As the title says I plan on getting 17x11 in the rear and 17x9.5 in the front. I want drag radials in the rear but was wondering should I also get them in the front? Or should I go with the regular NITTOS? Also what is the difference between the NITTO 555r 2's and the regular 555r's ?

 

There's no reason to put drag radials on the front of your F-Body.

I would run either regular Nitto tires, or something like a BFG KDW or KDWS... Really any normal radial that fits the sizing would be fine.

 

running regular Nitto 555's will match the tread pattern on the 555R drag radials better.

 

in teh new PHR there is an acticle on The Grape (GMHTP) where they went with Nitto 555r 315's and a 17x10.5 on the rear and did not have to roll the fender by doing it because of the 1/2 in off the wheel width!

 

i have 17x11's in the rear, I didn't have to modify much for them to fit. All I did was remove the bumpstops, and pound out the inner fenderwell with a minisledge just a tad for the wheels not to rub when I hit a big bump. Other then that it was straight forward.

 

The secret to the 17x11's is "offset". The 50mm offset seems to be best... keeps the tires within the fender lines, and on SOME cars requires cutting the corners off the jounce bumper brackets and hammering the inner fenders a little..... nothing a quick spray of rubberized undercoat won't cover up. Get the 36.5mm offset, and you avoid the inner fender problems, but now the tire is outside the fender line and you may have a problem with the fender lip rubbing. The Troque Thrust II's are in interesting compromise, because they have approx 45mm offset, and can avoid most rubbing problems.

On the street, I run the AFS ZR1 replicas, 17x9.5 (56mm) with 275/40 BFG KDW's in the front, and 17x11 (50mm) with 315/35 BFG Drag Radials in the back.

 

No you only need them in the rear, go with the NT-555 street tires in the front, and the difference between the 555R and the 555R 2's is that the 555R 2's are a tire with a smaller side wall that is designed for road-racing.