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Wheel and tire opinions please

Andy69

Well-Known Member
Senior Member
Now that I’ve gotten a look at the car outside I’m starting the rethink my plan for wheels and tires. The wheels in the picture are stock from a 1996 Firebird and are 16” In diameter. They just barely clear the brakes in the front. They’ve got 245/50/16 tires that are 25 1/2” total diameter. Suspension is heavily upgraded with adjustable upper control arms front and rear, urethane bushings, and Eibach Prokit lowering springs (I know, not the best choice, but I bought them like 15 years ago). I think it’s around a 2” drop. I like the stance.

I was planning on staggered 8” and 9.5” 18” wheels with 245/40 in the front and 275/40 in the rear. Those would be roughly the same diameter as the ones on it now. My main concern is the ride quality. This isn’t going to be raced or anything, just a nice weekend day trip cruiser. Should I look at 17” maybe?
 

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It's personal preference, but I like 17's because they are required for bigger brakes and the tire sidewall looks better than anything bigger.
15's are a no-go because of brakes and tire selection.
Here's a search from cheapest to most expensive at Summit :


 
I bought these 17x9s on clearance when American Racing discontinued them a few years ago. I think I have about $600 into the set. I'd sell them to you for that.

You coming up to MN any time soon?

1000001953.jpg
 
Also, I might be able to relay them to you in a couple weeks if Sean has room to pick them up at MOTM.
Not completely sure if I'll have room since I'm putting my car on a buddy's 2-car trailer.
 
Now that I’ve gotten a look at the car outside I’m starting the rethink my plan for wheels and tires. The wheels in the picture are stock from a 1996 Firebird and are 16” In diameter. They just barely clear the brakes in the front. They’ve got 245/50/16 tires that are 25 1/2” total diameter. Suspension is heavily upgraded with adjustable upper control arms front and rear, urethane bushings, and Eibach Prokit lowering springs (I know, not the best choice, but I bought them like 15 years ago). I think it’s around a 2” drop. I like the stance.

I was planning on staggered 8” and 9.5” 18” wheels with 245/40 in the front and 275/40 in the rear. Those would be roughly the same diameter as the ones on it now. My main concern is the ride quality. This isn’t going to be raced or anything, just a nice weekend day trip cruiser. Should I look at 17” maybe?
Check these out

 
I bought these 17x9s on clearance when American Racing discontinued them a few years ago. I think I have about $600 into the set. I'd sell them to you for that.

You coming up to MN any time soon?

View attachment 12290

We‘re planning on heading up this summer to collect the Marshall half stack my brother bought at a thrift store.

How are the tires?
 
We‘re planning on heading up this summer to collect the Marshall half stack my brother bought at a thrift store.

How are the tires?
Tires are old, about 10-year old Falken 615s. They are 245/40s I think.
They've been stored inside the whole time, and out of the sun... not much tread left though.
 
Check these out


Be aware that the Vision Wheel center caps are crap plastic. I have those wheels in Chrome and I have had to replace numerous caps (which are ridiculously expensve at $25 a pop - I found some on eBay for a lot less and snatched them up). On the plus side, the Jegs center caps are the same and cost less (they just have the ugly yellow Jegs logo on them).

Well, I just checked and Jegs changed the logo to black, so they don't look so bad now.

 
I’d go with a little more sidewall than 40, I have 245/45/17” tires on 8”x17” AR TTII’s with 4.5” bs on the front of my 68 and wouldn’t go smaller, had 255/50/17” on 9.5”x17 on the rear and made for a good ride for street minus my Truck rear springs lol
 
I bought these 17x9s on clearance when American Racing discontinued them a few years ago. I think I have about $600 into the set. I'd sell them to you for that.

You coming up to MN any time soon?

View attachment 12290

I like those, I might take you up on that. I’ve also found a set of Mickey Thompson Classics in the same size in Alabama. I can’t get the guy to get me the backspacing. Says they came off an S10, which could mean anywhere from 0 to 20 mm offset or so.
 

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Nah, those won't look good on your car.... Derek's look better.

I like a lot of stuff people don’t really like on Chevelles. I thought hard about a set of chrome smoothies but decided against it when I discovered they weigh a million pounds
 
Those rims look like the belong on a truck.

I might not end up with them anyway, I asked the guy to measure the backspace and take a picture of the back side of the wheels and he wouldn’t . Not sure if I want to drive 2 hours and take a chance. Shame, they’re a good deal. He’s asking the same for the entire set that one new one costs
 
I might not end up with them anyway, I asked the guy to measure the backspace and take a picture of the back side of the wheels and he wouldn’t . Not sure if I want to drive 2 hours and take a chance. Shame, they’re a good deal. He’s asking the same for the entire set that one new one costs

I'm guessing he doesn't want to sell them that badly, or, he thinks what he has is gold, either way I wouldn't deal with him. Same cost for new versus what he's selling used for the same price.... no brainer.
 
Check these out


Those wheels are a lot like my old Keystones that I had on my '67 in the pic that flashes across the top of the forum website. They were only 14's though as I recall (F70 14 Tires). I had numerous styles on my Chevelle back in the day, Stock with dog dish caps (came on the car new), chrome wheels, the Keystone mags, Anson wheels on the rear only (they were huge but likely only 15" or 16" (just real wide & beefy with a deep offset!), then just simple stock steel wheels without hub caps (painted the color of the car). To me they all looked super sweet! Here is a pic of my old car when I had slicks on it (legal for the street in Illinois back in the 60's!):

Chevelle SS 396 008.JPG
 
Going to take a look at these today. Ridler 605, 17x8 with 225-45 on the front and 245-45 rear, 0 offset. Not convinced the fronts are going to fill the wheel well with the skinny tires but worth a look anyway.
 

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