What is the best size wheel and tire or a 69 Camaro ?? I'm looking for a 17" set up !!

 

It's all about personal preference.

 

I don't know myself but I'm also curious. I think the first thing you deal with is wheel diameter, and then it's a combination of wheel width and back spacing. I've seen too many Camaros show up at local cruise nights with the back end jacked way up and tires sticking out 2-3 inches past the rear wheel openings.

Quite a few restomod/pro-touring guys seem to like going with a staggered setup. That is, the fronts may be 17" diameter and 7" wide, and the rears might be 17's or even 18's and 8" wide. Plenty of variants on that as well.

A minor consideration is also what kind of brakes are used. If you have a big brake kit in mind, some OEM rally wheels might have issues clearing bigger calipers wrapping around bigger rotors.

But I still think it's those mystery dimensions like backspacing and offset that are the major factors. Wheels are available in millions of styles, but not all styles offer the right fit.

Mike

 

This question probably asked before so I apologize. Is there a chart that covers a variety of front and rear wheel/tire sizes and most importantly... wheel offset for Gen1 Camaros? I see a ton of camaros advertised with aftermarket wheels, many sticking out past the wheel well arches in the rear, sometimes combined with jacking up the rear and the front to clear them. I'm not married to rally wheels, so I keep an open mind... but with conventional rear leaf springs you have certain limitations, and then again, if you do a 4-link rear you have some additional room right? One step further... mini-tubs.

I've seen Gen1 Camaros with 17" and 18" wheels, some look fine, others look like crap. I'm still learning here, but if you do a big brake conversion like Wilwoods on your Camaro, will rally wheels even clear the bigger rotors and calipers?

Mike

 

Interested as well. Reading all these posts trying to get a starting point.

 

I'm currently running 8" X 15" rears on my car which unfortunately has monoleafs, and I suspect that after 45 years they might've sagged a little. I'm getting some minor rubbing when I hit some uneven spots in the road like lumpy pothole patches. The wheels are from Wheel Vintiques, and its their chromed rally wheels. I haven't taken them off (yet) so I'm not 100% sure of the backspace. The tires are BF Goodrich TA's, and are P255/60R15's.

I may look into air shocks as a crummy fix, or spend the money and get a Eaton 3-spring pack to replace the monoleafs. You can actually order a 1"-3" lift when you get new springs. Of course, I could go to 17" wheels and probably not have the problem, but usually 17" wheels means rubber band side profiles and I don't want my car level... I want a distinct rake as long as the top pf the tire is not below the SS trim on the wheel opening.

 

Not sure this is helpful, but I will ramble on... As stated previously, there are lot of variables to the right tire fitment including size, diameter, rim width, back spacing, the desired look and ride height, etc... etc... One is the stability of the rear end, A lot of the rub problems are experienced when turning a corner, climbing up over a driveway curb, hitting a bump, etc. Rear sway bars, multi-leaf springs, adjustable shocks, traction systems such as Comp Eliminator slide-a-links, etc. can help. You can also move your shock mounts inside the frame to make a bit more room is you don't plan to tub. Or if you do.. There are disc brake conversions for all when diameters including the more standard 15". This is my set-up on the rear of a 68 Camaro.. Multi-leaf springs, Hotchkis Anti Sway Bar, QA1 adjustable shocks, CE Slide-a-Links, inboard mounted shocks, 15x9 Weld Racing Pro-Star with 4.5 BS, 275x60/15R Hoosier Dot Drag Radials. This set up fits under the fenders and in the wheel well without tubs and does not rub during either normal driving or hard launches. The setup includes Wilwood 4 piston calipers as well. No tubes or 4 link upgrades. Very traditional. Not saying you shouldn't do these, but I didn't in this case...

 

I'm running 18x10 275s front and 18x12 335s rear. At least in the Pro-Touring world 18s are by far the most popular size primarily due to the big brakes we run. The tire selection is also much better for 18" wheels than 17". Here is a side shot of my 68 with the 18" wheels.

 

There are a lot of different options for that size. I suggest a site like this to get an idea of what you want and what is out there.

 

have you tried looking online? There are some good sites out there that will give you the correct size for your vehicle as well as a wide variety of look/finish options that can help you narrow down what you want.