So I'm putting some 17" chrome Camaro SS wheels on my car. I have a 4th-gen rear axle so I will NOT need rear spacers (nor do I want them, I'm sick of the "bulldog look".)

What other equipment will I need...tires (duh), front spacers, chrome lug nuts, valve stems, weights...? The wheels come with center caps, nothing else. Also, where will i be able to buy all of this?

Also, on my car currently I have the 15x7 stock wheels with 215 tires. The front wheels seem to "stick in" a bit more than I'd like. I don't want them to stick out of the fender, but I don't want them to be sunken in either.

Can someone who is good with math tell me what size spacer I'm going to need to achieve this? Just try and find out how much spacer I'll need to compensate for the offset difference + wider wheel, and then I can add to that...

Thanks, all help appreciated!

 

Anyone?

 

2" spacers in the front will work. It will sit a little inside the fender. If you want get 2 1/4 Spacers. You can get the spacers on ebay for pretty cheep. Then just take the wheels and tires to get mounted and balenced.

jeremy

 

It all depends on the offset of your SS wheels.
Are they 36mm or 50mm?

I am running a 1998 rear and a 2" Skulte Spacer,
Here is a pic of AFS ZR1's with +50mm offset, For this set, I had to clearance the tie rod end since it rubbed the wheel,


and here is a set with +36mm offset, no modification required since they are pushed out a bit,

 

What do you mean by "clearance the tie rod end"?

I don't know what offset these are, however, they are not the same kind as you have. Mine are the newer 10-spoke chrome SS style, not the ZR-1 style as shown. Maybe that will help...

 

I just bought these:



And I have an 88 Iroc with the stock drum rear. What problems might I run into?

What size are your tires? Mine are 255/40/17... and I'm a little affraid of them not fitting!

 

aaron7, If you have the stock rear on your 88 you will need spacers for the front and back, 2.25" is safe on teh front and 2" on the rear.

By clearancing the tie rod, I meant I had to grind down a little of it since the inside lip of the wheel was rubbing it.
Bolt on your spacer and put the wheel on and see if it touches.

 

I think (I think!) these are the same offset rims. I used a 2in spacer, but a 2-1/4 woulda been better. I also used Skulte's and am very happy with them.
http://www.fl-thirdgen.org/blacksheep1-rc.html

I'm running 245/40/17s and 255/40/17s Nittos.

 

2-1/4? Front and back, or just the rear?

 

This is frustrating. Everyone is getting these wheels to work in their application. I threw them on my rig ('84 TA) with 275 tires. With the 2" adaptors up front, the tire runs into the fender real bad. I tried going down to 1.25" and then the inside hits the tie-rod like zepher said. I guess it's time to get out the grinder ...

when looking at the tie-rod, it looks like it'd work perfect if you could flip it over, but unfortunately the bolt in there is tapered from the bottom... actually kinda a conical shape. Anybody find a way to mod that and flip over the tie-rod end?

Also, in the back with the 4th gen rear, it doesn't look like the tires are inside the fender. I think they'll hit if I bounce off a nice bump.... so I guess I have the 36mm offset wheels (I'll measure tonight to verify). and I'm screwed.

 

Well, with the 255's I should be OK with 2" front and rear I guess, according to Skulte!

 

According to Skulte I thought I was fine too. I never heard of there being 2 different offset 4th-gen wheels. I thought they were all 50mm.

 

XaviarRahl,
They made ZR1 clone wheels to fit the 84-87 Corvettes, with a lower (38mm) offset for the 17x9.5's, instead of the regular 56mm offset 17x9.5" ZR1's that most 4th gen folks get (or the 50mm offset 17x9's that came on the 4th gens). The problem is the wheels look very similar, and visually hard to identify without actually measuring the backspacing. If you've only mounted the adapters and have not been running them for months, please return them, and I could exchange that for a set of custom thickness to make it fit properly. I'm suprised the 2" adapters have the tire rubbing against the fender, since that's the exact setup I've got on the Z28tt (38mm 17x9.5's with 2" thick billet adapters). I did have to heat the inside plastic fender liner with a hot air gun to move it out of the way (pry it with a block of wood as it cools into the new shape). This gave clearance for the tire when the wheels were turned at full lock.

