Fitting Zr1's on a 3rd gen...3 questions??

EDIT-Added new question! :)

I just got a killer deal on a set of 17 x 9 ZR1's from a 2000 SS. I have three main questions, and a few sub-questions.....

1) What size spacers do I need for the front.

2) What size spacers so I need for the rear.

3) Where can I get the least expensive spacers. I looked at Thunder racing and they are $$$$:eek: Do places like Pep Boys sell them a little less expensive and if so, how much should I expect to pay? On the same note, what are some of the dangers of using slip on spacers for this application?

It seems as though everyone is using 2" adapters. Will a 1.5" adapter work? If so, it seems as though the difference in appearance would be minimal, as I am staring at a ruler right now.

Thanks

2 inch spacers all around I believe, also, I don't think cheap spacers exist :(

I'm just trying to weigh my options as far as the different places to get spacers, and what types. I don't want to be stuck having to buy Billet aluminum $350 bolt on spacers if I don't have to. Can anyone recommend different places to get them?

For anything that thick, cheap really ain't the way to go. I got mine from Andris Skulte, www.skulte.com (http://www.skulte.com). I think JC Whitney sells them too and I don't think Pep Boys carries anything that big! I think there is a place vette brakes too!!

I checked out Skulte, and he has the same product as thunder racing.
I know that cheap is never the way to go. I drive this car approx 20 miles every weekend, and that's about it. No drags, no auto x, no performance. So, aside from cheap, I am just trying to be thorough and weigh any options, besided the main three that everyone names, that all sell very similar products at similar prices.
Thanks

Using a slip on spacer and longer studs can cause the studs to shear off.

Originally posted by Zepher
Using a slip on spacer and longer studs can cause the studs to shear off.

Especially when you're talking about a 2" spacer...that's a LOT of room for the studs to flex and break. I would never run a slip-on spacer more than 1/2" thick, and maybe not that.



The good news is, you don't necessarily have to have rear spacers. You can pick up a 4th gen rear which is 4" wider and bolt it right in. You'll get posi, rear discs, better gears, and built-in spacing for the ZR1 wheels, all for $400 or less. Sure, it's twice the price of just spacers, but you're gonna want better gears and rear discs anyway, right? Get them now and save in the long run.

Originally posted by TheGreatJ
Especially when you're talking about a 2" spacer...that's a LOT of room for the studs to flex and break. I would never run a slip-on spacer more than 1/2" thick, and maybe not that.



The good news is, you don't necessarily have to have rear spacers. You can pick up a 4th gen rear which is 4" wider and bolt it right in. You'll get posi, rear discs, better gears, and built-in spacing for the ZR1 wheels, all for $400 or less. Sure, it's twice the price of just spacers, but you're gonna want better gears and rear discs anyway, right? Get them now and save in the long run.

Thanks for the info. I guess I'm the only guy on this board who just uses his car for cruising with the family. I've done the performance thing, with my LS1, and sold it to get an SUV. I don't have a need for better gears, as the stock's on my auto are great for highway and city cruising, keeping it at low RPM's. There for I don't really want gears that would be better for performance, as theat would take away from comfort. This car could run 18's in the quarter and I would care less :)
As far as the spacers, it seems unanimous that it would be a danger to run slip on's, so thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

definately dangerous...full on adapters aren't always a sure thing as it is so to trust slip on anything with that much space would be crazy if you value anyone riding in the vehicle.

typical 30-50 is a decent range to expect when picking up adapters. i bought mine from skulte and still had to have more work done to them. personally i'm against using adapters in anyway but i do realize when you get a deal and can't afford to have direct bolt wheels sometimes it's the best way. just be sure it's worth the money your saving.

for an extra 400 i could have had my wheels i have now rather then my old z06's with adapters.....wish i would have known what i do now but you live and learn! good luck and enjoy the ss wheels. by the way; zr1 wheels are much much wider.

:)

Originally posted by kandied91z
definately dangerous...full on adapters aren't always a sure thing as it is so to trust slip on anything with that much space would be crazy if you value anyone riding in the vehicle.

typical 30-50 is a decent range to expect when picking up adapters. i bought mine from skulte and still had to have more work done to them. personally i'm against using adapters in anyway but i do realize when you get a deal and can't afford to have direct bolt wheels sometimes it's the best way. just be sure it's worth the money your saving.

for an extra 400 i could have had my wheels i have now rather then my old z06's with adapters.....wish i would have known what i do now but you live and learn! good luck and enjoy the ss wheels. by the way; zr1 wheels are much much wider.

