crows_camaro

iTrader: (1)

I have a Black 99 pontiac Firebird. I have been doing some searching around for wheels as some of you may recall from previous posts. There are pics of the wheel in a previous post. Well I decided on the Bonspeed Intense 5's now It is time to get down to specifics before I order them and end up unhappy or with the wrong thing. Now here is my questions.

I have been thinkin about putting 18x8's in the front and 19X10's in the back. I want the back wider than the front but then I started thinking isn't stock width 9.5. Is 8 wide in the front enough? but then If I go up to 9.5 in the front the 10's wont appear any wider they will still look stock, right? SO would I be better off with 10.5's in the rear? I don't want anything that will require the BFH mod, but I want the wheel flush but definitely not protuding. With room for a nice fat tire that will at least make my 6 cylinder look like it is sporting some power.

Then I thought, you know it would be nice to be different and have 18/19 combo like the vettes but with a different style wheel..... but hey maybe their is a reason most people do the 17/18 combo. Is it for better ride quality or more availability on tires? The car is not lowered right now but plans are in the making so should I go conventional and do what you guys are doing or will I still be really happy being unique?

I am ordering my wheels in 7 days so I need as much info as possible as soon as possible so I can make my decission. Also the damn offset post is extremely long but I don't see any info on 19X10's? We'll discuss tires after I order the wheels and we'll further discuss offset once I make an informed deccission on the size of the wheels.

Thanks allot in advance,
Joey

slowprocess

iTrader: (9)

Joey, you should post this up in the truck forum. Not many people in here help out all that much. I'm come to realize that alot of people on the board don't post much in the specific forums unless you have a 900hp fbody with blah blah. Come on over to the truck forums and we can give you some opinions. I think the 18/19 combo would be a good way to go. We'll talk about it tonight in C-land.

jargan04

iTrader: (1)

Save yourself the trouble and go with the same size all around. A wheel 10.5 will will require the BFH mod or an adj. panhard bar. Also look at the price of a tire for a wheel 19/10.5 You are looking at atleast $300 a tire since you would need a 295 or 305 19" I have 17/18 and hate it more and more everyday. I'm going to sell them and get 18 all around. Go with something common like 17X9 all around.

crows_camaro

iTrader: (1)

come on guys please give me a hand. What's the deal with no one running 19's in the rear? would I be better with 18's all around or the 17/18?

Xsta Z 28

iTrader: (2)

And why do you say that . . .

I answered your PM . . .

slowprocess

iTrader: (9)

Well, besides the obvious.... two or three replies, yet other posts are seeing a good bit more. I went over to crows house over the weekend and waited on replies, which never came. I checked back on several of his post, and the same thing....1 or 2 replies.
The truck guys go to the nitrous sections, multimedia sections, and get no responses from the fbody guys. Sure, Parish does with his 10 sec passes....but if someone like me posts up a time, I get responses like "you only trap what a stock ls1 traps, etc." It's really no big deal to me, because the truck guys pretty much stay in our section, and everything works out better. That way I don't have to hear that my truck is as slow as a stock ls1, etc.

I was just helping my friend out and telling him what to expect when posting in certain sections and expecting tons of responses. It's always better if you leave out the fact that you run a v6, because tons of people just ignore anything past that point.
The big number guys always get the respect. The newbs have to use the search button.
Don't take it the wrong way, but it's just the way it is. If you don't believe me, check out Crows profile and look at the number of responses to his posts. We thought it was rather funny, so I told him to come to the truck section because we're always willing to help out everybody with our opinions.

D Rock

iTrader: (7)

I don't think we ignore people at all in these other sections, just if we have no input we dont say anything.

crows: I think you should go with 19x10s all the way around, that would give you a great handling car and put alot more rubber down on the road. For F-bodys 19s are the cutoff but some guys can pull off 20s on the back, I think 19s all the way around looks great with a tasteful rim on a lowered car.

jargan04

iTrader: (1)

A 19" wheels would hurt handleing. You have less wheel travel, more stress on the brakes. An 18" wheel is the perfect wheel for a non track car.

Xsta Z 28

iTrader: (2)

Well, asking about 19" wheels is tough, since not too many people run 19" wheels, so not too many can reply.

