I have a 99 SS camaro and I want to get new wheels. I am looking at chrome c5 replicas but I am not sure what size. I want to get either 17's or 18's. I want the front and back to be the same. My concern is what size tires fit on the wheels and how they will fit on my car. I am also planning on a set of eibach pro kit springs. First question: I can only find the 17" c5's with a width of 8.5" and I am wondering if i can put the stock tire size (275's) on them. If not I will probably go with the 18's at 9.5 inches wide which I am sure will fit 275 series tires but I am wondering what heighth (35, 40). I just want it all to fit with the springs with no rubbing, and I don't want to go to skinnier tires.

Sorry about the length but this all has me confused.....any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks!!!

 

You have to be very specific about which C5 wheels you are looking at... seems like they changed the offsets from year to year, and some of them are problems on the 4th Gen F-Body.

According to data I saved from an issue of VETTE magazine, there are "repro" versions of the 2000 wheels in 17x9.5, with a 56mm offset. If you could find those, they would be the correct wheel for your car, and the 275/40-17's would fit fine.

If you decide to go to an 18x9.5" C5 wheel, most of them have a 65mm offset, which moves them deaper into the wheel well, with a 7.75" backspace. While this should not be a problem, I was just dealing with someone who had to use spacers to fit the 65mm offset wheels. If you use the 18x9.5, you would use a 275/35-18 tire, to keep the outside diameter equal to the stock tires. You could also consider a 285/35-18, although with a lowered car, that might be a little tight in the front.