ZR-1 Wheel Question

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Jan 2, 2006 | 09:47 PM
  #1  
I have searched and found several people with 17"X8" (SLP) or 17"x9.5" ZR1 wheels.

I was wanting to go to the 17" wheels, but wanted 17"x11" on the back and 17"x9.5" on the front.

What exactly do I need to do to the front to make them work?

If I have the stock rearend what do I need to do to make the 17x11's work? or will they not work at all? (Same question for 17x9.5)

If I go with a dana 44 rearend, what would make them work? (Same question for 17x9.5)


Do I need to get a 4th gen rear end to make it work? (Same question for 17x9.5)


I am planning on changing the rear end to a stronger rear soon anyways, but I was going to get my friends Dana 44 (hardened axles with 3.73's). I know that rearend is strong, but if 4th gen rear is stronger or as strong, and that is what I need to fit the 17x11's....then I may go that route.

Any help would be appreciated.
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Jan 2, 2006 | 10:02 PM
  #2  
just buy spacers you dont need a whole new rear end
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Jan 2, 2006 | 10:09 PM
  #3  
Thats what I was hoping someone would say, but how big of spacers to make the 17x11's fit?

Or do you all think going 17x11 is to much?
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Jan 2, 2006 | 10:32 PM
  #4  
with a thirdgen rear or a rear designed to be a stock replacement for a thirdgen, your gonna want a 2 inch spacer for most ZR1 wheels.

they come in some different offsets and such, so you gotta see which ones your getting.

check this for your spacers
http://www.skulte.com/

check this for the different offsets and spacer suggestions


for regular 9.5inch wide wheels, i dont think your gonna have to do any fitting in the wheel well. should be fine. the only spots you might need to check is the front of the rear wheelwell. if you look in there, you'll see that it comes out close to the stock wheels so you might need to pound that in. or on the front wheel well, when the tire is turned lock to lock, it could be rubbing. check for any rubbing and do clearancing as needed


for the 11 inch wide wheels, your definately gonna have to bash in the wheel well. especially the front and rear of the rear wheelwell, but mostly the front. pound that back as far as it can go for clearance with the tire.

Also, your gonna have to roll the fender lip. the lip could come close to hitting the tires during full suspension travel, so it needs to be rolled in. there are several ways to do this. some have cut little slits all along the lip and just pounded/bent the pieces back up into the underside of the fender.

another way is stick a wooden big barrel baseball bat in there and use it as a wedge. once its in there, under pressure, you can roll it thru and bend the lip upwards. it seems to be an easy way to do it, if you got a bat laying around as i do.

do some searches and you'll find some info on that. 17x11's are definately a possible fit on thirdgens, just needs some work.
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Jan 2, 2006 | 10:57 PM
  #5  
i use 2" spacers with my ZR1's and they are 9.5's

i think 11"s would fit in the rear with 2" spacers but i'm not POSITIVE on this. i know you would most likely want wider than 2" in the front to make sure you can turn the wheel all the way
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Jan 2, 2006 | 11:12 PM
  #6  
the set I am looking at are:

New Silver Corvette ZR1 replica wheels
Rear wheels 17 x 11 50mm
Front wheels 17 x 9.5 56mm
Bolt pattern 5 lug 4.75
Rear tires Sumitomo 315 35 17 htrz
Front tires Sumitomo 275 40 17 htrz
Tires are mounted and balanced

$865

or

4- 17"x9.5" (Front & Rear)

Thank you for the hook ups Orr89, and thanks to all those who are helping htus far. I do not have ot have the 11's, so if it is allot of owrk just to get them to fit, then I will most likely go with the 9.5's. I am getting my car painted next month, and do not want to mess up the paint job to make the 11's fit......hmmmm but then again I could get the wheels first and then get it painted, and get the paint shop to make room for the wheels as they are painting it.....hmmmmm. Sad thing is I just bought all new tires for my 16's I have now. Guess I will have to sell them with tires and get some of my money back for the new wheels.
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Jan 2, 2006 | 11:21 PM
  #7  
Would spacers break under stress? Like I mean obviously anything is prone to breaking but what would it take to shatter a 2" spacer for these rims?
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Jan 2, 2006 | 11:26 PM
  #8  
skultes billet adapters are pretty strong. i havent heard of anyone breaking adapters out of billet aluminum of that grade.


thing to notice/do tho...... keep checking the adapter lug nuts.... the adapter bolts onto the axle and the wheels to the adapter. after awhile the adapter bolts can loosen so you have to keep checking them like every week or so to retorque them down and see if they are tight.
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Jan 3, 2006 | 12:04 AM
  #9  
i'd just go with the 9.5's all around. looks cleaner in my opinion.

the thing about 11" is that it's gonna stick out of the quarter panels a bit more and i kinda think of a mud track car when i see it

do what ya want though, either way it's gonna look sweet and yea scultes spacers are very durable, i have never heard of anyone breaking one. but i suppose you wouldn't want to run spacers if you had a 500hp car either
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Jan 3, 2006 | 12:57 PM
  #10  
Well, this is how much 17x11's will stick out in the rear with 1.75 inch adapters:



and



I was planning on swapping to a fourth gen rearend in hopes that it would pull them in to where they should have been, but the car was unfortunately stolen a year ago, so oh well.


PS: the fronts were 17x9.5's with a 1.75" adapter and they fit perfectly under the fender but I did have to grind down on the tie rod ends for the rim to clear .
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Jan 3, 2006 | 03:16 PM
  #11  
I can already tell that 123jon321's car is gonna look bad *** when finished....
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Jan 3, 2006 | 03:19 PM
  #12  
what, didn't read that his car was stolen? lol...
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Jan 3, 2006 | 03:27 PM
  #13  
oops.....missed that...sorry man, hate to rub salt....
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Jan 3, 2006 | 04:19 PM
  #14  
Sorry to hear about the car being stolen 123jon.

On the rear did you have to do anything to the fenders, or just put the adaptor on there and let it go?

If I go 2" adaptor would it clear the ties without grinding? And if it does will it make the front tires stick out to far?

I was leaning towards 9.5" all the way around.....still may go that way cause I can rotate the tires....but who really rotates tires on a race car.........lol

I do no thinkt hey stick out at all....looks good to me, but just want to know how much work to get them to work on the rear.
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Jan 4, 2006 | 01:47 PM
  #15  
For your viewing pleasure!

RochesterFBodyClub.net :: View topic - Pics of my new ZR1 17x11 wheels. (56k Beware!)
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Jan 4, 2006 | 04:07 PM
  #16  
ty for the pics (or link to pics).

So the 11's fit without a whole lot of work...huh? Stock rear end? 2" spacers?

Looks very clean and good to me.....how does it handle? Man I can not wait........lol
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Jan 4, 2006 | 04:45 PM
  #17  
There was a guy on the boards here with a white z28 convertible running 17X11's in the rear. That was the only car with 17x11's that I liked how it looked.
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