I started racing autocross this summer, and ask about tire for 15" rims, most suggested 16" rims....I didn't listen.
Bought a set of 235 60 15 Eagle GT and went out and basically almost ruined them, took appx 1/4" or better off the edges.

So, now I got a chance to pick up a set of 235 50 17" Michelins (free) and I'm thinking if 16" is good, 17" would be better?

What would be a cheep 17" aluminum rim? Vette? year? would I need spacers for a gen 3?

For a 235-245 tire, what width would i want?

Thanks,

Mark

 

Probably 8-8.5" wide for 235-245. The sidewall is a little big on those tires. All the cheap 17's I've found required adapters making them not so cheap anymore (add $150 to $200 to the price of the wheels).

 

SLP has 17 x 8" rims for six or seven hundred, new. About the same as used rims with the spacers, they look pretty sweet too.

www.slponline.com

 

when you say cheap, how cheap do you mean?
I picked up my 17x9.5" ZR1's with nearly new 275/40/17 Nitto 555RII's for $830 shipped from a member at camaroz28.com. These are awesome for Auto-X.

I do have a 4th gen rear and a pair of spacers for the front for the car though.

 

cheep!...as in as cheep as cheep can be, heck I'd use 17'' rims off a mini van if they'd fit.

thanks,

Mark

P.S.

Whats the bolt pattern on a gen3? example 5x4.25?

 

5 x 4.75 bolt pattern on all 4th gens, and 90-92 3rd gens (i dont know about the other 3rd gens, should be same also, I am just not sure)

 

I think almost all GM (excluding trucks) is the same, just watch out for backspacing. I know my rims from my 89 bird, a 85 maro, 86 trans am, and mid 70s maro are all the same bolt pattern.

 

Cheapest I've got was a set of used 89 Vette wheels 17x9.5 for $150 locally. But then it needed $150 adapters to fit (this was only for 2 adapters since I only wanted to use them on the rears for drifting, you would need 4 to use them on all corners for street driving).

 

thanks for reply...I kinda in the dark here. I've also been surfing ebay and noticed that vette rims are pretty decent prices. but are probably wider then i need for a 235 50 17 tire.

But I guess I'm lost on the the adapter thing... 5x4.75 is 5x4.75? I guess the axle is shorter and needs to be wider, so the inside of tire does not rub? Could I do this with spacers instead of adapters, since the bolt pattern is the same?

 

If you have a third gen you will need adapters for the front and rear, unless you have a 4th gen rearend in your car then you would only need the front adapters. The offset on the late model wheel are different than the 3rd gens. To properly and safetly mount a set of 4th gen or corvette wheels you will need a 2" adapter for the front and 1.5" adapter for the rear. You could use a spacer instead of an adapter, but you would need to install longer wheel studs and also these spacers are not very safe. When turning or accelerating there is stress on the studs, when adding spacers it allows more stress to be applied to the studs, possible causing them to shear off, because of the way the stress is being applied to the studs. Basically it just is not safe to use spacers (slide on type). The best way is to use adapter/spacers which bolt to the hub just like the wheel would and the the wheel mounts to the the adapter/spacer just like it would the hub. Here are a couple of sites that carry the adapter style:

www.skulte.com
www.ezaccessory.com
www.fbodymotorsports.com
www.hawksthirdgenparts.com

I got mine from www.ezaccessory.com and they are really nice, but the other place have really good one also.

Just for your information make sure when you order them, especially from ezaccessory.com that you state that you want the M12x1.50 studs installed!!! Also it will be a bolt pattern of 5X4.75 to a bolt pattern of 5X4.75

Hope this helps!!