New wheels and tires for the C5Z... decisions, decisions...
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Well, I think it's time to be replacing the tires on the C5Z. When I bought them used from a guy who was selling them here on this forum, the tires really weren't matched, and were different brands on front than he had on the rear. And those supposedly 10/10 wheels, really weren't. He said he was in an accident that totaled his Camaro and was just selling off the wheels/tires. There are some dings on the inside lips of the rims. Nothing bad, but I guess I kind of like things to be as close to perfect as reasonable.
So I bought those tires/rims back in June of 2011, so they are over 7 years old now. Assuming the guy bought them new, of course. I look close and see some possible micro cracks in t he rubber along the edges of the tires, and I guess the rubber is likely getting kind of hard by now just from age. I honestly would like to find runflats for the C5Z, but that turned out to be much harder to do than I thought it would be. They might be out there, in some "Maypop" brand, but I couldn't find any in the stock sizes for the car at all. Matter of fact, I actually want to buy tires and wheels as a package, so I can just put the car on the lift, take off the old ones, and slap on the new ones with no muss and no fuss. McGee Tire here locally has taken on a new name, and when I go to their website and get "PAGE NOT FOUND" when I click the "contact us" link and also when I clicked the "make an appointment" link, well, I just don't get a warm fuzzy feeling about them. I like the way McGee's did the work on my cars, but I'm not sure the same crew and equipment is still there. They might be still OK, but.... So anyway, trying to figure out what wheels and tires to get proved to be a real headache. Spent most of the day doing searching and researching. I do prefer Michelin tires, so I was trying to keep that at the forefront of my searching. And trying to juggle around dimensions for some alternatives that might work instead of the stock sizes. The Z06 has those brake ducts in the wheelwell that the stock tires are pretty darn close to as it is. I can't see causing myself yet another headache by getting too ambitious with wider tires back there. So to start off, here's the stock dimensions for the C5 Z06: Quote:
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I may look up the wheel/tire dimensions for the other late model Corvettes later on and just plug that info in here for reference sake. But not tonight. Anyway, would be nice if whatever wheels and tires I got were as close to the stock dimensions of the wheels and tires, so there wouldn't be any issues with active handling/traction control yelping, nor throw the calculations of speed and mileage out of whack. So this is what I found for those dimensions: Quote:
Anyway, push come to shove, the closest I could come to what I wanted was if I were to go with 18 inch wheels on the front with 265/35/18 tires, and 19 inch wheels on the back with 295/30/19 tires. The 305/30/19 tires would have worked, I think, except that the wheels are only 10.5 inches wide, and those 12 inch tires are just a tad too wide for the wheels. At least according to the chart I will attach at the end of this message. I did NOT want to start my search all over again looking for a style of wider wheels that I liked just to get those 0.4" wider tires. The wheels I have decided on are the Cray Manta Hyper Silver w/ Mirror Cut Lip model (https://www.elementwheels.com/wheels...scra-19105cmhs). But honestly, I'm still leaning a bit to the chrome version instead. I do like the wheels to be blingy. But after having those chrome wheels I had on the car get destroyed at Aaron Scott's place when he left the car out in the elements nearly the entire time he had it, I guess I'm a bit more leery of chrome wheels now. I had considered having TPMS sensors installed since the place I will likely get the tire/wheel package could install them right then and there, but from what I understand, it takes a TECH II to enable the TPMS system in the Z06. Which I just do not have access to. Oh well.... I'll likely put those wheels and tires up for sale to get rid of them. Don't need them cluttering up the garage, as I STILL have those older chrome plated ones sitting underneath the workbench there. |
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So, after looking at so many options it was making my head spin, I finally settled on ordering the following:
2 - 18X9 CRAY MANTA HYPER SILVER W/ MIRROR CUT LIP wheels 2 - 19X10.5 CRAY MANTA HYPER SILVER W/ MIRROR CUT LIP wheels 2 - 265/35/18 MICHELIN PILOT SPORT 4S tires 2 - 295/30/19 MICHELIN PILOT SPORT 4S tires Mounted and balanced with free shipping from ElementWheels.com in Arizona. They didn't have the 295s in stock, so I should have everything delivered by the end of the month. |
BTW, if anyone wants to see a good explanation of what "offset" and "backspacing" for wheels means, this site gives what looks like a pretty good explanation with pictures.
https://www.autoanything.com/wheels-...el-backspacing The reason I was looking this up is because I'm not exactly sure the rear wheels in this setup I ordered are going to clear those rear brake cooling ducts on the C5Z. If my calculations are correct concerning the backspacing of the new wheels, it appears the wheels/tires in the rear will be moved 0.75 inches closer into the wheelwell. I need to put the car up on the lift and measure what that clearance is right now with the stock wheels, but I don't think there is much clearance there at all, from what I remember. Cray's website says the wheels are compatible with the Z06, but heck, I've had "experts" work on my car before that proved to be disappointing with their "expertise". So I'm not much the trusting type any longer. |
Nice looking rims, Rich! Looking forward to seeing some pics of the C5Z wearing the new shoes!
Andy |
Wheels shipped today! :dancer01:
Coming from Arizona via trucking company, so won't likely be here till next week sometime. Hoped they packed them REAL good. |
You might want to think about videoing the unpacking in case anything bad turns up. It would be cheap insurance, and can always be deleted if the packing is adequate and the wheels suffer no harm.
Just my 2 cents.......... Andy |
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The wheels arrived in Atlanta yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon. Left Phoenix at 1:18am on 11-20 and arrived in Atlanta at 3:37pm 11-21. So the truck driver didn't dally much along the way, it seems. 1800 miles. So we'll see how long it takes to cover the remaining 280 miles. They are supposed to call 24 hours prior to delivery to make an appointment. But in some instances, we would get the call when they are at the end of our driveway.
Guess I should put the C5Z up on the lift and pull the old wheels off and do some cleanup of the brake calipers and such. Or if I were smart, just wait until I unpacked the new wheels to make sure there isn't a problem with them first. |
Well, the wheels left Atlanta today at 1:22pm. No other notices, so I guess the driver is taking the slow route. Hopefully they will show up this week.
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Well, the trucking company (R&L Carriers) called yesterday morning and said the driver will be delivering my new wheels between 10am and 2pm today. I guess that is the curse of having a last name like "Zuchowski". I always seem to be last on any list. :(
Got 10 minutes to go for the phone call. The driver is supposed to call when he is in the area. We are going to have him meet us at the local Walmart since an 18 wheeler is a tough fit on our narrow dirt road. No way it would ever be able to actually get into our driveway. |
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