1969 GTO Wheel and Tire Upgrade

[jtwoods4]

Hey Everyone,

This weekend I am finally finishing a pro touring conversion on my 69 GTO. Completely overhauled the suspension, engine, braking and fuel system. Should be able to crank her up this weekend. The final area I need to upgrade is the wheel and tire combo. I was considering going with the Year one 17x8 inch rally II wheels so I could preserve some of the original look. I was also looking at Nitto NT555 tires.

Fo the tire size I am considering 255/50R17 all around.

Questions:

Do you guys know if the 255/50R17 tire will fit up ftont on a 69 GTO with the SC&C Stage 2 suspension package. I think that is a 2 inch drop in the front.

[Roadbuster]

That should fit. Depends on the backspacing. Your closest interference point is at the back of the fender.

I have had a 245/45R17 on a 17x8 with 4 5/8 inch backspace on my car and my 68 is pretty low.
That is an old photo of my car with the Cragars, right after I put on the new front suspension. Same size tires front and rear.
I adjusted it up a little in the front and down in the back a bit after this photo was taken.

[Zanie]

A-bodies really need 18s, but its hard to beat those yearone 17 inch wheels as far as bang for the buck!
Do they make the pontiac yearone wheels in the 17x9 version? I know they make the chevy ones in 17x8 & 17x9. If they make em in 17x9 I'd put 275/40R17 in front and 285/40R17 in the rear.

This Chevelle has the yearone 17x9s and 275/40R17 in front and 315/35R17 rear (not mine but I dig it, even more after he lowered the rear end its too high in these pics) the slightly taller 285 would look better.



Nitto says the 285 needs a 9.5 wheel but they will fit better than the 315s

[jtwoods4]

Wow you can actually fit a 275 in the front? Thats huge. I was concerned if I could fit a 255 in the front. Does the 69 GTO have more or less clearance in the wheel well compared to the Chevelle?

[csouth]

Wow you can actually fit a 275 in the front? Thats huge. I was concerned if I could fit a 255 in the front. Does the 69 GTO have more or less clearance in the wheel well compared to the Chevelle?

You can do 275's but it should be on a 9" wheel. You also need to be aware that the Chevelle and a '69 GTO have a different shaped wheel cutout in the front fender which could make a difference.

[jtwoods4]

From looking at the 2 pictures above it appears that the Chevelles front wheel well has more clearance than the GTO's. The backside of the front well on the GTO goes straight down and the backside of the front well on the chevelle angles towards the back of the car, giving it more clearance. I think I am going to try my luck with

17x8 and 255/50R17 on the front. I like the idea of running the 275's on the back with a 17x9 inch wheel.

[Zanie]

" 17x8 and 255/50R17 on the front & 275/40R17 in back?"
you don't want that
255/50R17 is 27 tall
275/40R17 is only 25.5 tall
Ask roadbuster how much clearance his current setup has. He's running 255/35R18 up front on a 9 inch wheel up front.
that 25 inch high with 10 inch section
If you ran the 275/40R17 on a 17x9 you are looking at 25.5 with an 11 inch section.
I'm currently running 245/45R17 on 8s in front 25.63
with 275/40R17 on 10s in the rear the 275 definitly look too short on my car and I'm going to 285s.

If you are set on the 17s. Id buy two 17x9 and mount up 285/40R17 for the rear.
But ........put them on the front and drive around the block.
***If they clear then you know the 275s will!! buy 2 more 17x9s and a pair of 275/40R17 for the front.
***If they don't clear buy a pair of 17X8s & some 245/45R17s (or you could run the 245s on 17x9s)

Heres a link to the nittos sizesss
http://www.nittotire.com/Tire/nt555#size

[Zanie]

This should probably be in the tire & wheel section of the forum.

[SShep71]

This is interesting and a good one for me to follow. I am going the Rushforth route with my 69 and Jason told me 19's in front and 20's in back. The tire size would have to be played with a lot. What do you guys think? am i throwin the dice with 20's? I have SPC adj and tubular lowers in the front with 1" lowering springs all the way around. Currie billet lower and uppers in the rear with a Watts link

[Roadbuster]

That should fit. Depends on the backspacing. Your closest interference point is at the back of the fender.

I have had a 245/45R17 on a 17x8 with 4 5/8 inch backspace on my car and my 68 is pretty low.
That is an old photo of my car with the Cragars, right after I put on the new front suspension. Same size tires front and rear.
I adjusted it up a little in the front and down in the back a bit after this photo was taken.

You can go quite a bit larger. Several years ago I put 18x9 fronts and 255/35R18 tires and 305/35R18 rears on 18x11s



Just widened the fronts to 18x9.5 and I now have 275/35R18 fronts and 315/30R18 rears. No photos yet I just got the tires mounted last week!

