What is the most anyone has used? I had 4.5" on my old 15's. I want to use some 17x9's with 5" backspacing on the front. Will they fit? Anyone care to venture a guess or relate any personal experiences with something similar?

Well, i know for a fact that 17x9.5" works with 5.5" backspace... i am not sure about 17x9 with 5" bs though

You can fit 5.5" backspacing in the front?

I was worried about the tie-rod end. It's pretty close. Are the 17's large enough to get out side of it?

It should. If we are measuring back spacing the same way. Back spacing is the distance from the rim of the wheel to the mounting surface.


But the wheel measurment folks measure wheels sizes to the tire mounting point.

If wheel is 9.5 wide it is really 10.5 wide as measured by the ruller when laid flat on the ground. Many measure the tire mounting surface which is inside and of NO DAMN consequece at all.

So
a 9 inch wheel is really 10 inches and a
9.5 is really 10.5 inches

Here is where we are going...

10.5 less back space of 5.5 or (52% backspacing) = 5 inches from the outboard part of the wheel to the mounting surface.

10.0 less back space of 5.5 (or 55% back spacing)= 4.5 inches from the outboard part of the wheel to the mounting surface.

The only difference would be that the 9 in wheel would be further inside the wheel well by 1/2 in, but no closer to the tie rod ends.

I hope this helps. I figured this out when ordering custom wheels. Most of the people selling them have never measured them.

Yeah, it's close but it fit. If you're scared about clearance touch the edge of the tie rod for about 2 seconds with a grinder and you'll feel a lot better about it. You won't have to, but it may help you sleep at night

I don't scare that easy!

Thanks for the info.

Anytime

I put the rims on today and there was PLENTY of room!

The 17x9's with 5" back spacing fit great. There is more clearance between the rim and tie rod than with the factory 16x8's.

Now I just have to see what size tire will fit. I'm hoping 275-40-17's. That way I can run the same size all the way around.

Maybe a Kuhmo V710?

...so just for the record (I'll be shopping for rims soon) you got four rims which are 17"x9", all with 5" backspacing?

get back to us and let us know if the 275-40-17's fit on all four corners.

Only 2 so far, but since they fit so very well in front I will be ordering 2 more just like them (17x9 5"bs) for the back today. My plan is to run the same rim/tire on all four corners.

Which will hopefully be 17x9(5"bs) w/275-40-17's.

OK, I tried 275-40-17's on the front and they fit, for the most part. They do rub the plastic insert that keeps dirt out of the wheel well, but if it were secured properly they wouldn't. Also my car is sitting WAY to high right now. When it is lowered to a reasonable level there should be more room.

BTW, furhter investigation revealed that these rims have zero (0) offset.

huh, do you have any pics of those wheels on the car from further back?

A little farther back...

OK, how about I rephrase, far enough back so that you can see what they look like on the car.

One thing that I can tell right away, you either need a lot more tire or a lot less ride height.

Yep, like I said it is sitting WAY to high right now. I had to lift the whole car a couple of inches to keep the Hooker long tubes from dragging with 245-45-16's. With these I should be able to lower the car back to a more reasonable ride height.

I only have 2 17" wheels right now. I may put them both on one side and take a picture. But that won't be for a day or two. The other two should be here in a week or so.

Heh… I just want to see what all black wheels look like on a 3rd gen…