18x9 5" BS fr.---18x10 5.67 BS rr. ROH Black Ice "RT"

[hectore3]

Hi,



I am a new member here. And I am starting the restification of the first car that I bought at 16. A 67 Pontiac Lemans to be exact. I wish I had known about this site earlier. With the wealth of info on here relating to wheel and tire fitment. I was wondering with a 18x9 wheel front with 5" BS. And a 18x10 rear with 5.67 BS how the fit will be? I am not to concerned with the rear. There seems to be a lot of space in the wheel well. My concern is the front wheel/tire fitment. I will use a big f*cking hammer if I have to and roll the wheel lips if needed. Can I get away with this size wheel in the front with the 5" BS? The tire size I want to run are run of the mill 245/45/18 front and 275/40/18 rear. Any comments will be appreciated. I will post some pictures later this week when the wheels arrive.

[essenge]

if youre only gonna run a 245 in the front, 275 in the back you might as well use an 8 inch rim in the front and a 9/9.5 inch in the back. thered be even less clearance issues and the tires would fit perfect. as far as backspacing though, im sorry I don't know.

[Ralph LoGrasso]

I'm not sure if the 5" backspace is ideal for the front (I think you may want 5.5"), but you can get an 18x9 up front with a 275 if you use steering stops and remove the inner fenders. Do a search for the user name "CarlC" and check out his webpage. He has 275s on the front of his '67. Also, a 245 is going to be a bit stretched on an 18x9, you may want to run a slightly wider tire.

The only other question I have is, are you sure on those backspacing measurements? I've got the exact same wheels on my '01 SS (in the same sizes); there is no dish on the wheels really, and I would think the backspacing is a bit larger than 5 and 5.67", but maybe you're using a different fitment, and I may very well be wrong, as I'm just venturing a guess as to what the b/s might be. I'm running 275/35/18 up front and 295/35/18 out back.

Either way, nice choice on the wheels. Post pics of them on the car.

[hectore3]

Thanks for the replies,

Unfortunately I have already ordered the wheels LOL! These wheels are part of a package deal from ROH wheel. If I tried to order these through Discount tire it would be $1749.00 dollars out the door. Direct from the distributorit cost me $890.00 dollars. And that includes shipping.

Ralph, Your are right about the width of the tire being a little stretched. I was concerned about the sure fit. I will upgrade to a 255mm wide tire instead. I have seen some people fit 275mm wide tires up front. But I do not want to remove the inner fenders. I believe the structural integrity of the front end will be compromised too much for my tastes.

Nice SS you have there Ralph. The backspace numbers were qouted to me by Jeff at Group A wheel. He seemed extremely knowledgable on his product. I was a bit skeptical on the 5.67 rear BS also. I thought it was more like 5.75 BS from the factory. But I was corrected. And according to Jeff at Group A wheel. These "RT" black ice wheels are to be discontinued. Because of slow sales mainly that is why I got the good deal.

[Ralph LoGrasso]

Thanks, I had my wheels mounted and balanced at Autotrends, they're an affiliate of Group A Wheels on the east coast. They seemed knowledgable, so I would trust those B/S numbers, then. I'm pretty sure they RTs have been discontinued before, and then reinstated. I think ROH has a habit of doing that over time. I know that when I intially called up for price quotes on the 18x10, they told me they were out of production, and it may be 3-6 months before they would start producing them again. It's a great wheel design, so I hope they do not discontinue it.

$890 is an outstanding price, that is cheaper than what I paid, and I was pretty happy with my deal.

[rattus]

Hey hectore, have your RTs come in yet. I'd like an update on fitment etc.

[gtome]

I think the largest tire I have seen in the front of a stock 67 was a 245 and the largest in the rear has been a 275. Both were on 8" rims, not sure on the backspacing. I read that no more than a 9.5" rim will work in the back. Again, no first hand knowledge of this, just what I have read.

[USAZR1]

I know a 17x9.5 with 5.75" backspacing and a 275/40 tire will fit the front of a 67 Chevelle. My guess is that 5" of backspace on those front wheels is going to cause clearance problems. I'm running 17x9's with 5" backspace on the front of my 69 El Camino. It's close enough that I plan to have my PSE wheels re-backspaced to 5.5" or 5.75".

[[email protected]]

ralph lower that car already

[hectore3]

The RT's have come already "rattus". I have not put them on the car. Because the car has a rod knock. And won't be moving anywhere soon. At least until January to go to the machine shop.