:)

Thanks for the detail! What type of work did you have to perform on those adapters? Has anyone else had issues with adapters, or needed additional modification before installing your 4th gen wheels?
Also, is it fairly unanimous, that although there is a difference in the front and rear of our cars, that I will need 2" adapters all the way around? And, can I rund 275/40/17's all the way around, or do I need to go smaller up front?
Thanks

I run the Skulte spacers on the front of my car and all I did was bolt them on. After a few weeks I went back and re torqued them (as per the instructions) but I have had no issues with mine. I have a 4th gen rear so rear spacers I have no idea. I am running 18 x 9.5 y2k c5 wheels and have had no issues!!

NEW QUESTION-NEW QUESTIOn :)

Does a 1.5" adapter work? I was just wondering if anybody has experience with that. Does it work, if so, how would that 1/2" affect the appearance? It seems like a very small amount.

1.5" spacing for what? the adapters?

you really should pick the tire for the rim. a 275/40/17 is perfect for a 9.5 rim so do the math if you have a different size. another thing that bothered me with using adapters was how the brakes are so far back from the face of the rim. everyone thought i was running fwd rims on the car. if you have brakes that you don't want to be seen though it might be a blessing. it did help to keep my rims alot cleaner thats for sure.

:)

Originally posted by kandied91z
1.5" spacing for what? the adapters?

you really should pick the tire for the rim. a 275/40/17 is perfect for a 9.5 rim so do the math if you have a different size. another thing that bothered me with using adapters was how the brakes are so far back from the face of the rim. everyone thought i was running fwd rims on the car. if you have brakes that you don't want to be seen though it might be a blessing. it did help to keep my rims alot cleaner thats for sure.

:)

Yes, would using 1.5" adapters work for slapping on a set of OEM SLP ZR1 rims? Any opinions, as to how much/little this would change the look? These are the 17 x 9, not 9.5". I will be using 275/40/17 F1's. These were one of the many rims I ran on my '01 LS1, so I am familiar with them. I believe they have the 56mm offset for 93-02 F-bods.

1.5 may be pushing it to fit your rim. I believe 2" or 1.75" would be the smallest you would be able to run. I am running 2.25" adapters on front with my 9.5" rim and I only have a gap of my finger between my wheel and strut. So for a 9" I would think 1.75" would be the smallest. Andris can answer any questions you may have. As far as the brakes go, it doesn't bother me to have them sitting back a little. Every show I have been to since putting them on, people love the look of my car and are amazed i got the c5 y2k's to fit on my car!!!

http://eightballcreations.com/motorsports/91camaro/new02a.jpg

http://www.iroc-ss.com/images/autofair_fall_2003/chrisv1.jpg

Originally posted by DropTop91
1.5 may be pushing it to fit your rim. I believe 2" or 1.75" would be the smallest you would be able to run. I am running 2.25" adapters on front with my 9.5" rim and I only have a gap of my finger between my wheel and strut. So for a 9" I would think 1.75" would be the smallest. Andris can answer any questions you may have. As far as the brakes go, it doesn't bother me to have them sitting back a little. Every show I have been to since putting them on, people love the look of my car and are amazed i got the c5 y2k's to fit on my car!!!

Thanks for the info. Who's Andris. Is that a screen name for a member?
Any others on if 1.5" adapters could work on a 17x9?

Andris Skulte, he owns Skulte... Tell him what your application and what rim you are using and he can tell you what your options are. In my previous post I posted a few pics on how my car looks with the rims and spacers, check em out. Also Check out Mark Lock, his screenname is LOCK over on thirdgen.org, he is running polished SS/ZR1's on his Iroc. He is running 2" spacers and 4th gen rear also!!

I have 98 Camaro SS wheels on my car, using 2" adapters from Skulte Performance. I run 275/40r17 all the way around with no rubbing problems. The adapters are pretty much bullet proof, and should handle just about anything you could throw at them. You will have to run 2" up front. Anything less and you will have major interference with the tie rod ends. 1.5" will work in back though.

I started out with the 2" all around. Not too long ago I swapped in a 2002 TA rear, and am running the wheels without spacers in the rear.

Here are a few old pics just after the new wheels were installed:

Pic 1 (http://members.aol.com/schitt17/zr1.jpg/)
Pic 2 (http://members.aol.com/schitt17/zr1-2.jpg/)
Pic 3 (http://members.aol.com/schitt17/zr1-3.jpg/)

Please excuse the picture quality. Car looks 10 times better in person :)

Andris is a member of Thirdgen.org, and may be here, but I've never seen him post here. I used to follow his twin turbo buildup years ago before Thirdgen's UBB. Haven't seen him post much since.

Originally posted by Marc 85Z28
I have 98 Camaro SS wheels on my car, using 2" adapters from Skulte Performance. I run 275/40r17 all the way around with no rubbing problems. The adapters are pretty much bullet proof, and should handle just about anything you could throw at them. You will have to run 2" up front. Anything less and you will have major interference with the tie rod ends. 1.5" will work in back though.

