I have a pair of stock 5 star aluminum wheels from a 98 LS1 Firebird and I'm wondering how wide a tire I can put on them?

 

if they are 16's i believe the widest ive seen/heard of is 255 im not sure though

 

yea i was woundering that to, what are the biggest i cna put on my 16 inch rims.. right now i got 245's, how big can i go????

 

The problem isn't "how wide a tire can I fit on a stock (16x8) wheel?" The problem is there are very few tires available in high performance street tires wider than the 255/50-16. You can get several different "competition" tires.... e.g. Hoosier Sports Car DOT Radials, in sizes like 275/45-16, and they will fit on an 8" wide rim, but they are very soft compound, shallow tread racing tires. Or, you could go to an "all weather" tire like a BFG Radial T/A, and they make a 265/50-16 or a 295/50-16, which BFG says will fit on an 8" wide rim, but now you have a "low performance" tire with a diameter (26.5" or 27.6") which is too large for the 4th Gen.

 

The general rule of thumb is +/1 one inch over the rim width.

 

Fred,

I am currently running 275 40 17 on a Pacer 5 star corvette look-a-like wheel. I am thinking I need more tire because the car will not transfer all the torque to the street. The tires are spinning with part throttle. Maybe this is a common problem with 383 strokers and 3.42 gears. I may just be expecting too much from the street. I have not tryed to hook up at a track yet. I still like the ideal of having some drag radial that I can throw on a set of wheels.

Fred I am also wondering about the front wheels and tires as well. They are the same as the front. 275 40 17. Ihave been thinking of getting a 4 new wheels and tires to better fit the car. If I go with a smaller tire up front, will I loose any braking power? I would think that the less tire on the groung would cause the car to skid easyer while braking. What do you think?

 

Are you sure about that rule?

245 mm = 9.65 in
255 mm = 10.04 in

A 245 tire is standard on my Z28 which is more than an inch over the 8 inch standard rim. Or does the rule apply from the outer lip of the rim which would be closer to 9 inches? I am upgrading my wheels and was wondering the same question. I want to use 17x8 in the front and 17x10 in the rear. I was thinking about 255's up front and 275's in the rear. Now you got me worried.

 

I wouldn't be expecting a 383 stroker with 17" rims and 40 series rubber to hook up without some sigbnificant weight transfer going on (chassis mods), and a well prepped track.

Generally a taller sidewall and smaller rim are used to put that type of power to the pavement. I have 15 x 10 rims with 28 x 12.5 x 15 ET Streets and do not have any problem hooking up at the track, but the street can be a whole new ballgame at any time.

 

DON'T use "rules of thumb".

When you have selected a tire size, go to a site like Tire Rack, and look up the manufaturer's rim width recommendation for the specific tire model and size you are looking at. For a 275/40-17 for example, some manufacturers will accept 9-11" rims, others will accept 8.5-11" rims. BFG, GY and Sumitomo accept 9" rims for some 275/40's and 8.5" rims for other model 275/40's.

The allowable difference between section width and rim width varies a lot with the wheel diameter.... an 18" to 20" tire, with a loow sidewall will require a very close match between section width and wheel width, while a 15" of 16" tire, with a huge sidewall will accept a VERY large difference, as you can see from the numbers I quoted above, which are Hoosier's recommendations.

I agree, a healthy 383 isn't going to hook well with a street tire, no matter how wide it is. I run 315/35-17 BFG Drag Radials on the street, and they hooked fairly well with the 3.73 gears, but when I went to the 4.10's, even the DR's will spin like crazy.

For street driving, I would use the 17x9 or 17x9.5" rims in the front with the 275's. Max cornering power. Going to a smaller tire or a narrower rim is giving away handling potential. Now if you just want the "skinny" look in the front, a narrower tire is fine, but that "plus" in straight line performance will be at the cost of cornering power.

 

im looking for a 4inch cowl hood for my 94 z28 does anyone know where i can order one?

 

Not likely to get a lot of help by tacking your question about hoods onto a 15+ year old thread about tires, located in the “LT1 Related Engine Tech” forum.

You need to start your own thread in the “Appearance” forum.