ZR8ED Posted July 2, 2001 Share Posted July 2, 2001 Hi folks.. I've almost given up on rims/tires for my car.... I currently have 16x9 and 16x7 rims on my car...BUT I'm putting on very large fenders/flares, and the rims will sit too far inboard. I've been hunting for other size tires/rims, and am having serious troubles finding combos that are wider than 275's..and smaller than 26' diameter!!! I can find 275+ widths in 15" rims, but they are not rated higher than "S" rated rubber... by the time I find decent rubber, I'm well into 17's and 18" rims.... What are the guys who are running WIDE tires doing? I've got lots of room for tires...but am concerned with getting too large of a diameter, and killing all my torque... current tires are 245/45/16 and 225/50/16. (back/front) anyone got some wide rims for sale? say 10" or better?..wanna trade for some 16" dia rims?.. other ideas?....I've spend many hours at various tire sites, tire rack, etc....and Have no good solution... Thanks Scott. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breeze77z Posted July 2, 2001 Share Posted July 2, 2001 Go to www.bfgoodrichtires.com , they have some pretty big 15, 16 and 17 inch tires. Euro T/As have all the way up to 305/50/15 and are H rated. Do you really need a tire that can withstand more than a sustained 112mph? Cause Radial T/As have some pretty big sizes too, but are S rated. Comp T/As are big and Z rated, but those are 17 and 18". My biggest problem finding a wheel and tire combo is that I want wide, but also low profile for improved corning response and I don't want to pay 1600 for the whole thing Oh well, good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted July 2, 2001 Share Posted July 2, 2001 Scott, what's holding you up? Is it the style of the wheels available or the prices? I'm sure that Fiske, or HRE, Simmons, etc. have wheels in all kinds of custom offsets and widths. The main problem I see is not wheel selection, it's price. $2000 to $3000 just for the wheels is not what I want to pay. It seems like they just don't make decent wheels anymore for RWD cars like Zs that need a ton of negative offset to fill wide flares. If you don't mind the drag racing image, Centerline makes all kinds of wheels. You might want to look into changing your lus from 4 to 5--that way you'll increase your chances of getting wider wheels. It's a thought anyway. Good luck. Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Night_rider_383 Posted July 2, 2001 Share Posted July 2, 2001 ZR8ED.... You might really want to think about going with a bigger than 26'' rears bud. I aint drove a v-8 yet but with the light weight of the car and the most weight is over the nose like just about every rwd car its gonna be hard to get it to hook if your running over 300- 350 hp. Unless your going for the low profile look myself i would say run something like 28-29'' tall rears. Right now on my truck im running 29.06'' rears with a 3.07 gear and a 452 hp at the flexplate engine with a th-400 and 2800 stall and this thing wont hook to save my life smokes street tires past the 60' mark. With that in mind is the reason i say go bigger beening the z's weight is ALOT less than this big c/10 and the gearing is lower than on this truck. Just my two cent man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted July 2, 2001 Share Posted July 2, 2001 Well ZR8ED was running damn near a full out race NA L6 last time I heard, so I am thinking that when he says smaller than 26" diameter, thats what he means. Dude have you checked into getting custom wheels made? Lots of $$$ potentially, but at least you can get exactly what you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted July 2, 2001 Share Posted July 2, 2001 You might think about converting to 5 lug. I have fender flares and I'm running 17X9 inch wheels with RE730 Bridstone Potenzas in a 275-40-17 in the rear and a 255-40-17 up front. I personally wouldn't run anything less than a Zrated tire on a Z if youplan to hit above 120MPH. Mike Kelly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dankinzle Posted July 2, 2001 Share Posted July 2, 2001 what kind of rims are you running now? Did you just do coilovers to fit the 9 in the rear? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted July 2, 2001 Share Posted July 2, 2001 I have 12 inch ground Control coil overs and I also run a 3/4 wheel spacer on the 5 7/8 back spaced wheel. The front wheels actually allow the tires to fit Just at the edge of the fender on an unflared unit. They don't require a spacer. Mike Kelly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 3, 2001 Share Posted July 3, 2001 I have a set of 15x10's with 15x7 fronts. They are the aluminum modulars with the golfball sized holes allaround the wheel. I might be interestd in a swap for your 16's. E-mail me at LESnWinder@aol.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZR8ED Posted July 4, 2001 Author Share Posted July 4, 2001 Thanks for the replys folks. No, price does not scare me for rims..I'll pay what it takes..it is the tires themselves that are hard to find...In regards to the diameter..I have to becareful not to go too big so as not to kill all my torque, but also i am concerned with fitting them with in the wheel well themselves..even more so considering suspension travel... Oh and Drax...more hp is on tap now....details to follow soon (I hope) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted July 4, 2001 Share Posted July 4, 2001 My opinion is that the tire choices below 16s really blows. 17s and above are actually better in terms of tire choices. But with a 26" tall tire, a 17 will put you in 45 series territory which is too harsh for some people. 