I will mock up the wheels once it quits snowing so hard here. I guess with 5 inch BS on the front with 18x9's it will have some fitment issues. But I will have to use a spacer and clearance the wheel well also.

[CCorne1]

Any updates hectore3?

[hectore3]

The updates for now are a new baby boy! And he is eating all my money LOL!

Actually right now my ATS spindles are shipping tommorow according to Tyler American Touring Specialties. Have been waiting on these for a few months now. And that is the latest and greatest. Will post pics when they arrive.

[tomspo04]

[quote=hectore3]Thanks for the replies,

Unfortunately I have already ordered the wheels LOL! These wheels are part of a package deal from ROH wheel. If I tried to order these through Discount tire it would be $1749.00 dollars out the door. Direct from the distributorit cost me $890.00 dollars. And that includes shipping.

Where is this place??? I'm ready for wheels and tires and need a source. Thanks for your help.

Tom

[hectore3]

This vendor was Group A wheel on the East coast. It's been a long while since I bought the wheels though. You may want to do more shopping around.

[hectore3]

Been a long time since I've updated this thread. Life can get in the way ya know? I got deployed and moved all around. But now I searched high and low for braking systems and settled on a factory C6 Z06 6 piston front for my car.

Printed out and used the templates from Kore3 site on the wheels to check clearance. And I am good to go. I did cross shop,Wilwood 6 piston Superlites,C6 2 piston PBR's, and BAER T4. But I am of the mind that "stock is trick". Meaning that factory parts vetted by billions in R+D has many upsides and few downsides. Like wide availability and support far into the future especially since it's a factory Corvette part.

I'm aware of some downside like the issues with the 6 "padlets",rotor vane direction etc. But if I am not wrong the aftermarket has rectified these issues along with upgrades of stainless pistons that have better heat management of it getting past the bores to boil the fluids. Any thoughts or comments?

[63Duece]

brakes look like the will stop a train, good pick!

GL w/the rest of ur build

[wmhjr]

Been a long time since I've updated this thread. Life can get in the way ya know? I got deployed and moved all around. But now I searched high and low for braking systems and settled on a factory C6 Z06 6 piston front for my car.

Printed out and used the templates from Kore3 site on the wheels to check clearance. And I am good to go. I did cross shop,Wilwood 6 piston Superlites,C6 2 piston PBR's, and BAER T4. But I am of the mind that "stock is trick". Meaning that factory parts vetted by billions in R+D has many upsides and few downsides. Like wide availability and support far into the future especially since it's a factory Corvette part.

I'm aware of some downside like the issues with the 6 "padlets",rotor vane direction etc. But if I am not wrong the aftermarket has rectified these issues along with upgrades of stainless pistons that have better heat management of it getting past the bores to boil the fluids. Any thoughts or comments?

Have you test fitted the wheels yet? I think you're going to have a great deal of fitment issues. I have essentially the exact same body. A 9" wheel with 5" backspace will require you to have the car lifted up like a 4x4. Unless you somehow narrow the front end, your wheels will rub the fender lip. Running an 8" wheel w/5" BS, rolled fender lips and trimmed moldings, I still had to remove the top bolt (fender to innder fender inside the lip of the center top of the wheel well). Your wheels will be another 1/2" wider to the outside. I can't see how a spacer is going to fix that. It will make the situation worse.

A '66/67 pontiac is NOT a chevelle. The geometry of the wheel opening is totally different. The bottom of the front and the back of the wheel wells on the pontiac curve back toward the wheel itself far more than with the chevelle. I can't see a 275 ever fitting on the front unless you also cut the front and rear of the inner fender and fender, along with the bottom of the rocker behind the wheel well. You can get it on and inside the wheel well, but you would never be able to turn the wheel.

For the rears, a 10" wide rear wheel on the pontiac with a standard width rear end requires 6.125" backspace. You "might" be able to get by with 6". In order to run that, along with 275s you need to cut out and flatten the wheel house directly up from the lip. There is an extra "ledge" that needs to be removed. Without that you can't even run the 10" safely. I'm running 6.125" bs on an 18x10 w/275s. There are some scuffs on my frame and wheel well on the inside from the tires, and there is maybe 1/8" of clearance on the outside.

Don't want to be the bearer of bad news but I did want to give you a heads up.

