kevingrealish

I'm looking for all black wheels for my 84 z28. I want 15x7 on front and 15x8 on rear. I can't seem to find them anywhere! Any ideas where a guy can find these or who makes them?

87350IROC

iTrader: (2)

I don't think the black wheel trend has hit 15's to hard. You could consider powder coating a set of wheels black.

Ron U.S.M.C.

This is the only decent wheel that even comes close to your request (that I could find). The rest I found are made of steel and were primarily designed for jeep/trucks.
Anyway these come in the sizes your looking for but are not total black. =
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/cr...3445/overview/

Even then you will need to call Summit and ask for a part # for the 15x7in. with the bolt pattern needed.

kevingrealish

Everyone please check out this link: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/auto...ird-gen-2.html

The rims on the first camaro are what I'm looking for, or the like.
They look like 15s to me, maybe not.

There has to be something all black out there....or do I need to go with a bigger wheel?

Ron U.S.M.C.

Cheep steel .
http://www.summitracing.com/search/d...seat-60-degree

cosmick

You can fit a 15x8 on the front, with a 4.5" backspace. Then use 235/60 or 245/60. Not many choices remaining, and much more cost per tire than even a decent 275/40R17. Spend a bit more for wheels now, save it back on tires, have more grip, and save money later.

IMissMy86TA

powder coat a set. that's what I did!

kevingrealish

Thanks a million Ron! Exactly what I'm looking for! ....and they're cheap, perfect!

Ron U.S.M.C.

Here's what I did to get the staggered look with slight rake I wanted.
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/whee...er-cobras.html

paul_huryk

This is something you shoudl seriously consider.

15" tires and wheels are going nowhere - 20 years from now you will still be able to get them. But, tire selection is going to decrease in the 15" and 16" sizes in the near future (like the 14"). To keep a degree of future proofing, you need to consider a 17" wheel and tire combo.

I'll put this in perspective - a 275-40-17 tire will give you about 8% more handling and braking power than a 235-60-15 sized one in the same tread pattern. 8% is the difference between a 1982 Z28 and the 1992 Firehawk in handling, which happens to be the tires that came on both those cars.

Plus you can run 13" or larger brake kits with a 17" wheel.

BTW, those Soft 8's someone linked to are very durable, but very heavy. I know someone who went from 17" x 8" soft 8s to a 20lb 17" x 9.8" alloy wheel and dropped 60lbs of wheel weight. 60lbs is 0.3s in the 1/4 mile...

kevingrealish

Thanks for the info Paul. I really want a raked look (drag look). If I were to go with 17s, how big of tire can I go with front and back without modification? I assume I could go 17x7 on front and 17x8 on rear. Or should I go 17x8 on all 4 corners and just bigger tires on rear? Thanks for the help!

paul_huryk

I wouldn't even waste 3 seconds thinking about 17" x 7" in the front when you can fit a 17" x 9.5" all around with ease. All of the cars I am posting below this are sitting on 9.5" wheels with 275-40-17 tires on all 4 corners.

You could run a 255 in front and a 285 in back to give some of the "drag look" and still have extremely good handling.

The white GTA with the silver wheels is my car.

Ron U.S.M.C.

I love the look of this tire/wheel/break kit combo. (he and I appear to have the same hood)
Make no mistake to get this look you have to have the rotor/caliper upgrade.
Like most things on these cars one thing leads to another and so on. Anyway I like the idea of the 255s on 17in. x 9.5 front with the 285 on 17in x 9.5 rear to get the staggered look . If I was not stuck on the "old school look" for my DD I might go that way, with the right calipers/rotors.

paul_huryk

That is Dave's RS convertible with the Baer 13" track kit. The pic is on an angle, but the rotors look tiny behind the wheels - they are the same size as this Wilwood kit below:



But factory brakes can look decent, but obviously small:



You can get a front C5/LS1 brake conversion kit for under $1,000 - which blows away the 12" 1LE brakes.

T/Aperformance

The wheels on that Camaro are old steel wagon wheels that look like they have bean painted or powder coated, They are also known as Jackman wheels in the off road world, they came in white and chrome.

kevingrealish

OK guys, thanks a million for all the information. Super helpful. After some research and consideration, I am leaning toward 17x9.5 on all 4 corners with 255 up front and 285 on rear, assuming that I can do so without any modification on wheel wells or rubbing issues. If it is going to give me that much more handling why wouldn't I?

