Can't really say if you'll have rubbing all the way around with those wheel choices since you haven't provided any tire sizes on any of the wheels!

That said, to best center your wheels and tires in the stock wheel wells you want a positive 6 offset. Use this chart to see what backspacing you need with different wheel widths to give you that positive 6 allowing you to put the widest tires possible.

 

And since that chart doesn't show it, 4.75 would be best for the front 8" being considered.

I know that chart has been around a while but I wonder why it skips 4.75

 

Most likely you will need disc brakes to run 18 and 17 inch wheels.

 

Why?

 

I think the 17x8 and 18x9 is a very nice fit for the first gen Camaros. It offers a staggered setup and matching tires should be very easy to find in the different diameters. You won't have any rubbing issues on those sizes, as long as you have the right back spacing. Let me know if I can help you out any with the wheels. What wheels in particular did you have in mind of going with?

In my opinion, you might have some rubbing issues on the rear with that backspace. Typically, I would go with something a little more tucked in.

4.75 is a good backspace up front, but have used 4.5 before. Depends on how low the car is. The plus 6 offset on the rear will be good, and allow for a 275 rear tire on a 9" wheel.

Travis

 

Joe, 9" in the rear will be no problem. 8" in front also will be fine, especially if your car is not lowered. I am currently running 9.5" in the rear with plenty of room.

 

Thanks for all the help on this so I have been doing some searching and found these tools to be very helpful since I was trying to get as tall of a tire and rim comb as possible.

http://tire-size-conversion.com/tire-height-calculator/

http://www.customwheeloffset.com/tire-wheel-backspacing-offset-calculators

http://kgm.tiwing.com/calcs/tiresizecalc.htm

http://tire-size-conversion.com/tiresizes/

I currently have:

Front 235/60R14 = 25.1 x9.3R14
Rear - 255/60R15 = 27.8 x10R15

The new setup I am going to go with ( I think is)

Front - 235/50R17 = 26.3x9.3R17
Rear - 255/50R18 = 28x9R18

Rims will be AR605M Torq Thrust M Chrome if they come in the correct back spacing. I need to check on this.

Anyone have pictures of their setup similar to this I am trying to get a visual on how this will look.

Thanks again everyone.

-Joe

 

I don't think you'll find a Torque Thrust M in an 18x9 with the right backspacing. There are several other brands with a similar design though.

Also, you'll probably want to go with a 45 series front tire and a 40 series rear on a 17/18 setup.

***edit***
Actually a 45 series front and rear would probably be better. With a 45 series up front/40 series rear, you'd have more sidewall in the front than the rear which would look odd.

 

Actually this is where it's time to do the math: Example -

245/45/17 tires and 275/40/17 tires have the same size sidewall. Both tires are 25.7" tall minus 17" wheel = 8.7" / 2 = 4.35" sidewall...

There is lots of room for a little give and take, having the same sidewall looks the best but; another example - my 235/45/17 and 255/45/17 tires have a 4.2" and 4.55" sidewall, just a little more than 1/4" difference and it doesn't detract from the look. Once you start staggering wheel size you really have to let sidewall size fall where it may if you want the widest tires possible. A 275/35/18 and a 245/45/17 for example are 1/10" off in overall height but the 18 would only have about 2" of sidewall and the 17 would have over 4" of sidewall. You'll need over 3" difference in tire height to run the widest possible tires on a 1st gen with a 17/18 stagger and dial in the sidewall height as close as possible.

Here's a side view of my car...

 

Joe, attached is photo. Let me know if you have questions.

 

What size wheels? tires? backspacing? Looks nice but remember the '69 has a flat top wheel well!

 

Dennis, yes 67-68 wheel well shape is a tad different. Not that different though unless he is completely maxing out space to the inth degree.

I am running FRONTS 17x7 & REARS 17x9.5's

Plenty of room all around.

 

Sorry, A stock The Tires should be 7.35 X 14
Your are asking a very leading ???? Any thing over IS not stock

 

John68,

Stock = not lowered, not tubbed, no drop axle...

-Joe

 

My Camaro now...

 

So how much side clearance is recommended for a 40/45 series tire on a 17-inch wheel to allow for tire and suspension movement?

 

I was asking how much clearance is needed between the tire and the car body during dynamic loading. Assume Hotchkis leaf springs and coil springs.

 

Dave it's hard to answer, obviously 35, 40 and 45 series tire will flex less than 60 and 70 series tires, wheel construction can make a difference too. Every car is a little different, a convertible there will be more flex in the una-body frame structure than a coupe. Sub-frame connectors tie the frame rails to the sub-frame but don't provide any side to side support. If a car has had frame rails replaced they could be off a bit from factory spec's... It goes on and on and reports of what fit vary greatly too.

I've had guys tell me that 275/60 15's on 15x10's don't rub (even in hard cornering) and I couldn't get 275/40 17's to not rub on my ragtop, even 255/45 17's would scuff the inner fender turning into a driveway with a dip in it until I installed a Hotchkis rear sway bar brace. It made all the difference in the world!

 

Brent I'm not looking for an argument at all where did I say anything supporting less sidewall in the rear? My comments are intended as general information and I gave an easy way to figure sidewall height. Also total wheel height is utmost important on these cars and not only effects how wide a tire you can run but also effects final drive ratios. A car with a 26" tire and an identically setup car with 28" tires will not only accelerate differently it will handle different as well and plus sizing can lead to under performing brakes and that's a safety issue.

