ok. i have tryed doing a search on a few different message boards but i havent found exactly what im looking for. sooo here we go.

I have some OEM 2002 C5 wheels. the front fits perfect. however in the back im having
a problem with rubbing. when i got them I was told by a local shop to use a 1" spacer
and i wouldnt have a problem. well now they rub on the outside edge of the tire.
i tryed pushing the lip up a little, but it still rubs. What i would like to know is what
size spacer will give me the happy median. i want to push the wheel out enough so
they dont rub on the inside, and not too much (like now) that they rub on the outside.
the spacers that i have now bolt up to the axle, and the spacers have their own studs that
mount the wheel. according to the shop i got them from they dont make them any
smaller with their own studs. so i know that i may have to pull the axle and install some
longer studs to beable to use a "normal" spacer. that leads me into another question.
how big a spacer can you safely run with out getting longer studs?

So if any one can please help me.
what size spacer do i need?
where can i get it?
Will i need longer studs?

Just a little more info, im running nitto 555 extreams 245/45/17 up front and
275/35/18 in back. i have not tryed pounding the inner fender well yet, but im not opposed to doing so.

thanks for reading,
Eric

 

I assume you are talking about the 01/02 18x9.5" 65mm offset wheels. Have you tried them without the spacers? They have a 7.75" backspace... and with a 275 tire that shouldn't be running on the inner fender. The 11" ZR1 wheel has a 7.93" backspace, and it takes a 315 tire to get into hammer time.

The problem with "no spacer" is that the wheel will now look "sunk" in the wheel well. So you have to try it without any spacers to verify that it doesn't rub at all on the inner fender (ot how much it rubs), then decide how far you want to bring them toward the outside of the fender to make them look decent.... maybe looking at 1/2".

Then you have to wrestle with the spacers. It makes sense that there is a limit to how thin you can go with the "bolt on" spacers, but you might want to try a search to see if anyone makes them in less than 1".

You might also want to check to see if the body is correctly centered over the rear axle.... with the spacers do they rub on one side or both? If the body isn't centered properly, you can improve things with an adjustable panhard rod, and "rolling" the inner fender lip all the way.

 

Just to give you a little better idea of the clearance i have in the back i too some pics.


This one is with no spacer and shows that the tire is hiting the little mount for the bump stop that sticks out.
if that wasnt there i could probly get away with a little pounding on the well and it would fit. can i just cut it off and not have a bump stop?



In this one you can see how far the wheel still need to go on, but cant because its hiting
the bumpstop mount. (also with no spacer) looks like about 1/4".

 

It's hitting the bump stop mount because you have the rear jacked and the axle is at full drop. It won't be anywhere near there when the car is sitting on the ground with all the weight on the spring. Jack it up under the axle and try.

Again... my calulator must be "off".... you should have way less of a problem then I have with a 7.93" backspace ZR! and 315 tire:

Left side clearance

Right side clearance

I did extensive hammer work, and cut the edge of the jounce bumper bracket:

Jounce bumper cut and grind

I don't think you want to run with NO spacer... I just think you need to get an idea of how little a spacer you can live with. And if you used no spacer, the wheel is going to look buried too far into the wheel well.