I have an 88 firebird. I am getting a set of the chrome ZO6 wheels and a set of the adapters to make them fit. They are 17's for the front and 18's for the back. I want to lower it with the eibach springs, the proline ones I believe. The ones that are suppose to lower it like 2 inches. I want to put 275/40/17 in the fornt and 275/40/18 in the back. The rear tires are an inch taller, but that is what I want. I would like to know if there are going to be any clearance issues in the rear. I dont think they will touch when it is sitting but what about when I hit a bump or somthing? Anyone have a setup like this? Also what size spacers will I need to get?

 

im not to sure bout the clearance, but 245s in the back and 275s in the front is going to look silly...your front tires will be wider!

 

oops! I meant 275/40/18's in the back

 

your going to put a 275/40 on a 10.5 tire?

to make it easy and get the look you want i'd stick with either a 17x9.5 z06 all around or if your going to drop it 2" go with the 17x8.5 with something like a 255 or 265 depending on your profile.

18x10.5 rim you will have to have at least a 295/35 profile to even consider getting away with lowering it. why not look into a 295/40/18 profile for the rear?........alot more expensive but it will look alot better.

i have 18x10.5 rear and 18x9.5 front, i can't lower the car as much as i like. 1" is about it.

295/35/18x10.5 in the rear with 275/35/18x9.5 front

 

Thanks for the input man, I appreciate it. I have done quite a bit of research on this wheel and tire combo. Here is my resoning for wanting it like this. First off according to a nitto tire size chart a 275/40 tire will fit on a 9-11 inch wheel. Second camaros sit lower, much lower than firebirds stock. Firebirds kinda got the 4x4 stance goin on. Third all firebirds I see with 17s all the way around, dont look right in the back. There is too much gap in the wheel well and the car seems to sit lower in the back, even though it really isn't. To compensate for this i want a taller tire in back but I dont want it to be noticable. There for I go with 17s in the front so I can get it as low as possible and 18s in the back that have the same amout of sidewall but an inch bigger wheel.

And by the way I would use one of those tire measing things but they arent as accurate as some belive. The super chevy magazine used one and gave the results(I don't remember what they where exatly) as being the LARGEST tire possible and I have seen tires bigger than what they claim will fit. So I dont really trust that.

Why cant you lower it anymore than one inch? Will they rub the fenderwell or the inside of the wheel well, or what? Front back or both? Or does it even need to be lowered more?

Im not to consernd about bein as low as possibe I just dont want much gap in the wheel wells.

 

i'm just telling you that the tire size your trying to fit you won't be able to accomplish what your thinking.

also, there is a huge difference between a 9" rim and a 11" rim. they may say a 275 will work but a 295 fits perfect on a 10.5

by all means you should go about it your way. i'm just trying to help you being someone who has just went through a very similar ordeal. granted my fronts are 18's it really is no different seeing as how i went with a lower profile to compensate.

if i could have them my way i would get a 8.5 in the front and no more then a 9.5 in the rear that way you could drop it 2" if you really wanted to with no problems. however, i am pretty happy with my 9.5/10.5 setup just took alot of work to get everything figured out and moved in properly. the rears could still use to come in about 1/8.

good luck.

 

Choosing the right wheel/spacer/tire combo will either make or break the aggressive stance of the vehicle.

My old setup was Jamex 1.5" drop springs, 2.25" Vette Brakes Adaptors all around, and 17x9 WS6 Wheels with 275/40/17 all around.




this setup gave the car a nice mean stance. Here is a video if you want to see the car in action, http://www.transamws6.com/video/ZepherWS6.mpg

I know what Kandied91z is saying about the 275/40/18. What probably will happen with that tire on the 10.5" rim is that the shoulder of the tire won't be even with the tread patch. Shoulder will be wider than the patch. The lip of the rim will be sticking out.
My friend had 245/45/17's on his 9.5" ZR1 wheels and it looked kinda funny.

 

ooohhh I see what you are sayin. I have seen tires that just dont look right and I never could figure out why, but now I know! By the way Kandied your car is BBBBAAAAADDDD! I will have pics of mine on here soon. Thanks for your help, and you too Zepher.

 

no problem.........!

i know how it is to try and get something done that isn't normally seen everyday, just looking out for you. i wish you luck.

 

Well I decided to go with the 17x9.5 and 275/40 on all four, just to be safe. They should be here any day now.

Thanks guys!

 

Zeph, I love how your car looks without the hatch gots that nice vette look to it. I've always thought about ginding a hatch with like broken glassor something and no spoiler and putting it on the back of my car in the summer sometime and like drive it to the beach with the t-tops off and some hott girls on the trunk standing up and dancing. HEHE that would be the bomb
:lala: :lala: :lala:

Notchback kinda have that look but not that same, they look kinda fake but still alright looking.