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Wheels and Tires (June 26, 2009)
This page is the summary page for the wheels and tires. It took me a long time to find wheels that I liked that I could afford. I really wanted 18 inch wheels with a minimum width of 8 inches in the front and 9 inches in the back. The 2nd generation Camaros do not have a lot of affordable options for what I was looking for. After a lot of research I found that the BMW bolt pattern of 5x120mm is nearly identical to the Camaro bolt pattern of 5x4.75in. Also the 5 series BMWs from the 80's have the correct offset in the front and the rear. However, there is an issue with the front hubs. Modern cars use sealed hubs that do not protrude out as much as classic cars. This presents a problem with wheel fitment. My solution was to get a wheel with more offset and use a bolt on wheel spacer. For wheels I went with the STERN ST-7 HYPER MESH wheel with black centers. The fronts are 18x8.5 with an offset of 38. This works out to 6.25 inches of backspacing. The rears are 18x9.5 with an offset of 15. This works out to 5.84 in inches of backspacing. The fronts required a 1.5 inch spacer that changed the total backspacing to 4.75 inches and the rears fit perfect. Lastly, I needed to buy hub centering rings. These rings slip inside the wheel hub center the wheels on the axle hubs. I needed centering hubs with an outer ring size of 74mm and a center ring size of 70.30mm. For tires I went with Sumitomo HTRZ II size 245/40/18 in the front and Sumitomo HTRZ II size 285/35/18 in the back.The pictures below are from various stages of my build.
Status photos as of 6/26/2009:
| Here are the wheels in the boxes that they were delivered in. | |
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| Here is the initial mockup of the front wheels without spacers or tires. | |
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| Here is the initial mockup of the rear wheels without tires. | |
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| Here are the tires. | |
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| Here are tires mounted on the wheels. | |
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| Here is a spacer mounted for test fitting. | |
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| Here are front wheels and tires installed and being checked for clearance. | |
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| Here are rear wheels and tires installed and being checked for clearance. | |
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| Here is a side shot of the car with the wheels and tires installed. | |
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| Here is the wheel mounted and brake clearance being verified. I have plenty of room to clear the C5 brakes | |
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| Here are the hub rings. | |
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| Here are the wheels and tires installed on the painted car. | |
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