[erikgto]

I've asked the same question on the PY pontiac forums.

Got the SC&C front suspension with the SPC uppers and lowers and SPC springs on order for my 70 GTO vert restomod.
The rear will get UMI control arms.

My preffered wheel would also be the 17x9 YO Rally II wheel.
I'm just not sure what brakes fit behind them....I read somewhere that the YO's are small on the inside.
So that's a no go for the Kore3 brakes I had in mind....
Hope I can find a decent brake system that fits inside the YO 17's.....


erik

[john31s]

I've got these wheels and Nitto 555's on my 1970 LeMans. I have 255/45/r17 on the front and 285/40/r17 on the back. I like them alot they just are really small on the inside so if you are ruing big brakes these will most likely be out of the question. I measured the insides and you have about 14.3"-14.4" inside diameter so most big brake setups are out the window. I also had to but longer wheel studs on because the YO Rally II's are cast aluminuim so they are on the thicker side. I wasn't sure if I was getting enough thread engagement so I went with longer wheels studs. Overall I love the wheels, they look great for the price, and it pisses of Pontiac purist which is even better

[jtwoods4]

Great feedback. Thanks everyone, I have decided to go 245/45/R17 on the front and 255/45/R17 on the rear with 17x8 wheels all around. Nitto 555's

This aounds like a modest size choice but wiil be lightyears better than the 15 inch weheels and BFG TA Radials I have now.(235/60R15 front and 255/60R15 rear)

[LT1Nova]

Any idea if the YO wheels will fit over an LS1 Camaro brake swap?

[Zanie]

Great feedback. Thanks everyone, I have decided to go 245/45/R17 on the front and 255/45/R17 on the rear with 17x8 wheels all around. Nitto 555's

This aounds like a modest size choice but wiil be lightyears better than the 15 inch weheels and BFG TA Radials I have now.(235/60R15 front and 255/60R15 rear)

Really?
why not go with the 9s the price is the same as the 8s?

with the255/45/r17 on the front and 285/40/r17 on the back............. like John31s 70?

[john31s]

I have ton's of room for the 9 inch rim. 255 is leaves some room up front, but at the back I could have gone bigger. A 68-72 GM A-Body will swallow up 9 inch wide rims with no hesitation.

As far as LS1 brakes go, I doubt they would fit under the YO wheels (Rally II's at least). I never tried a LS1 brake kit template but I can say you have an inside diameter of about 14.3-14.4 inches. I was unable to fit a Big Brake Kit from the Rights Stuff Detailing (13" front rotor).

[Underachiever]

Hey there... I know this is an old thread, and I don't really want to bump an old thread/necropost, but this seemed the closest thing to an answer I could find, so I figured this thread would be the place to ask my question.

Would 17x10 wheels with 245/25 R17 tires (yes, I know the tires should be on a narrower rim) fit on a stock 1969 GTO? No idea on the backspacing or offset, but the guy selling the wheels and tires said they're about 70% inside and 30% outside... And that he has spacers for them.

I'm really just hoping to pick up a cheap set of wheels so I can get this GTO off of its frame... It's going to require digging a hole just to get a jack under it -- not even kidding. I just need a set of wheels so I can get it up and sitting off of its frame... And maybe even pull it out of the hole its been sitting in for 18 years.
Any help would be greatly appreciated by both me and this poor goat.

[john31s]

Hey there... I know this is an old thread, and I don't really want to bump an old thread/necropost, but this seemed the closest thing to an answer I could find, so I figured this thread would be the place to ask my question.

Would 17x10 wheels with 245/25 R17 tires (yes, I know the tires should be on a narrower rim) fit on a stock 1969 GTO? No idea on the backspacing or offset, but the guy selling the wheels and tires said they're about 70% inside and 30% outside... And that he has spacers for them.

I'm really just hoping to pick up a cheap set of wheels so I can get this GTO off of its frame... It's going to require digging a hole just to get a jack under it -- not even kidding. I just need a set of wheels so I can get it up and sitting off of its frame... And maybe even pull it out of the hole its been sitting in for 18 years.
Any help would be greatly appreciated by both me and this poor goat.

Without knowing the backspacing its hard to say. I've heard of 10" wide wheels on the rears of these. If all your trying to do is get the car rolling look for cheap rollers or get these and make spacers out of wood or something.

[chaotic73]

I know this is an old thread but I had question on tire size's. I'm considering getting the YearOne Rally II's in a staggered set up 17x8 with 4.5" BS in the front and 17x9 with 5" BS in the rear. I have a 72 Pontiac Lemans Sport, the rear suspension is pretty much stock. I have Moog heavy duty rear spring with Bilstein shocks. My question is can I run a 275/50/17 tire in the rear with no rubbing issue? I was also thinking of doing 245/45/17 in the front. Thanks for any help.