 

askulte , That pic I posted above... that's these, right?

Camaro F1 ZR1-style 17x9 50mm 6.8" 2"

And I need the 2"? I didn't know there were so many different ones!

 

Aaron - Exactly!

 

Well, I just measured. I set the tire/wheel flat (275 tire) and measured the width of the tire at 11". measured from the ground to the mounting surface and it's 7.5". That sure looks like 50mm offset (2 inches). So I think these are the normal stock SS wheels (which is what they were advertised as when I bought them).

I can't figure out why I'm having such trouble with this and no one else is. I'm running a 1984 TA with ground effects. The tire hits the back of the GFX where it screws to the fender, it's not even getting far enough in to hit the inner fender. Also in the back with the 4th gen rear I'm within the fender but just by a hair. If I bottom out I WILL have tire to fender contact, no question. Even if I roll the fenders there would probably be contact. Is it possible some cars have wider fenders???

I got into this thing thinkin' it was a no-brainer. what a bummer.

 

and yea, looks like I have the same exact wheels as Aaron. I wish I had a camera to take pictures of the problem area. Maybe I can this weekend....

 

Just a reminder that nobody has been able to tell me where to get all the other equipment I need to install these wheels and where I can buy them at?

Also, moving on to another question, how are success rates fitting 275s up front, as a general rule?

 

Make sure your car hasnt been wrecked like mine that could cause some difficulties... lady told me she had a wreck with her neighboor... 5mph impact lol... yea the 15" tire rubbed until I changed the whole K member and now there is still more space infront of the passenger front tire than behind it.. like 1 1/2 inches... time for a frame shop...

 

I ran 275/40/17 on 3 sets of wheels up front and it did have a little bit of rubbing of the inner plastic inside the fender well when turing at almost full lock with all 3 sets of wheels. If you get the perfect spacer it sholdn't rub at all since the Ronal Firehawk wheels with 275's don't rub at all on my friends 82 Trans Am.

 

What would be the "perfect spacer"?

 

With the 50 offset, that would be 2".

 

Upon further inspection, Aaron pointed out that the wheels show the offset right on the back. So last night I spent a lot of time removing the inner fender plastics, and using a hammer to bend out the lip on any place that looked close. I also adjusted the GFX piece as far forward as possible. I now have decent clearance on the driver side, but still rubbing on the pass side. It's so tight it even hits the support bracket where it meets the fender.

WTF??!?

I'm starting to think my tires must just have a ridiculously large shoulder on them and they're wider than the 275's that some people run. I'm running the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 tires.

Once I get my C5 kit, I'll try the 1.25" spacers again, and with the extra quarter inch from the C5 rotor, I think I'll be ok. I'm now starting to worry about whether a coilover kit will fit... I think I'm gonna need smaller tires.

 

Thanks, yep, I just checked and I have a 50mm offset.

Looks like I'll opt for the 275s and see what happens...

 

I pulled the 17in wheels off of a 2000 SS camaro (they came factory so I know they're chevy wheels) They have 275/40/17's (also factory Goodyears) I installed the 2in Skulte spacers and had no problems except as stated, they rub the little plastic fender deal once ina while. The car is also lowerred.

 

I finally grabbed some 275/40-17 tires (Fuzion ZRi), along with 2" front spacers (I got the kind that actually bolt on to the wheel studs...). I'll let you know how it fits up next week when everything gets in and is mounted/balanced.

