ok im buying a set of 4, 5 spoke 2003 Corvette orignal equipment wheels for my 95 firebird. Front wheels are 17" x 8.5" and rear wheels are are 18" x 9.5". My first question is will these wheels fit on the car and will they stick out of the wheel welds. the other is what are the largest tires i can put these wheels without anything rubbing or having to modify any thing.

 

I have bought the same rims vor my Z28, they are on the way, so I can't check it... but if I remember right we need a spacer in the rear. May be 20-30 Millimeter (around 1 in.) because the wheel has not enough room in the inner fender....

I use the original Corvette C5 tire setup....

 

Stock 2003 C5 wheels are:

Front: 17 x 8.5" 58mm offset
Rear: 18 x 9.5" 65mm offset

Those offsets puts the wheel a bit deep in the wheel wells, but should not cause any sort of rubbing.

 

Correction, I have these on my car... they rubb very little on the rear inner well.... right toward the front.... drive then around after they are on and then remove them and pound where they rubbed....

8.5's should have a 245 or 255 on them and 9.5's should have a 265-285 on them.... height for 17's should be 45 and 18's should be 40.... perfect... just like mine, you can reference my cardomain and such for more pics...

 

One thing we try to emphasize..... every car is different. Not sure whether its build tolerance, or what. But its all covered in the FAQ. For everyone that has pounded the inner fender liners to run 315/35's on the 17x11 50mm offset wheels, there will be someone who says they had no problems at all.

Directionally, the 17x11 50mm offset wheel has a 7.93" backspace, the 18x9.5 C5 wheel has a 7.75" backspace, so there should be significantly less chance of rubbing on the inner fender wall. Obviously, the wider the actual section width of the tire (not necessarilly the size of the tire), the more likely you will have problems. And, in incorrectly spaced panhard rod, or soft panhard rod bushings will increase the chances of rubbing.

 

correction. a 275/35/18 should be ran on the rear.

 

You can run a couple of tire size on 9.5" wide rim.

The stock wheel and tire combo from factory are like that for the 16" :

235/55-16 (26.18" diameter)
245/50-16 (25.65" diameter)

So you could fit to match the tire height on 18X9.5"

265/40-18 (26.35")
275/35-18 (25.58")
275/40-18 (26.66")
285/35-18 (25.85")

The 275/35 and 285/35 are the closest one(im running 285) but you could still use the 275/40 to fill the rear well a little more.

 

True.. but the 275/35/18 is closer to the "stock" height/keeps the speedo closer to true. I know the difference is small, but the 35 is closer. I've ran both on my car, but prefer the 35 if I have the tires.

 

so can i get spacers to correct the offset so i dont have make any modifications to the wheel welds, and if so what size do i meed to get

 

I'd prob get the 1inch spacer/adapters.

 

will i need spacers in the front as well?also will the spacers make my tires stick way out of the wheel welds?

 

the fronts should be fine, and the rears should be flush with the fender.

 

here in Germany I must use 275/35 at the rear..... because the speedo is out of tolerance with the 275/40....
it's only 3-4 KPH, but the speedo reads to low, and this is not allowed....
but max. 7% more reading than true speed is okay

That's Germany

 

You wont need spacers at all, they shouldnt rub.... I tell you I had them and no spacers...

hell, Right now im running 17x10.5's all around....