15s just aren't a good choice IMO, if you want a decent tire selection to choose from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 4, 2001 Share Posted July 4, 2001 Pete, I have to disagree with you about tire choices for a 15 inch rims. I think the draw back is the ability to find rims for the car at a reasonable price is the real problem, I searched for 2 years before I found my 15x10's with 4 lugs. I think there is probably more tire possibilties for the 15's than the 17's due to the height of the 17's. I prefer a big 50 or 60 series tire for a street car as long rides with a stiff suspension and rubberband tires tends to get old real quick. The 5 lug conversion does tend to make sense if you are looking to use newer type wheels,both 15&17 as they come standard on almost everything being built today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted July 5, 2001 Share Posted July 5, 2001 Les, I think what Pete was refering to is the fact that getting a decent speed rating or compound tire in a 15 inch tire is non-existant. There are only about two makers that make a Vrated or higher rated tire in anything wider than a 225. BFG used to be my brand of choice, but the widest Zrated tire they make in a 15 inch tire is 225-50 and that is woefully to narrow for many of our applications. I can get 275-60-15s all day long (Which I run on my Puckup truck) but the highest rating I can find in those is an H rated tire with a UTG rating of of 350+ which isn't very sticky at all. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 6, 2001 Share Posted July 6, 2001 Mike, have you looked at yokohoma's or pirelli's? both of these are available in a285 45 15 or 335 45 15 expensive as hell but no more than 17's. As for aZrated tire, how many of us actually drive your car at sustained speeds over 149? I'm not trying to be a knowitall just trying to be practical. Both Goodyear and BFG (my personal favorite) have 245x50x15 in a V rating which is more than adequate for probably 90% of the people on this list,again, not trying to be a knowitall but I did work in a BFG tire store for 2 years and went to a few tire classes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted July 6, 2001 Share Posted July 6, 2001 Hi Les, I think you're helping prove my point. The widest tire I can use on the rear is a 255, 285 and 335 are just too much or me. The point is, the newer ultra high performance tire designs and compounds don't come out in much less than 16 or 17 inch sizes. This is too bad, as I think a 15 inch tire is better for a street Z. But I'm not going to go with old, aged tire designs just to be able to use a 15 inch wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted July 6, 2001 Share Posted July 6, 2001 ....Exactly, Not saying that the Yokohamo AVS isn't a good tire. And it comes in a wide range of sizes. However, it an "OK" Performer if compared to newer technology tires that are currently available. If I were in the middle of upgrading suspension (Like I am now) I'd go ahead and convert to a five lug pattern and save myself the headache of trying to find an OK wheel I canlive with, instead of getting the right wheel for my car. Les, I had some nice 15 inch wheels on my car that I was really happy with, but saw 15inch tire selections going away quickly... There are about 12 tire makers out there (Or more) and only two of them make a Vrated tire in sizes above 225... Not very inspiring. One of the things to keep in mind when shopping for a tire is how well the tire performes in ALL conditions... How sticky it is, and how well it sheds water. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted July 6, 2001 Share Posted July 6, 2001 BTW, on of the aspects of Z rated tires that I think is important is the increase sidewall stiffness. This means you can run a bit less pressure on the street and still have excellent turn in. Speed ratings are useful in other areas than just max speed, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted July 6, 2001 Share Posted July 6, 2001 And possibly worse in some others too Pete. Supposedly the Z rated tires are made from a harder rubber compound that doesn't grip as well. This is what I've been told mind you not verified by racing so it might be hooey but it would seem to make sense. Generally I don't go for Z rated stuff and stick to V rated. Migh thave ended up with Z on the Z (nyuk nyuk) this time as that is indeed what's available for a 17inch wheel. Given a choice - I like a low sidewall but not so low I'll ding a rim in a pothole. 45 is about as thin as I'd want to go, thinner is just asking for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 6, 2001 Share Posted July 6, 2001 Actually John, the Z rated tires do tend to have very good grip as the V rated tires at high speed, at least according to the BFG class that I took, however this was when 17's had just come out so the technology wasn't as good then as today. Mike and Pete, you both have good points and I must agree that if you can afford to, go with 5 lug conversions and get whatever it takes to make your car stick. I too am tired of the 15 inch crowd and am looking for some 16x9&16x8 rims for my 77. Oh yeah Mike, you can get both the yoko's and Pirelli's in a 255 50 series for the 15 inch rim. Tire Rack and places like that won't always tell you everything that they stock because some of the employees don't always know that a certain tire even exists due to the fact that they are usually too young to know such tires even exist. Buying tires is like pulling teeth sometimes and you just have too keep pulling to find what you are looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulR Posted July 7, 2001 Share Posted July 7, 2001 I have some 10 inch wide by 15 inch wheels for sale. Check out my ad on the Buy/Sell Forum. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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