The only thing you can take from this is that I might not be a fan of staggered wheels but I certainly don't care if you or others run them and I am even willing to post info addressing fitting tire and wheel sizes in hope it makes someone stop and think about what they are doing before they spend money more than once because they asked others what to run.

Nothing wrong with the way you figure sidewall or the way I do for that matter, you have to look up the tire spec's (width in your case, height in mine) and I don't see this as complicated; tire height subtract the wheel size and divide by 2.

 

Brent I'm not looking for an argument at all where did I say anything supporting less sidewall in the rear?

Sorry if I misunderstood you. When I posted my recommendations it was so that the rear tire would have the same or more sidewall. When you said:

Actually this is where it's time to do the math:

I took that to mean that you disagreed with my opinion. Tone isn't always easy to read on a forum.

I run a 275/40/18 in the rear and 245/40/18 in the front, so we have similar sidewall difference, and I think it looks even better that way. Your car looks great BTW.:beers:


I stand by my original opinion...IF you run less sidewall in the rear then it looks (to me) strange, odd, goofy, weird, etc. If that means running a staggered setup (17/18, 18/19, 18/20) puts more sidewall up front than in the rear, then that looks out of place to me. I think we're on the same page there. But I'm also a fan of letting the owner do whatever they like to their own car.

 

Is it true the smaller the sidewall the harder the ride?

-Joe

 

In general yes, convention says less sidewall equals harder ride but wheel choice can have a big play (not all wheels are created equally - reference price to some degree) as well suspension has a big part in. Modern cars have fantastic computer engineered suspensions that allow for smaller sidewalls.

As an example I was 4 wheeling in my Colorado with the local Jeep club and this Range Rover was getting a lot of attention, most the Jeeps and other vehicles had 15" or 16" wheels with 32" plus size tires with lots of sidewall as expected. The Range Rover however sported 18" wheels and what looked like 40 maybe 45 series tires. All the experienced off roaders were in disbelief when the Range Rover went everywhere the rest of us went and tackled the toughest obstacles with ease.

The point is technology can over come a lot of conventional thinking but just don't buy discount 18" wheels and 35 series tires and expect it to ride softer than 15" wheels with 60 series tires on a 40 plus year old suspension.

 

http://www.camaros.net/forums/customprofilepics/profilepic59257_4.gif

Just in case you where wondering...
Fronts: BF Goodrich T/A 235/60/R15 on 15"x7" Rallye Wheels with 4.25" BS (stock Chevrolet rims, wheel code FW)
Rears: BF Goodrich T/A 245/60/R15 on 15"x8" Rallye Wheels with 4.5" BS
( WVI-30-5834042 15X8 RALLYE from Summit)
Front is lowered 1 1/2" with updated control arms (no rubbing issues)
Rear is lowered 1 3/4" with a 1 1/2" lowering blocks and the lower leaf spring pad removed (no rubbing issues)

 

i dont see the chart you refer to, please send it if you would

 

what about when using an 18 in rear, many owners use them. what is largest tire and what backset do you need?

 

All,

This spreadsheet is designed to help calculate tire height, ideal rim width, axle height and rake if you want to use two different size rims and tires. This does not calculate backspacing or offset but allows you to document what you would use.
Enter in your tire sizes and rim information in the YELLOW cells to see what the axle height would be.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ec0wq34kjn0gpld/tire combo compairison chart.xlsx?dl=0

Regards,

Joe

 

No Mini-tubs... I'm running 245/45-17 up front on 8 X 17 with 4-3/4" Backspace, no problems. Out back I'm running 275/40-17 on 9-1/2" X 17 with 5-1/2" Backspace. No rubbing except when I hit my steep driveway and making the RH turn up the driveway I'm getting a tiny bit of exhaust pipe rub for a second. Going to have to fix that eventually. I've got full 3" exhausts which exit out the back under the bumper and its _tight_. Tires are Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 Summer High Performance (not an all season).

 

That's the look I want to get to. The rears of the Camaro I just bought are too small (255's). I'd post a pic but the sight won't let probies. I guess I can't be trusted......

 

Looking for a little help. My 69 camaro currently has the following:

Foose Legend F105 Wheels and Nitto NT555 Tires

Front - 17x7 w/ 4.000 BS and +1.00 mm offset with 235/45ZR17
Rear - 17x9 w/ 5.250 BS and +7.00 mm offset with P275/40ZR17

I am going back to more of a stock rim and tire combo:

American Racing Torque Thrust Originals and Mickey Thompson Sportsman Tires

Front - 15x7 w/ 3.76 BS and -6 offset with P235/60R15
Rear - 15x8.5 with 3.81 BS and -24 offset with P255/60R15

Does anyone see any fitment issues with the new setup ?

Thanks for any help and input.

 

Hey Brian how did you make out with the Torque Thrusts. I am planning to run the same set up

 

This is my newly acquired Camaro with rear wheels and tires that are too narrow for me.

 

After playing with different combinations, this is what I went with on my stock 68 convertible:

205 /65 R15 front and 215 /65 R15 rear - sits level

 

Sorry for the late response - I ended up putting a set of GM Rally wheels from Eckler and my car for now while I search for a set of date correct YH rims.