lookin for new wheels, need help on size

[94formulaLT1]

okay i am a big fan of the 11inch rear tires on firebirds...i think it is an awesome look and many of you can vouch for me, but i need some help on the exact sizes i am looking for. I learned about this in school but i forget. What tire size would i be looking for if i wanted 11inch wide on a 17 inch rim...if i get the racing rims like the drag wheels...11inch wide by 16 or 15...and i want smaller size on the front as far as width. about 7 inches wide on the front. i hope you guys know what im talking about. thanks

[Injuneer]

In the back 17x11" with a 50mm offset. 315/35-17 tires.

You aren't going to find anything similar in a 16" tire. All the really wide tires have huge sidewalls, producing a 28" - 30" tire that either will not fit in the wheel wells, or will require really steep gears to compensate for the excessive diameter.

In a 15" wheel, the typical wide drag wheel is a 15x10" with a 7.5" backspace. You can get some matching wide tires.... M/T makes their Sportsman S/R tires in widths up to 20". A 26x10.0R15LT would work. They also make a 26x16.0R15LT that is 6.7" wide for the front and would fit on a 3.5-4.5" wide wheel, like the Weld Pro-Star or DragLite (neither of which is street legal in that narrow width).

http://www.mickeythompsontires.com/street.html

You need to narrow down what you want..... jumping around from 15" drag tires to 17" wheels and everything in between offers more possibilities than anyone could possibly list.

I have a detailed writeup on fitting both the 15" drag wheels and the 17x11" stree wheels in an FAQ on the "Wheels and Tires" forum at CamaroZ28.com if you need more info.

http://64.65.63.61/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=49

[94formulaLT1]

thanks that does help, but i never learned what all of those numbers meant and backspace, offset and crap, maybe you can explain it to me. i like the look of your wheels in the second pic in your sig..those are nice. i will probably be lookin at 15's instead of 17's for racing. Then my plans are to get another set of cruising wheels where i could have the 17's for looks. i understand the larger diameter the more power you need to turn the wheels...so 15's would be a smart choice. thanks for your help

In the back 17x11" with a 50mm offset. 315/35-17 tires.

You aren't going to find anything similar in a 16" tire. All the really wide tires have huge sidewalls, producing a 28" - 30" tire that either will not fit in the wheel wells, or will require really steep gears to compensate for the excessive diameter.

In a 15" wheel, the typical wide drag wheel is a 15x10" with a 7.5" backspace. You can get some matching wide tires.... M/T makes their Sportsman S/R tires in widths up to 20". A 26x10.0R15LT would work. They also make a 26x16.0R15LT that is 6.7" wide for the front and would fit on a 3.5-4.5" wide wheel, like the Weld Pro-Star or DragLite (neither of which is street legal in that narrow width).

http://www.mickeythompsontires.com/street.html

You need to narrow down what you want..... jumping around from 15" drag tires to 17" wheels and everything in between offers more possibilities than anyone could possibly list.

I have a detailed writeup on fitting both the 15" drag wheels and the 17x11" stree wheels in an FAQ on the "Wheels and Tires" forum at CamaroZ28.com if you need more info.

http://64.65.63.61/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=49

[Injuneer]

Tire Rack has a very good description of wheel dimensions:

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/index.jsp
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/...jsp?techid=101



(Obviously the distance from the centerline of the wheel to the tire bead seat should be labeled "1/2 width" in that drawing)

Backspace is the "offset" + "1/2 width" + the width of the flange that holds the tire bead on the wheel.

The larger the offset (or backspace), the deeper the wheel sits in the wheel opening. Generally, front wheel drive cars have large offsets, rear wheel drive cars have small offsets. But GM screwed around with the 4th Gen F-Body and later model Corvettes and used wheels with large offsets.

I have two sets of wheels and tires.

Drag Wheels (the ones in the second pic in the signature):

Front - Weld Pro-Star 15x3.5" 1.75" backspace, with a Moroso DS-2 26"x4.5"-15 "skinny". (Neither of those is legal for street use.

Rear - Weld Pro-Star 15x10" 7.5" backspace, with a M/T ET Drag 28x10.0-15W slick.

Street Wheels:

Front - AFS polished ZR1 replica 17x9.5" 56mm offset, with a BFG g-Force KDW 275/40-17.

Rear - AFS polished ZR1 replica 17x11" 50mm offset, with a BFG Drag Radial 315/35-17.