Just thought I'd show off my new wheels and tires. I just got them on last night. Still planning on doing a few more things to the car but I'm very happy with how these look and fit. The rims are 17x9.5 with 5-3/8" backspace.
You need 1/4" spacers in the front to clear the tie rod ends. Most guys are using 275/40/17 tires. I decided to go with 285/40/17 and I'm glad I did. It's not much different but every little bit helps. I have springs to lower the car 1" but don't have them on yet. When I get them on, I'll post more pics and let everyone know if there are any clearance issues because of it.

 

Looks great!

 

 

Looks sweet! I wish they had come up with better center caps for those wheels though

 

Are those the OER repros or original Ronals? They look damn good.

 

Thanks! They are the OER reproductions. I'm impressed with the quality of them though. No concerns at all. Got them through classic industries including the special lugnuts to gain some extra threads when using the slip-on spacers for the fronts.

 

Nice, you hear people smearing the OERs as not being the real deal, or whatever, but I don't see the big deal, they look great!

Wouldn't 1LE or LS1 front brake rotors would push the wheels out far enough to not require the spacers? Thought I read that somewhere...

 

Looks good!

 

Awesome. Love the R15 on any thirdgen.

 

Yeah my tire guy said these were some of the nicer aftermarket wheels he's seen lately. I'm sure there's better but for the price, these are awesome wheels. I have always loved the way the look on our cars. They look like they should have been a factory option. In a way they were!

I'm trying to keep this car "period correct" with the mods. It is a 5.7 and has the SLP tuned port runners and I just installed some new southbay injectors.

Any slip-on rotor brake conversion would give you the exact same effect of the spacer. I'll probably eventually do something to this one.

 

Looks great!
Make sure you have enough thread engagement on the front with the spacer.

 

Badass

 

Looks great! You could always get someone to make you custom decals for your centercaps if you wanted. Looks great just like it sits, id say they go better with Camaros than they do the Firebirds.

 

COTM material!

 

The car really look great!! The rims set it off. Such nice paint. And it looks to have a nice stablemate... 'Vette??

 

Thanks guys!

Update: I've been driving the car and I'm getting just a little bit of tire rub in the front. Not enough to worry about but it is enough to make me think there's no way I could put lowering springs on it. I was planning a 1" drop. The only thing I can think might make it okay is if the factory springs have just settled a bunch and are too soft. Maybe if I put new drop springs on, it wouldn't really lower it much plus be a little stiffer which would help. Any experience with this happening???

 

People have certainly lowered cars with these rims, as well as countless other wide tires. You DID go 285, as most go 275. Still, plenty of cars with wider tires that don't rub. .....every car is a little different.

That being said, your car looks a bit lower than stock as it is. My Eibach Prokit sat at about 26.5" to the center of the fender. My current ground control kit is right at 25.75" .....if you wanna measure for comparison in a totally UN-scientific way, lol!!!!! There's no official stock height measurement, but you can an idea....

Car looks pretty bad azz though.....if it were ME......I'd leave it as is.

 

I like it!

 

Depends where the rub is. May have nothing to do with ride height.

Your front tire looks like it is positive camber. You're not still using stock alignment specs are you?

 

The front measures about 26.75" but it certainly doesn't mean much. It rubs right at the top outer edge of the tire when hitting a big bump. Not a big deal. I haven't checked the alignment yet but I will. I may try some different springs if i ever get serious about it. I don't mind the ride height at all in the front. The rear is a little too high for me. None of my other cars have that much rake. I'm going to do lower control arms and panhard bar anyway so I'll dig in and get it figured out soon.

 

Look into Ground Control weight jacks. Fully adjustable ride height and depending on springs, it's still a really nice ride. It's a really nice kit. I installed it last year and wish I'd done it sooner. Light years better ride than the Eibach kits.

 

dude , get someone to make you a decent set of tailpipes ,, those stove pipes really ugly up the rear...
wheels look awesome.

 

It is a big deal. The fender sheet metal can cut the tire.

First get a proper alignment with a bit of negative camber and see if the rub goes away. The picture below is credited to member "Reid Fleming". I copied it because Photobucket is blocking views from his account.

 

Just for reference, I'm running

-0.5 degree camber
as much caster as possible (6 degree Left, 7 degree Right)
and just a hair of negative toe (-0.02 degree)

This is just a fun street car and it seems to be working okay. Drives straight, doesn't wander or get tossed by ruts, and turn-in is just lively enough to make the car feel quick into corners. As usual, results will vary.

This is the only setting I have run and have made no attempts to optimize it. I'm sure it could be better if take time to experiment.

 

Abubaca - I'm probably not going to spring for the weight jacks right away but it may be in the future.

fullsize - Haha, yeah I agree the tailpipes are horrible. It has a flowmaster muffler that obviously was installed by some low budget muffler shop. I'm definitely planning on changing that.

QwkTrip - Thanks for the advise and actual numbers for the alignment. I'll give that a shot for sure!

 

WOW, I like that a lot. That just answered what size I want to use on mine. No rubbing when turning or wheel well rub on bumps? oops, should've read further down! sorry!

 

I may have fixed the rubbing!
Thanks to QwkTrip's advice, I gave it 1/2 degree negative camber which helped more than I expected.
I also got rid of the front spacers so that pulled them in 1/4". I was shocked how easy that was. It took very little grinding on the tie rod ends. I'm sure it's different on every car and depends on the brand of tie rod ends but mine was easy. For anyone doing this, just make sure you go slow and grind a little at a time. I didn't remove enough material to hurt a thing. I also had to clearance a spot on the strut that also had no affect on the strut.

 

I also got rid of the rake! I just trimmed the rear springs a little and lowered the rear to be exactly level with the front. I may pick it back up just a touch but in my opinion, it looks a ton better.

 

finally quit raining long enough to get some outside pics.

 

Very sharp!