Oldguard 7

I am aware that the rear wheels on the corvette are wider than the wheels on the front of the vehicle. I am going to purchase 17"Cragar S/S forged alloy wheels. Can running 17x9.5 wheels all the way around the vehicle will affect handling in an adverse way? For those who have 17" wheels, is the backspacing the same for all corvettes? :confused:

Oldguard 7

ttt

72Shark

I wanna know too!!! :yesnod:

Zane

I used to have 17 X 9.5 all the way around. On the rear they did not clear the stock sping so I returned them and now have 18 X 9.5. The 18" looks good on the clearing everthing but the parking brake bracket. The brackets can be reloacted to the top of the swing arm. So now I have 17" up front with 255 tires and they bearly clear and do not rub. I still have not mounted tires on the rear yet but it looks like good news from here.

MarkO

I have 17x9.5's on all 4 corners, fitted with 255/45-17 tires. No rubbing or any clearance issues at all. Though I do have the Vette Brakes suspension on both front and rear, not sure if that adds any extra room or not. If I remember correctly the rims have a 4" backspace.

74 vert

Those sound nice, post pictures please. :cheers:

Zack Wenning

No, backspacing of wheels is the not the same for all vettes. The newer ones the backspacing is about 6 inches, we need about 4.75 inches to make 9.5's work. I have 17x9.5's all the way around. You will have to move the parking brake bracket on the t/a or get offset t/a's. Also I used a VB fiberglass rear spring in the the car, I am told that the stock rear spring is longer and does not allow you to run 17x9.5's. The wider tires will improve the handling of your car, but your car will also tend to follow the ruts in the road a little more too. Good luck with your decision!

MarkO

I just measured mine to be sure, and they are 4". If I look straight down from the top, I can just barely see the edge of the tire. So they work out perfectly.

I don't have any good pictures, it's been out of commission since I got my digital camera. It was supposed to be the big project for this summer, but I got bitten by the Jeep bug. Next spring for sure...