But this raises some questions for me...
1-Can I just throw this setup on my camaro and drive? Or do I need to get a new brake kit right away?
2-Are there any mods required to run this setup? I'm a rookie mechanic at best.

Raging Sloth

I want CTW wheels soo badly!! ahh!

Zach/90\irocZ

iTrader: (6)

if your refering to the CTW you just need to lug nuts a wrench then bolt them on thats it no research or headache necessary

you dont need brakes right away it can be a future upgrade thats if your seriously want to improve the performance of braking if you just want to look good then the wheels is all you need

you can get ls1 brakes for alot less than $1000 thats pretty steep IMO

you can go to local junk yard pull the front ls1 brakes off everything besides spindle if rotors are good condition then take then and resurface them that should un you around 50 to 80 bucks depending on price junk yard has

buy bracket for 65 .. machined hub 130ish IIRC modify your spindle your self or get one modified 150ish

should beable to keep it under 600ish on the high side if you look hard enough and do some stuff on you own

paul_huryk

Running 255/285 tires is certainly an option with the 9.5" wheels as they do fit. But keep in mind that you can run a 275-40-17 tire all the way around - which allows for easy tire rotation and also puts more tire under the front end (which has 55% of the car's weight). There are a lot of 275 tire choices also - not as many for the 255-45 or 285-40 sizes.

No, you don't need to upgrade/change the brakes when you do the wheels - it is an option that helps performance and also looks (if you are into it). I'm still running 105" factory front brakes on my GTA, moving up to the 13" Wilwood kit in a few weeks...

paul_huryk

Give us a call and we will set you up!

Ron U.S.M.C.

To the OP
kevingrealish,

As far as cars on this site go there are basically three types as far as theme goes. There is the stock look ,then there's the lowered mean looking cars with the Corvette/newer style wheels with the nice calipers/rotors showing and then there's the 1/4 mile look with primarily 15in drag looking staggered wheels and tires with a rake. They all look good to me if there done tastefully.
I picked the 1/4 mile look that IMO needs certain things to qualify and that's not 275/40r17s on the same 9.5 wide wheels all the way around. The car has to have a staggered set of wheels with staggered tires and at least a slight rake. What you do with the rest of the car ( cowl/spoilers/paint/etc.)should follow that theme. Any way what theme are you leaning towards ? It helps to pick one so you can stay focused on the end goal.

Eagle223usa

I did that exact thing with the 275's on CTW 17x9.5's. No rubbing, no issues, Great handling. Is this like a duplicate thread??

kevingrealish

Ron, I'm going for the 1/4 mile look. I love the look of bigger rear wheels-more muscle car looking I think. I don't like the look of a lot of rim and small tire, I prefer more tire and less rim. That being said, here's my tentative plan for my camaro:

-15x8 black steel street lock wheels with 245 up front and 275 in rear (cragar wheels, Hoosier tires)
-some kind of performance muffler (probably magnaflow)
-ss hood with flat black paint all around and dark window tint

This is my plan for the first stage, this camaro is entirely stock.
After this I plan on upgrading some engine parts (still have computerized carb, distributor) then I will just replace parts as needed.

How's that sound? Any input is welcome...

RaverRacerX

staggered drag race wheels are for drag racing. while it looks neat and all, a good set of street wheels/tires looks best and is safest. ill get a set of wheels specifically for drag racing when the time comes


ps: black wheel:
C6Z06 Spyder
http://www.factoryreproductions.com/...?idcategory=76

IMissMy86TA

there is a nice staggered set on here
http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/mi...swap-meet.html
use plastidip and make em black

paul_huryk

Good advice and something we at CTW Motorsports recommend to customers quite often.

There is nothing necessarily wrong with staggered wheel sizing, nor with drag racing tires in the rear. But, running "skinnies" is extremely dangerous on the street due to a) the car not being able to steer or stop worth a damn and b) the front to rear handling balance being so off that you have massive understeer under all driving conditions.

