J W Drew

I have a 85 Z51. The tires are 7 years old and are worn down to 6/32 so its time to replace. I have the opportunity to purchase, from a very nice gentleman, a set of nice original turbine wheels with almost new falcon tires from a 84 non Z51. I have two questions. How do you think the setup would look on my 85 and what is a fair price. Keeping in mind I would have to pay shipping from Florida to Washington Sate.
Thanks, JW

Cruisinfanatic

getting a little old, but nothing wrong with 6/32. If they weren't cracked I'd still use.

PLRX

My tires will never last 7 years.

LongBeachC4

His front wheels and maybe the rears will be 8 1/2" . Yours will be 9 1/2"

J W Drew

I know the 84 wheels are 8 1/2" and mine are 9 1/2". That is why I asked what you guys think they would look like. Also still would like to know what a fair price would be. I know the old Turbine wheels are a thing of the past with most people upgrading to after market.
Thanks, JW

RollaMo-LT4

LongBeachC4

That extra inch will make those 255's look a bit wider. Other than that it will look like a 85 dressed up as a 84

gerardvg

Exactly
I would be worried with old tires, the grip will be well down.
Tires are your only contact with the road...

As J W Drew noted
Z51 has 4x 9.5 inch wide rims, std have 2x 8.5 and 2x 9.5. You will find with 255 50 16 tires will have a bulging sidewall on 8.5 inch rims, they will give a fish tail wobble when turning the steering wheel left to right. Especially if the 8.5 wheels are on the rear.

I went to 17 inch 9.5 rims on my 85 (1 inch adapters needed on 84 to 87) as good wide 16 inch tires were getting hard to come by, i now have 275 40 17 tires all round on 9.5 wide 17 inch rims.

I can recommend Nexen N3000 tires.
They grip the road wet and dry like glue... They are cheap but grip more than tires worth 3x as much, nice smooth tires no vibration.
They are the best tires i have had on my vette.

QCVette

The wheel specs are below.
84-87 base
8.5"- 32mm offset

84R-87 Z51
9.5"- 38mm offset

So the outside edge of the Z51 wheels will be about 1/4" further outboard than the base wheels. I doubt that you will notice the difference.

The appearance between the 8.5" and the 9.5" is only visible in the depth of the center section. Unless you are comparing the two you will probably not notice the difference either.

All of the '84-'87 wheels (both 8.5" and 9.5") used 255/50/16 tires, so you may be able to see a lot of examples of how the tires fit. The difference in tire fit on the different size rims will be very close. You will probably not notice the difference either unless looking for it.

The price is anyone's guess. I have frequently seen the wheels pretty cheap at about $100 for the set. The tires usually do not bring a high percentage of their new price, but it really depends on age/condition. Shipping will be an added cost and may make it worthwhile shopping local.

Like others have said, it may also a good time to consider an upgrade to 17's, although many people want to retain a stock look.

Good luck.

NuckinFutz93

IMHO, with shipping and purchase, I think you would be better off just buying tires for your wheels. They will be new, you know that they don't patches and if you have trouble, you can go to the tire shop and get it fixed or warrantied.

Cliff Harris

America's Tire Store recommended that I go to 17" wheels because the selection of tires is much better. This was after Michelin discontinued the 16" tires I had been using (the hot autocross tire back in years past).

The problem with that was the $500 cost per wheel for the upgrade, so I passed. I didn't want to put $2000 in wheels plus the cost of the tires into my daily driver.

LongBeachC4

If it's tires in 16" then go get a set of the Goodrich Sport II, there great tires and cheap.

WVZR-1

There's not any "good" argument for the buy and ship of the "wrong stuff" for the car. The tires suggested here should do well and when compared to "tire prices" of any tire today they're "competitive"! I'd maybe shop the price and it's not going to be a "drive in - drive out" purchase, they'll certainly need ordered by any reseller, but that should be maybe just a few days!

383vett

120 runs per set here. 1 1/2 sets per year.