Wow...buying rims & tires are a royal PITA!!!

After looking at countless sites for Corvette chrome rims, I chanced upon Summit's wheel selections. I didn't want to get 315's in the back due to my Charlie Brown luck, knowing I'd have fitment issues. Also, the price of these WIIIIIIIDDDDDEEEE tires are HIGH! As much as I would LOVE to have the 315's in the back, I think the decision to go smaller was a good one...for me.

So I searched and found these American Racing Torque Thrust-M wheels. They come in 10-1/2" & 9" widths in the 17". I note that the fronts have a +45mm offset and the rear rims have a +44mm ofset. Will this fit well on my '97Z28 hartop? Don't want them rubbing on the inside or sticking out past the top of the fender.



http://store.summitracing.com/partde...auto view=sku

Reason I like these rims is that they look different, yet familiar. I like the deep inset of the spokes, making the tires/rims look deeper.

I would be putting 285/40ZR17's on the rear and 275/40ZR17's on the front.
I am kinda leaning towards the BF Goodrich G-Force KDW tires unless someone has any bad experiences with them (cornering grip & driving in the rain) that they'd like to share. Finding 285/40ZR17's is a bit difficult.

I did note the chrome wheel description saying they aren't clearcoated. Will this pose a problem of pitting pretty quickly? Not familiar with American Racing products.

What do y'all think?

 

tomzwheels has these on special usually on tech(not sure if tomz is a sponsor here, if not, my apologies)
I'd also recommend a 315/35/17 on those rear wheels, I think you'll regret not getting them, but if you do want to go with 285s. You might as well go with 17x9s all the way around.

 

It wouldn't matter if they were clearcoated anyway, because nothing can protect chrome better than chrome can protect itself. Just resist the urge to take it on a Baha adventure across the Waikiki and you'll be alright.

Nice choice BTW.

 

I was looking at the specs of the tires on Tirerack.com and they list the 285's fitting on a 9.5-11" rim. Unfortunately, the rims don't come in 9.5" width.

I'll check that Tomz site! Thanks for the tip!

 

call tomz... there ls1tech "specials" are cheaper then there advertised price... by the way... Even after seeing tireracks fitting... I'd still recommend doing it on a 9in wheel... but thats just me. I do think you should get 315s tho... the work you'll have to put into making them fit is minimal to none. And the prices on 315s arent too bad...

 

http://ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=786242

 

Thanks for the link. I shot them an email, let's see what magic numbers they can figure up...stinkin' shipping to Hawaii is murder!

 

(Note to self: Listen to the voice that says "going back would be a mistake.")