gonna go to 17's on my 69 ss chevelle.245-45 17x8[4.5bs]front 285-40 rear[17x9.5[5.5bs] want a good sticky tire for hookup. don't really want to use a drag radial 275-40 as the height of both nitto [25.71] and bfg [25.7] i think is a little short. the bfg 315-35 drag might just be a little to wide. don't want m/t,i don't like the look. wear is not really an issue as i put very few miles on the car and never in rain.was thinking of using nitto, or the bfg kdw's any suggestions...or has anybody mixed brands that end up looking good..want the rear to be a little taller then the front. any input would help. thanks

Try some Kumho Victoracers if you want sticky. They are gumballs.

Rather than using BF Goodrich KDW's go for the dry weather version which is the KD. KDW is a dry and wet tire compromise, the KD is optimized for dry weather only. I have them on my Chevelle and they handle great! Unless you are planning to use the car in the rain or snow these are the tire to have.


BF Goodrich via tirerack (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=g-Force+T%2FA+KD)

yo skate 22,

i am trying a similar setup, using 17", but i want the 315s in the rear and 275s or even 295s in the front. my problem is my car is not with me to measure actual backspacing.

i would like to see pictures of your finished wheel/tire combo if available.

thanks.

Backspacing for 17's and 18's will have the same issues and I pretty much have a stock 69 SS figured out.

My 69SS has 2 inch dropped spindles up front and Hotchkis two inch drop springs in the rear. I used Hotchkis sway bars front and rear, Hotchkis adjustable uppers and lowers in the rear and polyurethane bushings. I have ZERO wheel hop and the car handles very well in the corners, feeling comparable to my 97 Z-28.

On the rear I have 18 x 10 inch wheels with 6 inches of backspacing. If your car body is centered on the frame you can go to 6.25 inch backspacing and 305 wide tires. If you go to 17 or 18 inch wheels the 6 inch+ backspacing just puts the wheels outside of the contact point for the shocks in their stock location. I have 295/45/18 tires that are 28.4 inches tall. The tires fit fully inside the wheel wells. I have Goodyear Eagle's on the rear and ran an 11.90 at 118.46 MPH.

Up front I have 18 x 8 wheels with 5 1/8 backspacing front with 255/45/18 tires (27.1 inches tall). I used a Hotchkis sway bar up front as it has a tighter radius on the turns at the bushings that is needed for the 5 1/8 backspacing. Use 5 inch or 4 ¾ if you use a stock sway bar and you should still clear the fender on a sharp turn. It is a balancing act up front with dropped spindles. I have Pierelli P-Zero's up front.

I could not find the size tires I wanted in the same brand but with them all being blackwalls there is no real appearance issue.