whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

I'm ditching my current 18's and going with some weld RT-S wheels in 17x9 front and 17x10 out back...quite frankly, I love the look of 18's but a car that can't get traction until midway through 3rd gear sucks to drive. With the 17's, I can put a bigger (and cheaper!) tire with some sidewall.

Now my HUGE concern is that I will be going with a 295/45/17 M/T drag radial, which is not a common size among third gens. My car is dropped about 1.75" and I need to know the best wheel backspacing to get this to fit in the wheel well. Weld lists the correct BS for that wheel on a third gen as 5.5, but I feel that will stick out too far for the size tire I'm going with. I was thinking something like 6" or even 6.5" would be a better fit, and tuck the tire into the wheel well more, but I REALLY need some opinions and advice here! It'd be a big bonus if I can get some pics from those of you who have a 17x10 wheel, and your BS specs.

Heres a few pics of my current setup. Rear wheels are 18x9.5 with 7.25" BS and a 1.75" spacer, which means that if they were correct third gen specs, they'd be a 5.5" BS...it just seems that with a 10" wide wheel, they will risk hitting the fender which I'd like to avoid. And preferably not hack up my inner fender well!







Anyways, thanks in advance all.

paul_huryk

A 295-45-17 tire is going to be 27.5" tall, about 1.75" larger diameter than stock 245-50-16 - lowering your effective gear ratio about 7% compared to stock tires.

I have never fitted such a size myself - others might be able to help. But the question is why not go 275-40-17 DR on the rear?

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

A few local guys run the 295/45 tires and they hook amazing. I've never had good luck with a 40 series sidewall drag radial. My car makes over 500 rwhp, and I really need something thats going to give traction but that I can drive and look good on the street too. Hence the odd size. Plus, lower gearing = better on my setup

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

So nobody has pics, BS info, or anything to help me out?? C'mon guys, I know theres a ton of people with 17's!

Ingram78

I would say 6.5 or 7" bs and some 315 35 17's would be sweet.

Johnny Blaze

iTrader: (15)

I just picked up a set of 17x9.5 with 5.25"bs.
No tires yet though.

I thought the slp 17x9" that used to be so popular had a 5.5" bs.

I had a 15x10 with 5" bs and 28"x10.50" slick on my car before. Fit but was close to the outside edge of the wheel opening.
My car is lowered as well.

Manic Z

iTrader: (1)

I run a 17x9.5 with a 5.5inch backspace, and they fit with zero issue. They are flush with the fender flares. I'd imagine with a 10 inch width, you'd have to increase your backspacing by half an inch. Maybe minor hammering would be needed, and that's it.

BlackenedBird

iTrader: (5)

I run 17"x"11" with 315s out back. Little hammer work, little cutting work, Adustable PHB & all is good out back. Even sits in about a full 1" from the fender lip.

Jim85IROC

iTrader: (2)

I'd stick with the 275s. There are numerous examples of guys that used 275 DRs as well as wider DRs with no difference in 60' times.

paul_huryk

I was just going to mention that too...

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Heres some brand spankin new weld RT-S wheel pics for you guys and back spacing specs to help with your decisions.

Fronts: 17x9 with 5.2" BS & high pad height - no rubbing, and about 1/3-1/2" clearance from the tie rod. Tires are 275/40/17 falkens.

Rears: 17x10 with 6.3" BS & med pad height - There is a 5/16 spacer installed temporarily because the rims are too close for comfort to the bumpstops. I purposely sized them like this because I planned on modifying my bumpstops so I could "tuck" the big tire in the wheel well. Clearance is great with the spacer though, and the tires still do not rub the fenders! Tires are 295/45/17 M/T ET street II's.

Hope this helps you guys for any future sizing, since I know I had a hell of a time finding BS specs that worked. This was the result of A LOT of careful measuring all around!

jbenge

iTrader: (2)

Looks amazing! I like the Weld RTS rims on your car a lot better than the old ones.

Zach/90\irocZ

iTrader: (6)

looks much much better than your old ones yuck lol
now it looks complete

chevycmf

Sorry if I sound stupid but how do you figure out the back space you will need?

Johnny Blaze

iTrader: (15)

^ try searching


Op, you had a chance to try these on the track yet?

