the body ?

Thx

Peter

 

[stevolwevol]

I'm running 255's (Cooper Cobra) on my 77. They fit fine, look great, grip the road better than the 225's. It was a good move. Gonna do the same to my 79.

 

[Tommy Lyles]

Yup, same as with stevolwevol's answer. I also use an aftermarket tire (Michelin Pilot Super Sport) on my Corvette and I've never had any problem with the size. It's a good thing that the website where I bought my set of tires from, 4WheelOnline, had a robust selection of tire types and sizes to choose from.