gator's 99TA

iTrader: (2)

OK, now that I have your attention, lets start a serious debate. These two cars i posted are ******* awesome cars, clean and definitely have some nice parts on them, but the rear wheel position drives me insane. Some of you guys may know that I am a long time member. Most will not know me from your average troll. No biggie. In any event, the last few years, narrowed rears and "dished" rear wheels have been all the rage. Most think they look great, myself included. Here is my issue:

Why do so many of you guys love this look where the ****** rear wheels stick out like a 1979 camaro? We aren't in the 70s and we
aren't limited to leaf springs that cant move inboard.

So, here is where the issue lies. Before you guys start jumping my neck, this is where i believe everything starts off wrong. Everyone agrees that if you have a stock width rear, you need a 15x10 7.5 backspace wheel. We are limited to this backspacing due to at the time, limited choice in wheels due to brake clearance and very limited choice in wheels due to GM's generous offer of a wide as **** rear axle and stance. So is the typical average dudes thinking:

If i narrow the rear 3" each side, then I MUST kick the backspacing back the same amount of 3", giving me a 4.5" backspacing wheel. Sounds great right? Except for the fact that you likely are going to a tire wider than the wheel (footprint) - ie 325 radials. Not seeing my problem?

THe problem is that you narrowed the rear and kicked the wheel back to the stock position - thus you didnt actually do **** for bringing in the wheel and tire. So back to the average dude that did a 3" narrow and 4.5" backspacing wheel. They think, badass! SICK! awesome! now that i have this deep dish wheel with a 28" tall tire, my rear end is raised up like a fuggin 1979 Camaro with M&H Racemasters! (some of you guys will get that reference).

You drive around a few days in your bliss and then think, man, the rear of my car is raised up like a ***** walking on MLK at 3am. fug! So i better lower the rear. well, with the rear wheels in the same exact location as the "stock" position and throw in the fact that the tire is likely a 275/295/325 - i cant lower unless i feel like cutting up my tires on the 1/4 panel lip. Maybe the ole rolling the fenders trick will work? How about we do that and when we hit a bump, i tear up my tires (plus it looks like a retard to jack up the lip of your 1/4 panels).

So now in the end, the average dude has a "narrowed rear" but the tire is 28" tall giving it a retarded 70s rake and he cant lower it because the tires rub up against the lip.

Is anyone offended by my post yet? If not, then I have definitely lost my touch. If you are starting to get the point of my post, lets start talking about how to cure this or avoid this mistake.

First, screw this dumb math of 7.5" - 3" = 4.5"

If the goal is to have a NARROWED rear that TUCKS the big tall balloon tire and LOWER the car making it look good, this is what you need to get into your 4th gen brain. Narrow the rear 3" and get a 5.5" backspacing wheel. What does that do you ask? Well, put down the PBR and Slim Jims and chew on this one. You just NARROWED the rear and TUCKED the tires in so that you can put a big 28" tire, sit that bitch down on its nuts and not look like a 70s retard.

Next question - but but but if I narrow the rear and suck the tire in, wont i need a mini tub? **** no! Does that answer the question? Yes, you will need to cut the bump stop area out and take the BFH and beat up/clearance the wheelwell. But you will need to do this on ANY 28" tire back there. so its not additional work.

Next silly question - but if i lower my car, i wont be able to hook. Ok, no. a car leaving hard has nothing to do with the chassis height off the ground. sure, if you are looking to go 1.19 60' you may need to really pay attention to the ride height. But for 1.3x 60' stuff, you can put that bitch on its nuts. Even for 1.2 60' its definitely possible.

Finally question that normally comes up - wont i need to relocate my LCAs? well, if you narrow by 3" each side and you run a 275, maybe not. If you need that extra clearance between the tire and LCA, you need to buy offset LCAs. not a big deal as you may already have them on your car and if you spent all the money on new rear, wheels, tires, suspension - then a set of cheap LCAs with off set spacer is no big deal. its not like most guys are DDing their cars with big and littles and 28" balloon tires out back.

Now that you have read my rants and I may have offended you guys that spent *** loads of money on your narrowed rear and bought 4.5" BS wheels for that deep dish chicago pizza look, there is an easy fix. just go buy different wheels and live life understanding that your 4th gen is not a 34 ford street rod or a 1985 pro street camaro on the cover of Car Craft.

So here are some examples of our junk and friends that have the same combo. We have either 295 or 275 m/t radials tucked and lowered.

TrueStreet-NMCA2013074.jpg?t=1367632794

TrueStreet-NMCA2013095.jpg?t=1367632840

dsc_3271.jpg?t=1367632846

img_6223.jpg?t=1367632822

IMAG1436.jpg?t=1367631778

So, Cliff Notes:

1. 3" narrowed + 4.5" BS = your **** sticks out.
2. 3" narrowed + 4.5" BS + Camaro with thinner 1/4s is worse.
3. 3" narrowed + 4.5" BS + Camaro + 325 radials makes me want to throw up
4. no reason to narrow the rear when your wheels stick out past the 1/4 panels (yes they do no matter how many photos you take at strange angles avoiding the dreaded front to rear shot
5. The ONLY way to lower your 4th gen with 28" tires is to TUCK the tire. The only way to TUCK your tires is to narrow the rear MORE than the reduction of BS in the wheel.