I started out with the 2" all around. Not too long ago I swapped in a 2002 TA rear, and am running the wheels without spacers in the rear.

Here are a few old pics just after the new wheels were installed:

Pic 1 (http://members.aol.com/schitt17/zr1.jpg/)
Pic 2 (http://members.aol.com/schitt17/zr1-2.jpg/)
Pic 3 (http://members.aol.com/schitt17/zr1-3.jpg/)

Please excuse the picture quality. Car looks 10 times better in
person :)

Andris is a member of Thirdgen.org, and may be here, but I've never seen him post here. I used to follow his twin turbo buildup years ago before Thirdgen's UBB. Haven't seen him post much since.

So, if I run 1.5" in the back, then will the appearance be drastically different than in the front. Will the wheels be sucked under the fender, in comparison to the front? The reason is, I have the ability to get a pair of 1.5 inch bolt on adapters, at much less of a cost than the 2". They are good quality, just from a different maker. but if mixing the sizes from front to rear is going to look odd,then I won't even consider it.

It will look fine. The 4th gen rear is only 3" wider than the 3rd gen rear - I've measured. I guess I could say that till I run out of breath but a lot of people around here just don't get it. So running a 4th gen rear gives you the same rear track width as running a 3rd gen rear with 1.5" spacers in back. 1.5" spacer on each side = 3" wider overall = 4th gen rear width.

You won't notice the .5" in the rear.

Now I'm curious as to where these inexpensive adapters are coming from...

Originally posted by Marc 85Z28
It will look fine. The 4th gen rear is only 3" wider than the 3rd gen rear - I've measured. I guess I could say that till I run out of breath but a lot of people around here just don't get it. So running a 4th gen rear gives you the same rear track width as running a 3rd gen rear with 1.5" spacers in back. 1.5" spacer on each side = 3" wider overall = 4th gen rear width.

You won't notice the .5" in the rear.

Now I'm curious as to where these inexpensive adapters are coming from...

Ok, I went to Skulte's sight and did their equation for fitting adapter to your backspacing and got some interesting numbers. What do ya'll think...(This is based on a 9" rim with 56mm offset and a .25" rim lip, and a front max backspacing on our car of 5" and rear of 5.85"...

Equation is Backspacing=centerline (rim width of 9"/2=4.5) + offset(56mm/25.4=2.20 inches) +rim lip (.25 inches)

Centerline of 4.5 + 2.20+.25=6.95" backspacing on a ZR1 rim

Therefore, if the max backspacing for the front of a 3rd gen is 5 then that leaves an adapter of 1.95 inches, and if the max backspacing for the rear is 5.85, then that leaves an adapter of 1.10 inches.

Originally posted by Marc 85Z28
It will look fine. The 4th gen rear is only 3" wider than the 3rd gen rear - I've measured. I guess I could say that till I run out of breath but a lot of people around here just don't get it. So running a 4th gen rear gives you the same rear track width as running a 3rd gen rear with 1.5" spacers in back. 1.5" spacer on each side = 3" wider overall = 4th gen rear width.

You won't notice the .5" in the rear.

Now I'm curious as to where these inexpensive adapters are coming from...

Thats funny because when i measured my 99 Z rear it was just shy of 4" wider at around 3 7/8. Not saying you are wrong but I would suggest remeasuring. 1.5" in the rear will set your rear wheels in, not that big of a deal in theory but it will look funny! I have a 99 Z rear with longer studs and a 3/8 spacer in the back to even the wheels up a little more. I have them lined up as good as possible but they still are set in a little bit and inside the front wheels.

All I can say is try them, but more than likely they will rub on the wheel well. Call Andris and pick his brain, you don't have to commit to anything and just see what he says!

Thanks for all your help guys. My main goal was to get educated so I can make a decision, and not just go buy something.
Ya'll have been a great help!

You should go to Vette Brake Products.. Let me get the addy.. Go to www.VBandP.com. They have pretty resonably priced adapters, 1.5" Adapters are $149.95 for a pair.. There not much more cheaper than skultes but there is another place to watch.. Another way you could get around all of this is to just buy rims that have the correct backspacing to fit. I'm probably buying TTII's and Im just going to get special Backspacing..

Originally posted by Ucantcme57
You should go to Vette Brake Products.. Let me get the addy.. Go to www.VBandP.com. They have pretty resonably priced adapters, 1.5" Adapters are $149.95 for a pair.. There not much more cheaper than skultes but there is another place to watch.. Another way you could get around all of this is to just buy rims that have the correct backspacing to fit. I'm probably buying TTII's and Im just going to get special Backspacing..

Thanks for the info on the sight. On the backspacing, as I posted, I already have these rims laying around, so they are the ones I've gotta go with.