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Not on the track, but they dead hook on the street even in 1st gear and my car is making over 500 lbs ft torque. I love them!

85_ZED28

Looks like you got the back spacing perfect. Nice job!

Sojer

Pad hight on the rim what is that

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

It's the clearance the rim has for different brakes...meaning a low pad height is for small brakes like the stock ones, med is for larger upgraded brakes, and high is for big brakes with large calipers.

1hotroc

iTrader: (3)

sharp rims but what about the centercaps??

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Good point you made actually! Reason for the center caps not being on in the pics is because the "default" caps that come with the wheels are not deep enough to fit over the front hubs on the third gen spindles. I needed to order the longer center caps from weld for them to fit. I believe if you remove the metal dust cap from the spindle, the smaller center caps will fit, but I didn't want to take chances and provide an opening for dirt to get into the wheel bearings.

Heres a few more recent pics of it with the longer center caps on! Don't mind the rims being a bit dirty in these pics. I tend to drive more than clean lol.

seanof30306

iTrader: (4)

This is gonna sound dumb, but what is "DR"?

skinny z

DR is Drag Radial.

skinny z

I've always liked the look of the Weld RTs and am thinking of getting a set myself. I also like the option of going to a larger tire should I want to.
My question regards your "dropped" height. Do you have measurements from the ground to the fender lip, front and rear? I'm running a 2" dropped spring (Intrax) and I look to be quite a bit lower than lower than you. (I realize the 295 tire adds about about 3/4"-1" at the back.)
Thanks.
Looks good.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Don't have a measurement off hand, but I can get it for you easily enough. I'll try to do it quick once I get home from work today!

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

I read stuff like this a lot, but it doesnt make sense to me. 40 series on a 16/16/17/18/19/20 inch wheel with 245/275/315 etc tread widths is going to vary wildly. Is there something to the width of the tire making the sidewall stiffer so that regardless of what size wheel and width tire you run a "40-series" will have roughly the same characteristics?

Either way, I think 17's tend to look a little more balanced and Weld RTS's are an amazingly strong, lightweight, and attractive wheel. The car is going to look amazing with them.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

I was generalizing it and basically referring to the 17/18 inch wheel category which is where a 40 sidewall is most popular. In my experience, and from what I've seen, any size tire regardless of width if it has a 40 series sidewall just doesn't have the sidewall flex to be great at the drag strip. I'm sure you theoretically could make it work just fine, but I can't see much better than a 1.7-1.8 or so 60 time on a 40 sidewall tire, and it will shock the suspension and drivetrain pretty hard I'm sure by launching good on it.

Oh, and the weld RTS wheels are already on the car too

See a few posts up for the pics!

skinny z

Thanks

indebt

iTrader: (1)

Love the color of your car and new wheels look awesome!! Think I'm selling my street lights and going with these in a 15" rear and 17" front. Maybe.

Brianbajnuth

Would 6.5 backspacing be a big difference from the 6.3? Or would it be the same as the pics because you have spacers on it

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Actually, the fact that I have the spacers makes the backspacing more like 6" since it pushes the wheel outwards more. I believe 6.5" backspacing is very common on a 10" wide wheel, and there's a ton of guys that run that size on a third gen. If anything, you may have to cut out your bump stop in the wheel well, but that sizing should work great.

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

Those new wheels look great!

BOTTLEDZ28

iTrader: (9)

Do you have any pics of how far the front wheels stick out from the car, if any? I just bought a set of Weld RTS wheels and went with 17x8s in the front with 4.7" backspacing (5mm offset).
The inside of the wheel is about 1/4" away from the strut and I'm running C6 brakes which pushed the wheel out slightly. They still sit flush with the fender but I'm now wondering if I could have went with the specs you used and still been good. Im not changing right now since it will be a $1300 change!!

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Thank you sir!

Hopefully these pics give you an idea. They sit perfect IMO. Mine are 17x9 though, so in order for yours to sit at the same point at the fender lip, you'd have to go with 4.2" backspacing. I run C5 brakes so mine are slightly pushed out as well compared to stock. 1/2" off is going to be barely noticeable though honestly, and as long as they aren't hitting the strut, you're golden. The wheel moves in conjunction with the strut so you won't have an issue.

SnkSknrZ28

iTrader: (2)

That looks perfect, nice job! And thanks for the info on size and BS