Guys can you put 275-40-17 on the back and 245-40-17 on the front? Rims are 17-9.5
thx mike
yes mike,a 245x40x17" tire will fit,on the front,but not if the car is lowered,you need a 17x7" with 4.5"-5" back spacing if car is lowered
What about backspacing in the rear for a 17X9.5
I'm guessing 4" or so, but I'm wondering if anyone has these wheels and has had rubbing issues, wihtout notching the frame.
I have 17" x 8" Centerline polished billet aluminum Stars with 4.5" of backspacing on the REAR of my '86 Regal with 275/40/17 Nitto NT-555 Extreme ZR's (I'm thinking of switching to the American-made and seemingly better BFG KDW tire)...I have a slight rubbing issue in hard cornering, and thinking I should have went with 4" or 4.25" of b.s. instead, with the 8" wide rim...I'm looking into trying a 9.5" wide rim with the same 275 tire, but Centerline seems to only offer 5" of b.s. as a beginning spec on the 17" x 9.5" wheels, where a 4.5" b.s. with the 9.5" rim might be cutting it close as well...if anyone can lend some direction to my inquiry, please let me know...thanks, Lou
I'm thinking of the same move as you are, only with American racing Torque thrusts, I've got 7" wheels right now and want to go to a 9.5 I'm gonna throw my friend's Camaro wheels on tomorrow and check for fit. With any luck I'll be able to do it without having to notch the frame.
Gavin...let me know how the Camaro rims fit, and what size and backspacing they are...I'm thinking 4.25" of b.s. with a 9.5" rim will work well with roughly the same amount of space between the tire and the quarter lip, and the tire and the frame...hopefully Centerline can do some custom work on a 9.5" rim for the right money...also, I've heard that aluminum drums add 1/8" of backspacing, because they are 1/8" thicker on the wheel-mounting surface than the steel drums that came on most Regals...what do you think???
by the way...my car is lowered 1" all around with Hotchkis springs...I'm thinking that a lowered car has some tricky backspacing issues.....
Do any of you with lowered cars ever take your cars to the track? If so, how does this effect your 60 ft. times. I wanted to lower my 87 Turbo T with bell tech spindles up front and hotchkis springs all the way around, boxed upper ctrl arms, and adjustable lowers. Does anyone have airbags in their hotchkis springs? Just wondering!
Lowering setups can't be too much of a problem, as some very fast cars use similar setups. See http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/recipes/Stockwell.html and http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/recipes/calrecipe.html for some 10 second buildups that use these types of components.
FWIW, I heard the bell spindles were to much of a drop. Not my personal experience, just what I heard. I guess it all depends on your set up. I would try just the springs at first.
Try the archives (search for bell and spindle):
http://www.ajlc.waterloo.on.ca/gnsearch.html
Louis, the 5" backspacing doesn't necessarily rule the 9.5" wheel out in your case. Remember your tire of equal size to what you have now will be widened in section width due to the wider wheel, but also, it's centre will be shifted towards the outside of the car because 1/2" more of the 9.5" wheel will be towards the frame
(is the *wheel* going to rub the frame? Probably not, but the tire would in your current situation) and 1" of the wheel would be towards the outside of the car.
Your 275 tire wouldn't overhang the wheel lip nearly as much as it does now so you're not yet out of the ballgame, but you might look into airbags in the rear coils if you don't currently have them, they could crutch a non fitting tire situation quite handily and properly.
On the idea of spindles :rolleyes:
The best way to make a car handle presently w/out going to a crazy complete re-engineering of the chassis would be with the taller B-body spindles, the global west upper arms, and stiffer springs in the 650lb range. This will provide a better handling package, will not support a harsher ride (don't use cheap shocks; springs don't hurt ride) and will handily upgrade brakes easily too.
sorry for the off topic bit
J. Matthew,
The 275/40 tire on the 17x8 inch wide rim that I have on the car now slightly rubs the inner wheelwell (frame-side) in hard cornering. Also, there is about 1/2" of space between the face-side of the tire and the wheel lip.
Considering that the 275/40 tire rubs slightly near the frame, 1/2" more of backspacing with either the 17x8 or the preferred 17x9.5 wheel (essentially 1/2" more of wheel/tire towards the frame), would definitely not fit (also, the rearmost portion of the tire, near the rear of the frame in the wheelwell, has about 1/4" of clearance between it and the frame, this being with the 17x8 wheel with 4.5" b.s.).
Anyhow, I am planning on going to a set of custom wheels, probably Fikse FM/5s, in order to set the rear tires "perfectly" in the wheelwell. This is not the only reason for the wheel change, as I like the open-lug look of the Fikse wheels better than the closed-lug/center cap look of the Centerline Stars that I currently have on the car.
Another reason for the wheel change is the taller spindle conversion up front, which increases the track width by a total of 1" to 1 1/4" (1/2" to 5/8" each side), thus requiring at least 1/2" more of backspacing to properly set the wheel/tire back into the front wheelwell.
As for the complimenting springs/shocks up front to go with the taller spindle/Global West upper arm, I currently have Hotchkis 1" lowering springs with Bilsteins at all 4 corners. The Hothckis front springs are rated at 600 lb/in, creating a suitable compliment to the taller spindle/GW upper arm in order to limit ride harshness.
Just my experience...thanks for the message!
Louis,
do you have the rear fender lips rolled in? that'll get you about an inch, might make the whole thing work. I've got a set of GNX flares that I plan to put on but I've seen guys just roll the lip under and it's not even noticable.
Gavin,
I appreciate the suggestion, however, I do not have the rear lips rolled, nor do I plan on doing that, as well as I do not plan on adding flares.
Actually, the 275/40 tire on the 17x8 rim that is on the car now has plenty of room on the OUTSIDE. It is the INNER wheelwell at the frame that is rubbed slightly by the tire (this is with a 4.5" b.s.......by the way, a 275/40/17 tire SHOULD NOT be mounted on an 8" wide rim, according to Nitto and BFG...use a 9-11 inch wide rim because the shorter sidewall/less flexibility of the 275/40/17 tire does not allow for a smaller-width rim...for example, a 275/60/15 tire will properly fit on a 15x8 wheel because the tire's section width is not stressed due to the fact that the sidewall is more flexible).
Moreover, the next size up in the style of wheel that I have on the car now is a 9.5" wide rim, however, the b.s. STARTS at 5", clearly TOO MUCH b.s. for a Regal without clearancing the frame (remember...the more backspacing, in inches, the more the wheel is pushed IN). Anyhow, I plan on leaving what is on the car as of now (safely keeping in mind of the rear wheel setup), and eventually buy up to a custom set of Fikse FM/5s, with which I will be able to get ideally-spec'ed front and rear wheels.
Again, thank you for the suggestion!
I would get either a custom backspace wheel or try a wheel spacer on the current setup that you have.
Can I put 265/40R17 on the rear?
4.75" backspacing seems to be the key, with the american racing TT2s at least.
Just in case anyone was wondering.
Hey guys i'm still new to these cars and am trying to get the widiest 17s i can but with a low profile around 45, any suggestions or am i in the same boat with what you guys are doing, should i need spacers with these, thanks
I don't think I'd try a 9.5" in the front.
A 9.5" with 255/45R17 will work in the back likely, but you're going to want zero offset, or a very slight negative offset.