That is why were recommend the following option for combination street and drag use: have a set of 4 wheels with street tires on them and an extra pair of 2 identical wheels with a pair of drag tires on them for the strip. You only need to buy 1/2 an extra set of wheels and going to the track only requires changing 2 rollers at the rear. I do know a few people who run DR all the time at the rear - that works pretty well also...

Eagle223usa

255/285's on 9.5's would work, and give you that staggered look. Going with skinnies on the front for street use isn't the best idea, The front is like 75% of your braking power! 255's on a 9.5 will give you a stiffer sidewall and should sharpen up your steering. I went with 275's all around and am thrilled with the new feel, I changed from 245/16's. I couldn't be happier. The CTW's are bolt on, no hassle.

Coolwheels84

iTrader: (5)

I wouldn't go with a 255 on a 9.5 in. wheel. It will look too small for the width of the wheel. I went with 265's on my rear wheels and they look too narrow. They look OKAY, but my next set will at least be a 275 or 285. I went with 18X8's with 245/40's and 18X9.5's with 265/35's. NO mods needed to install and go driving.

kevingrealish

I definitely don't want "skinnies" on the front. I want the fattest I can fit without giving up any turning radius. How big is that?

Is there no way to have both the staggered look and good handling?

paul_huryk

Turning radius is a tough one - some factory 16" sized tires can contact under full wheel lock.

Sure - runs 275 tires on front, 315 on the rear - staggered, yes - good handling too! I would just suggest going 275 all around for handling and an aggressive look - just that it won't be staggered.

Zach/90\irocZ

iTrader: (6)

if you want the staggered look lets say you get a 8" wide wheel up front it make the rear wheels look alot wider then they are so you can get a staggered look with a 8" wide up front and a 9.5 at the rear you dont neccessarialy have to go to the widest to just achieve the look you want
look at check out thirdgens with M-Sport Parallel design BMW Wheels
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/whee...port-18-a.html
i had Budnik gassers 8" and 10" it had a staggered look i can look up some up pics and post if you want ..i personally dont like 8" wheels larger then 16" due to fact it looks too skinny and i dont see a performance benfit with a larger wheels on 8" wide wheel i rather stay stock but it did make the rear seem alot wider "staggered"

widest with out any work a little work would be 11"-12" in the rear with like 315 depending on offset etc etc you might have to rework inner wheel well to get them to tuck especially if you want a lowered stance
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/whee...ence-315s.html

i run 18x9.5 and 18x10.5 setup 275 and 285 i do plan to run 18x10.5 up front by years end.. i just like the mean look better that the 18x10 XXR 521 gave me .. many people thought i tubed the front and rear for some reason

there are many ways to acheive your look you want it just depends on how dedicated you are and how much work you want to put in or if you just want a bolt on no work type of thing you dont have to get the widest par of shoes to get what you want

if you wanted you can get CTW wheels and get them narrowed up front and widen in the rear

kevingrealish

Ok Paul. You have been super helpful on this thread. Thanks a million. If I do go with 17s, here's what I'm thinking: 17x9.5 on all four corners, 275/40 on front, 315/40 on rear.
So, final question, I think,...
Is that sidewall ratio going to work on rear?
Will I need spacers? after doing a lil research it seems like most people do, maybe thats only on wider rims.

paul_huryk

275-40-17 and 315-35-17 have the same sidewall heights, btw.

But you really want an 11" or wider wheel for a 315 width tire, optimal is 11.5", but 11" is fine.

Spacers depend on the wheels - if you want a set of 4th gen ZR1 wheels, spacers are necessary, but others (like the Ronals and CTW Motorsports) don't require spacers.

The one bad thing about 315-35 tires is the lack of availability - not anywhere near as bad as 245-50-16, but not as many choices as the 275-40-17 size. Keep that in mind as you will want front and rear to match in most cases.

Zach/90\irocZ

iTrader: (6)

What wheels are you attending to run ?
275 all around for CTW wheels

Seems like your researching corvette wheels like zr1 ?
If that's the wheel your going to run you will need to spend $$$ on adapters 2" is the popular trend

Spacer or adapters are used not for the width but due to the offset differences as thirdgens don't use high offset wheels