17's or 18's

[ponchopwr70]

Hi I'm fairly new here, I have a 70 lemans that I'm going to be getting 17's or 18's in a month or two. I have a 355 sb with 450hp 450ft/lb a th350 and 3.55 posi. Tires now are 225/70/14 26.6" tall with cragars, i was thinking 17x8 and 9.5 with 285/40 255/45 torq thrust or 18x8 and 10 with 255/45 and 295/45 to fill the wheels wells better. Question is will I notice a difference in acceleration going to the 17's? how about the 18's? I know the 18's will change the gear ratio but will the weight change the acceleration? The cragars weigh 21lb and tires weigh 24lb. The tt2's weigh 23lb + 24lb for 17's and tires are 27lb + 29lb. For 18's they are 24lb + 25lb and tires are 27lb + 31lb. I just want the car to look good and have little effect on performance from the larger dia wheels. I'm open to idea's for different sizes. Heres a pic of the car now.


http://www.t-mobilepictures.com/photos/photo05/7f/b1/9ea2073a61c2.jpg?_rh=d8judr9f5u06gufc111vk1qrl
Thanks for the help. I cant sleep at night thinking about what to get.

[BEEBE]

http://forums.performanceyears.com/forums/showthread.php?t=394543

17" look good for your wheel well / Lighter, cheaper tires, more tires available.

18" Look Great , extra wow factor, tires $$$ and sizes limited.

[Midnight68]

I would go 17, I put 18's on the rear of my car and tires are really expensive. I do wish I had gone 17's all around

[LowBuckX]

If you can spare the Jack go with the 18s. Keep a generouse sidewall. The only 295 45 18 I could find is a Goodyear eagle GS for 225 each.

[ponchopwr70]

Thanks for the info i was looking into nitto tires they have those sizes. So you guys think 17's with a 255/45 and 285/40 which is 26" tall will fill the wheel well good? I'd rather get 17's due to cost lighter and since i don't need the extra clearence for brakes. Im more into performance than looks but i like to look good doing it.My rear tires only last half the summer lol.https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
Here's a pic of how the car sits since the frame off a month ago,it sits level front to back, i also need to put the chrome trim around the wheel well on. I love that lemans in that link beebe, i found that car online a couple months ago very nice.

[TUBED]

Go with the 18" combo that you mentioned earlier. With the proper back spacing the combo will fill up the wheel wells better than the 17" combo.
If your not going to use big brakes that won't fill the wheels back ground just find a design that'll be less revealing ie... harder to see the rotors and calipers. Most importantly do what you like, go about it safely, and take your time with your choices it'll pay in the long run.
Gerald

[CAMAROBOY69]

18" for sure. I went thru this 17", 18" battle for at least 2 years trying to get what I could afford. I am glad I went the 18" route and I would run 18" wheels on every car. I personally think they look soo much better than 17". Especially if you really nail the stance. They also seem to perform extremely well at the track. I dont mean dragstrip either.

[ponchopwr70]

I guess now 18's might be better. I'm def getting torq thrust, I like them alot and they aren't to expensive. I like the look of the tire size on your car CAMAROBOY, now I'm confused on what to get. I could go with the size's mentioned earlier or a 275-285/40 18 on the back with 245/45 front which wont really change my gearing.Hmmm talk about having problems. Does anyone think bigger rims will effect straightline performance on the street enough for me to fell it? Sorry for so many questions its just i dont want to waste my money on a set of wheels and not be happy also my girlfriend getting sick of me asking her about rims. Thanks guys!

[Ralph LoGrasso]

I would go with 18s on an A-body.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

I think Andrew is running 295/45/18s in the rear, too.

[Todds69]

Go with the 18's...You were talking the TT's not be too expensive, but when you get into 18" wheels they are all kind of salty. Look at the CL205's. They are nice.

[USAZR1]

17" look good for your wheel well / Lighter, cheaper tires, more tires available.
18" Look Great , extra wow factor, tires $$$ and sizes limited.
I think if you check that you will find more tire sizes available in 18's.

[CAMAROBOY69]

Well you should be able to sleep a little better now knowing that the majority vote goes for 18". You wont be disappointed at all with 18's and you will thank us for sure when you get them bolted up for the first time. :3gears:

[ponchopwr70]

Thanks for all the responses! I guess I'm going with 18's. Now i just have to decide on tire sizes. I found a dealer on line that can get me 18x8 and 18x10 torq thrust with nitto 245/45 and 275/40 mounted balanced shipped for like $2100. I thought that sounded pretty good. Should i go with the taller 295/45? sorry to be so repetitive. I still won't be able to sleep till I get them but everyone I know will be glad i finally pick a rim and rim size lol.

[CAMAROBOY69]

$2100 sounds like a great deal for 18" wheels and tires all fully mounted, balanced, and shipped. I think it would be hard to beat that.

[ponchopwr70]

Thats what i thought CAMAROBOY. I guess ill pick my tire size when i get the car back on the road (about a week or two) To see how i like the new 3.55 (used to be 3.08) If i feel like i need less gear i'll get the 295/45. If i like them i'll get the 275/40. Then maybe i can take it out on a track, just have to find the closes one to R.I.

[gearbanger]

I have 295/45/18s on the back of my 67 GTO and they are bad@ss! I wouldn't have it any other way. They are on a 18x9.5 wheel and they don't pooch very much at all. They are very muscle car looking, with the meaty sidewall. The key is dropping the car down over them about 3". It is a mean look.

They are Nitto 555s and they were like 200/ea from discount tire.