Here is a similar thread with a buddy of mines car with the same exact setup. He also posted pix of under the car for everyone to see no mini tub and nothing special at all.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/wheels-tires/1573025-narrowed-rearend-wheel-question.html

Here is a post of what NOT to do IMO. See post #22

https://ls1tech.com/forums/gears-axles/1472398-narrowed-rear-end-pics-please.html#post15872431

Here is a thread where a bunch of guys are giving terrible info about 4.5BS being the "SICK" look.

GMRACER13

iTrader: (1)

Gator dropping some knowledge up in this bitch. Preach it, brother!

gator's 99TA

iTrader: (2)

I mean the 3 cars I initially posted.

RobsZ28

iTrader: (3)

Personal preference, is the reason I like 2 at the top over any at the bottom. I'm not a fan of tuck as a matter of fact I think the red T/a with the 275's at the bottom looks horrible too far in.

GMRACER13

iTrader: (1)

I'm with you. This **** looks hawt!

gator's 99TA

iTrader: (2)

Do you like that 4x4 look too? Craigers and a set of slappers is cool with some folks too. Lol.

This post is meant to be informative. If you like your car to have lots of room (tire clearance in the truck world) and easy to get in and out of the seat, like a minivan, ignore my post.

If you want to lower and tuck the tire like a stock suspension dragcar, listen to me.

If you dont want to roll your fenders with a baseball bat, listen to me.

If you want to lower your car on a drag tire and not cut your sidewalls up, listen to me.

If you like that 70s look, ignore me.

swoop

iTrader: (1)

I tucked mine 1/2" , 2.5" off per side 5.5 bs and it was tight as hell with 295's. I finally beat enough **** in after cutting out the bump stops but was alot tighter than I thought it would be.

I'd like to see your friends cars up close to see how they managed to pull that off. There's no way in hell I could get 325's under my car without raising it up.

RobsZ28

iTrader: (3)

First your post wasn't meant to be informative it was meant to push your own personal agenda and opinion. Opinion are like ******** everyone has one and I disagree with yours.

gator's 99TA

iTrader: (2)

My car is the black TA posted. I tuck 295s with no issues at all. I have never ever rolled the fenders. The red TA had 325s and there is a post somewhere here. I will look for it.

Cool story. Truck forum is linked at the top of the page.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/florida-m...cs-inside.html

325 tucked decent. He since lowered the rear and out on 275s.

GMRACER13

iTrader: (1)

Who's sick ride is this? A 4th Gen with the wheels poking out is like a hot chick with a *****.

This one could use a set of Bushwacker fender flares!

gator's 99TA

iTrader: (2)

Pontiac widetrack

swoop

iTrader: (1)

So acording to that thread the red TA is running a 1/2" spacer to pull off the 325's Thats would be the same as my set up.

Do TA's have more clearance than the Camaro's?

gator's 99TA

iTrader: (2)

No. Same exact car. This assumes your cars frame rails have never been compromised (frame damage). TA has slightly wide quarter pannels, but that is not relevant to bringing the wheel and tire in.

I also believe the red TA had the spacer to kick the 13" wide 325 out from hitting his LCA. The 275 is much more narrow so no spacer was needed.

bluchev

LOL I just spit out my pop HAAHAHAHAHAHA

GMRACER13

iTrader: (1)

Just for reference this is how it's supposed to look.

My junk sitting on 15"x10" Weld RTS's with 5.5" backspacing wrapped in 295/55/15 M/T Drag Radials on a rear end narrowed 3" per side.





No Bushwacker fender flares required.

gator's 99TA

iTrader: (2)

Sigh....this guy is begging to cut a tire.

Sickness7

It's all personal preference IMO but I can see why people would come try and defend the looks of their cars the way you worded it. Thanks for the info it will come in handy for many people... but there is no reason to put down people who do things differently then you do.

Flubyux2

honestly, both are wrong.

tucking isnt cool
poking isnt cool

flush is cool. and i dont mean the jdm hellaflush ricer stuff. i mean, just normal, white guy flush where the fender and the wheel are even. dont be afraid of a little elbow grease. people put some much effort into their cars and skimp when it comes to the finer details. heres what i did...




before


after


i rolled the entire fender lip flat, up against the inner skin. then i pulled the fenders about another half inch. i have lowering springs that will be going on it so, i definitly had to address the stock fenders. its already rubbed with the new wheels and the 17x10's that ill be swapping on the back are gonna need even more clearance. oh, and the pics were taken with my iphone set in a sticky mount. so i left the phone stuck to the fender the entire time i did the work so i could guarantee that the angles and distance would be the same and not skew the perception of the work

Sickness7

Any more pics of that look?

gator's 99TA

iTrader: (2)

Tires that stick out past the 1/4 panels = mullet. This is not opinion but fact.

You cant lower a car down with tires that wide that stick out. Again, fact.

WE are 4th gen people. Mullet is not an offensive term.

ON this site, its become gospel that 3" narrow means 4.5BS on wheels. This is not your only option. Esp if you ever want to lower your car.

Rolling the fenders means the wheel was not flush (or you wanted a tucked look). Also, nearly everyone who narrows the rear is going for a drag racing look. Thus the tire sidewall is wider than the wheel, making the tire stick out passed the fender. your wheel may be flush but your tire sticks out 70s style.