Word of caution for you guys, if you have an LT1 rear end in your car, and you're installing LS1 wheels, you will need to grind down this lip on the inner circular part (goes on the hub) just a bit! It is under the cap so no risk of messing the wheel up cosmetically. It took me about 5 minutes per wheel with my trusty dremel, it's a piece of cake, but just warning you guys in advance.

I think most aftermarket 4th-gen wheels are made to fit LT1 cars as well as LS1s, but GM wheels, such as the SS wheels, are just for the LS1s...

 

OK, so they're all on now.

They look great, ride great, and handle great...I love em I'm going to take pics as soon as it gets more sunny here.

I did, unfortunately, have the same problem as the rest of you with them rubbing at full lock...it's not a problem driving normally, but in parking lots I have to really baby it...

Is there anything we can do about this problem (besides getting smaller tires..) and if so can you guys link me up?

Thanks...

 

-- double post, oops--

 

I still have to buy a pair of spacers and a 4th gen rear

But then I'll let you know how it looks with some pics!

 

What I did to prevent rubbing at full lock with the race tires is to heat up the plastic fender skirt where it rubbed with a hot air gun (think hair dryer that's 2x hotter), wedge a 2x4 in between the tire and skirt, and let it cool. When it cools, it holds the shape out of the way of the tire.

 

i have the 2 1/4 front 1 1/4 rear adapters i got from www.wheeladapters.com and im running the grand sport offste here is what it looks like with the zr1's

 

and here are the same adapters with my zo6's

 

Irocdan are your ZR-1's 17X9 1/2 56 mm ofset and do you have a 4th gen rear? also what size tires are you running?

thanks

ryan

 

stock rear end.with adapters,1.25" and 315/35/17's tires

 

275/40/17 fronts

 

irocdan - which springs are you using? do you have any issues with rubbing?

 

im running jamex springs.after today i wont rub as bad with body roll,i just installed my new swaybars n frontend bushing kit

 

wat did u mean by clearing the tie rod end?i want to get zo6's wheels wat size adapter?i had 2" front 1.5 " rear but i sold them.will thoose work i can buy them again?and wats the best mm offset i can get for best fit?

 

Great thread!

 

I explained it in my previous post.

 

First, sorry for being stupid, but I'm planning on getting a set of eagle series 028, they have a -30mm offset and 3-1/4 backspacing..... what (if any) adapters will i need?

Thanks

 

If they actually have 3.25" of backspacing, no billet adapters are required. Once you get past about 5" up front, and about 6" in the rear, is when the inside of the rim/tire begins to touch suspension parts and the fenderwell.

 

Awesome, Thanks!

 

so with a stock rear on an 87 gta running stock 00-02 camaro ss 10 spoke wheels, 50mm, and 275/40 rubber i should be fine with 2 inch spacers all around?

 

Hmm... I know with 40mm wheels the 2" spacer works, but not sure if 50mm is going to have troubles?

 

40mm? i thought all 00-02 ss wheels were 50mm?

 

My ZR1 rims are 40mm.

 

im sorry but 300 bucks for a set of adapters seems a little outrageous to me. there are plenty of them on ebay, anyone running these or has anyone heard anything about the quality of them? hell im only paying 410 for my wheels, with shipping, set of brand new never mounted chromed ss wheels. can't see almost doubling the cost for the adapters. but then again, i imagine it has to be machine precisely, i certainly dont want any vibration.

 

Even on ebay, the spacers are that much. There are 2" spacers on there for $200 or so, but when I emailed the seller he said that the ones needed for a 3rd gen would be more... and it turned out to be around $300.

You could always get a 4th gen rear (prob around $150) and then just buy 2 spacers!

 

am i the only one thinking 150 bucks for 2 well machined pieces of metal is a little steep? i might end up going that route aaron, i think my diff is going out, been getting some one wheel peel action when i turn right, and i never really did dig the 4.10s, would rather have some 3.42s. sounds like buying a whole new rear with those gears already installed would be a hell of a lot cheaper than swapping the diff and gear in mine, AND buying adapters.