Well for me the time draws near and I will be looking to get my wheels and tires here pretty soon. I know exactly what I want to run for wheels....

Chrome ZR1's

17x9.5 front with 275/40/17's

17x11 rear with 315/35/17's

Now I was looking at some places that are selling these wheels, and they offer them in all kinds of different backspaces and offsets, and I'm not totally sure on what I will need. At one point, I was talking with Shagwell(who also has 315/s out back) and he told me that he was running an 8 inch backspace on the rear with only a bump stop modification with the 4th gen rear. Well, I too am using a 4th gen rear, but I can't find any 17x11's with an 8 inch backspace. I see them listed as either a 7.353 or 7.500 backspace or 36mm and 50mm offset. So out of those 4 choices, which will be best for the rear?

And for the fronts I read something about the brakes affecting the offset. I will be running a Baer brake setup in the front. As I understand, this brake system makes the wheel stick out another 1/2 inch. In that case, what offset or backspace would be best for that? Sorry, all these measurements can get confusing sometimes. Thanks for any help on this!

 

7.5" on the rear and 5-5.25" on the front. Too much on the front may causes issues with the tie rod. Some people have experienced this.

 

A definition of backspace is the distance from the wheel`s flange ( where the lug studs go thru) to the inboard rim edge (tie rod side of the wheel) Offset can be negative or positive or zero, the "spokes" of the wheel start at the flange and go out to the outer diameter of the rim, depending on which way they "lean" is what offset is, starting at the backspace measurement if the spoke heads "outboard" toward the valve stem side, it is negative offset, inboard toward the tie rod side of the wheel would be + offset...zero is straight out.
You`ll need the right back space so the wheels do not stick out or in too far, you`ll need enough negative offset to clear the aftermarket brake caliper that stands out further than your rotor hub flange.
Check baers website, I believe they have all of their brake kit templates available for download. This will at least give you an idea on what offset to be looking for. I would find out how much further the kit pushes the front wheels out from stock and add that distance to your needed backspace. 7.5 is about right for the rear.

there is a sticky on the suspension board I did for this sorta thing.

 

Thanks for the info! It is most appreciated. I can't wait until I get these things on the car. It's gonna look mean as hell when it's done...