[CAMAROBOY69]

I have 295/45/18s on the back of my 67 GTO and they are bad@ss! I wouldn't have it any other way. They are on a 18x9.5 wheel and they don't pooch very much at all. They are very muscle car looking, with the meaty sidewall. The key is dropping the car down over them about 3". It is a mean look.

They are Nitto 555s and they were like 200/ea from discount tire.
You cant get him all excited without posting pics of your car. :drool: Frank, I would say if you can fit the 295 then go for it for sure. Just skip the 275. Nittos are awesome. Im very happy with my nittos. Stick like glue on a track!
:postpics:

[toofun]

Hey,

If you are interested I have a set of 18x8 front 245 40 and 18x9 rear 275 40 all set and ready to go. They are from BUDNICK and they are the FAMOSA FAT LIP POLISHED. I have an ad in the FOR SALE section. ALL MOUNTED AND BALANCED AND READY TO PUT ON for 2600 without the wait. Just a thought if your interested let me know 978-479-8319.

I KNOW CAMAROBOY LIKES THEM HE has the same setup!!! BTW I am about 20 minutes NORTH OF BOSTON so it is a short ride to come and get em!!

[ponchopwr70]

So everyone thinks 295/45 will look awesome, and will go with my combo. Now i have to figure out how much B.S. prob around 5.5-5.75. but i'll measure first. I'd love to see pics of that 67 gto. toofun i'd be intrested if the front tires were 245/45's

[CAMAROBOY69]

Frank,
You should check out toofuns set up he is selling. He is also very close to you too. You should at least check those out first. Mabey he will even knock a few bucks off since he wont have to ship them to you. :)

[ponchopwr70]

Well I finally got to drive the car and I like the gears. So I think I'm going to go with 245/45 and 275/40 on 18" torq thrust 2's. They are the same height as my 225/70/14's. I'll be ordering them either next week or the week after. Just wondering what backspacing to get. I was thinking 18x8 4.75 and 18x10 5.75, I'll still measure just want to see what everyone thinks.

[Taylor1969]

I would go with 18s on an A-body.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

I think Andrew is running 295/45/18s in the rear, too.

What wheels are those?

[70ptta]

hey ponchopwr70 what store are you buying your wheels from

[Ralph LoGrasso]

What wheels are those?

Sorry, never saw this post. They're Kinesis Wheels (K58). www.kinesismotorsport.com (http://www.kinesismotorsport.com)

[ponchopwr70]

I ordered tt2's from tomzwheels. I bought a set of 17x8 17x9.5 with nitto 255/45 and 285/40. $1850 for them shipped mounted and balanced. They should be here next week.

[70ptta]

Do you know where is tomzwheels located?

[ponchopwr70]

They are in texas. I live in Rhode Island and they were the cheapest place to buy the whole set. Their # is 1-866-939-1030. The only thing is, is that i ordered my wheels 10 weeks ago and still haven't recived them, suppose to be because of the custom backspacing, but who knows. I will post comments when i get them.

[brickyard69]

Can you use a 275 on a 18" 9" wide rim vs. the 9.5".

It seems like you can get a 9" or 10" for much less $$$ than the 9.5".

I think 10" is too wide for a stock tub 69 Camaro.

Ideas?

[USAZR1]

Can you use a 275 on a 18" 9" wide rim vs. the 9.5".
Ideas?

Sure,it will work fine. I'm running 275/40's on 17x9's,on the front of my car.

[ponchopwr70]

Well my dad just called and told me my rims have arrived, he can't belive how big they are. I'm excited to go home, might be a good excuse to leave work early. I been waiting for these things for 13 weeks due to a damaged wheel, to bad my car is at the shop or I'd put them on tonight. I will post pics of them this week.

[goat890]

Thats a sweet car, i wanna do the same thing so pics would be appreciated, i have a 70 lemans sport as well, mines a conv tho,...but did u say you have a chevy in it?:guilty:

[BA.]

I'm late on the vote here, but, I vote 18" as well. The car has a decent amount of sheet-metal back there and for me, the 18" compliment that better than the smaller 17's.

295's for sure. it'll be bitchin.

[ponchopwr70]

To late to vote lol. I bought 17x8 and 17x9.5 with 255/45 and 285/40, as they were a little bit cheaper and get the job done. Yea I have a chevy in it, pontiac guys just love me lol. Its a 388 it will be done soon, hope to have the car running in 2 weeks. As soon as I get it back I'm going to take pics and post them in the project section.

[turner69camaro]

Just a little heads up. If you go with tt's get them with a chrome center. I have had both and the factory cast gets dull pretty quick. It doesn't cost that much more and it really makes the wheels stand out more.

[ponchopwr70]

I just got them and notice they are dull already, its to late to get the chrome, guess I'll just have to polish them every week.

[vcho455]

I can deal with the chev motor as it takes all kinds, as we've seen in wheel option photos. But the Pochopwr name has to go or the bowtie needs to go. See Ya at www.ponchopower.com

[ponchopwr70]

Well thanks for your imput, since my car came from the factory with a chevy 6cyl and powerglide, I was only improving Pontiac's original design. As far as my screen name its just a name. Anyways, I've been busy and haven't posted in a while(just got my car back,tuning it,long work days,turned 21 yesturday etc.). My car is on the road and the 388 runs really good, still some minor work needs to be done. As for the rims and tires, they work well. The car rides good, handles extremely well. I'm glad i went with the 17" tt2 combo. They totally changed the look of the car. Im hoping to take pics this weekend.