[hectore3]

Have you test fitted the wheels yet? I think you're going to have a great deal of fitment issues. I have essentially the exact same body. A 9" wheel with 5" backspace will require you to have the car lifted up like a 4x4. Unless you somehow narrow the front end, your wheels will rub the fender lip. Running an 8" wheel w/5" BS, rolled fender lips and trimmed moldings, I still had to remove the top bolt (fender to innder fender inside the lip of the center top of the wheel well). Your wheels will be another 1/2" wider to the outside. I can't see how a spacer is going to fix that. It will make the situation worse.

A '66/67 pontiac is NOT a chevelle. The geometry of the wheel opening is totally different. The bottom of the front and the back of the wheel wells on the pontiac curve back toward the wheel itself far more than with the chevelle. I can't see a 275 ever fitting on the front unless you also cut the front and rear of the inner fender and fender, along with the bottom of the rocker behind the wheel well. You can get it on and inside the wheel well, but you would never be able to turn the wheel.

For the rears, a 10" wide rear wheel on the pontiac with a standard width rear end requires 6.125" backspace. You "might" be able to get by with 6". In order to run that, along with 275s you need to cut out and flatten the wheel house directly up from the lip. There is an extra "ledge" that needs to be removed. Without that you can't even run the 10" safely. I'm running 6.125" bs on an 18x10 w/275s. There are some scuffs on my frame and wheel well on the inside from the tires, and there is maybe 1/8" of clearance on the outside.

Don't want to be the bearer of bad news but I did want to give you a heads up.

You are very right and I have experienced those issues and have a plan to make it right. Starting with the front wheel well/fender will be sectioning and trimming the outer fender to fit 255/40/18's--275/40/18's up front. I'm using my original fenders as a template to cut and trim and then install the repop fenders after that. The same process of modification for the inner front wheel houses are in order. If the situation warrants steering limiters may come into play also. As is normal for GM A-bodies my lower rear fender area is rotted with rust in that area. So it leaves me room for a mild custom since I have a simple LeMans and not a GTO.

The rear in the car has a 8.2 inch ten bolt limited slip rear out of a 1971 Chevelle I put in 20 years ago after a broke a C-clip and lost a wheel and axle at 30mph. So at a minimum I need a new rear end for my 428ci engine to be safe on putting down the power/torque. And that leaves the option for narrowing the unit. I also need new trunk pan sections that butt up against the rear wheelhouses. A mild mini tub back there would work wonders for my 10 inch wheel combo with 285/35/18's to 295/35/18's tires and later I could go larger as funds and more importantly time permits.

Thanks for the advice. And you are very right about the problems with fitment on stock bodied A-body Pontiacs of my year regarding wheels and tires. I'll make it fit one way or another.

[wmhjr]

If I understand you correctly, I think you're going to need to do a bit more. For the front, trimming the fenders will not be sufficient. You will have to significantly flare the entire front wheel well - both inner fender and fender itself. That is assuming that the car will be at stock or lower ride height. I can't see any way you will fit a 9" wheel on the front with 5" backspace. Not even if you never go over a bump. It won't be a "mild custom". It would be a completely changed front end. Take a look at this pic:



That's a 245 on a 1" narrower wheel with the same backspace. Now put a 255 or even a 275 tire on a 1" wider wheel? That's a huge change. I can't imagine anything other than REALLY flaring the wheel well REALLY high to make that fit.

For the rear, you can certainly do that. Narrow the rear end and you can fit 285s. You will need to be VERY careful about exactly how much you narrow it and could potentially even get the 295s there. The problem is that messing with the inner wheelhouses (center of the car) does nothing because the frame itself is the limit. My 275s frankly use every possible millimeter and the inside of the tires rub the frame. The outside of the tires have maybe 1/4" to spare. Narrowing the rear end will not affect that - it will only solve the issue you have with backspace. Youl will need to narrow the frame itself to go any larger.

[hectore3]

I understand where you are coming from. I already have junk tires in 255,275 and 285 width to mock up. The front suspension isn't going to be stock with the ATS spindles and narrower control arms I'm going to run up front. And I'm not going to run wheel well chrome trim either which has a sharp edge that protrudes. Along with some trimming and even fender rolling, mild flaring if needed etc.

If need be I will initially run a smaller tire up front 255mm width and 275-285mm in the rear barring notching the frame and then re-boxing it. And then look at different wheel options. As you know these cars are never done. By the way you have a extremely nice Pontiac and the particular color pops very nicely.