Running a V6 has absolutely nothing to do with "how " we may respond in the "wheel" section. I feel that you blindly accusing people of LS1Tech ignoring people is uncalled for.

As stated a responded personnally to his PM, and not here - didn't want to type it again.

But again, as to the original question:

Run either all 18's or all 19's do not mix diameters. I looks very silly (IMHO) on a Camaro or Firebird. It works on the Vette, since the tire diamters front and rear are different, where the F-Car must have front and rear tires, that are close to the same overall diameter.

A great 18" combo is a 18" x 9.5" (or 9") with a 275/35ZR18 tire front and a 18" x 10.5" (or 10") witha 295/35ZR18 tire rear. Looks killer on a Camaro, or Firebird.

Your choice in 19's is very limited, and so are the tires. Plus I know nothing about 19" wheels.

slowprocess

iTrader: (9)

So, Joey...I know that money is burning a hole in your pocket!!! What's it going to be? I think you decided on the 18s, but I can't remember. Post up what wheel/wheel size you're going with.

D Rock

iTrader: (7)

19s may hurt handling over 18s but would help alot over a stock 16s with 245s.

crows_camaro

iTrader: (1)

First off thanks for all the responses. And yes I did get a few pm's that were very helpful.
I have been on and off the phone all day with Bonspeed as well as the tire shops around here trying to figure out which tires would be best. Bodspeed can make wheels with 1/2 inch widths but they cost ALLOT more so it looks like I'm ordering 18X9's for the front and 18X10's in the rear. I'm about to go back and read all the old post to find out the best offset on them and try to find out something about the tires. BTW numbers don't work well on the search button.
Thanks guys
You'll hear back from me SOON cuz they are being ordered thursday at noon.
Joey

joblo1978

iTrader: (14)

18's is about the max I would go on and F-Body but that is what I have. I have seen a 19" CCW with and 18" CCW that looked really good though. Anything over 18" and your looking at so much rotational mass that the brakes cannot keep up. Don't forget with different wheel and tires sizes front and rear you may run into ABS and traction control issues...maybe. My 18x9.5's have 265 35's all the way around, they fit and work fine and that's how I bought them. But my next set will be 275 front and 285 rear. It should be somewhat noticeable in the rear. Don't forget that wheel height and width is not as important as offset though.

Nine Ball

iTrader: (38)

slowprocess, your comments are ignorant. We do not discriminate on this site because of what people drive. 9 times out of 10 if you ask a truck related question in the car sections people truely have no idea what the answer is. But, this guy is asking about Firebird wheels, not truck wheels.

From the STAFF standpoint, its the truck guys that choose to stay in their own forums and not venture out much. Even the truck moderators tend to stay in those forums. Why else would all the truck guys gripe about having their own Lounge when we have a general Lounge on the site already?

Its closed minded attitudes like yours that keep this nonsense going.

As for Crows, I'd go with 18s/18s like you plan on doing. The 19s look great, but the thinner sidewall looks unbalanced with a smaller wheel (and bigger sidewall). Here is a pic of a 17" vs a 19" wheel. Notice they have the same outer diameter tire, but thinner tire profile: https://ls1tech.com/02Camaro/pages/hpwheels8.htm

slowprocess

iTrader: (9)

So, let me get this straight, for expressing my opinion on something(NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THE STAFF), I'm called both ignorant and closeminded? Correct?
I better keep my comments limited here(as recommended by Crows_camaro who just called me to let it go), or I know what happens when the site owner jumps in on a user. I'll just stay in the section intended for me. Thanks again for the comments, though.

goshawk23

i feel the same way as slowprocess. but this could be limited to him and me.

Faze2183

iTrader: (7)

i also feel the same way. nuff said i know ive been warned for my comments but most the time their just jokes no harm intended but hey, seems freedom of speach gets taken away daily

Wicked02SS

I feel the same way as slowprocess so I just read what other people post.

Eugenio_SS

iTrader: (2)

your better off going with smaller wheel size for performance and get it wide.
only go bigger if your brakes need so for clearance.

CHAGO

iTrader: (1)

and thus why I dont post here anymore, I shouldnt even be posting this anyway