Wheel Issue - Torq Thrust offset

**Als project** · 06-30-2009, 11:36 AM

I want to put 17" wheels on my 98 camaro. OEM is 16X8 with 235/55/16 tires. I ordered 17X9 Torq Thrust Ms from Tire Rack - I like the "old school" look - in combination with 275/40/17 tires. I got a call from a Tire Rack salesman today saying that this combination will "rub" on my front fenders because the offset is too small at +45mm; that anything less than +50mm (which I think is stock) on a 9" wide wheel will cause me problems, that I may need to get the fenders "rolled". I asked him if going with a 245/45/17 tire would solve the problem, but he didn't have a good answer. I got the impression that he doesn't want to sell me the Torq Thrust Ms - very odd.

My questions to everyone:

1. Does Tire Rack know what they're talking about?
2. Does anyone have a 9" wide wheel on a standard camaro with an offset of 45mm or less with 275 or 245 tires?
3. How different does the 245 wide tire appear from the 275 wide tire - I don't want the tires to look too skinny.

**Firebirdjones** · 06-30-2009, 11:47 AM

Those tires you listed (245/45 verses 275/40) are the same height with only 2 one hundredths of an inch difference. 25.68 verses 25.66
But they will definately be skinnier by a large margin.

In my opinion the 275 is too skinny of a tire for the 9 inch rims,,,it's barely parrallel with the edge of the rim. I went with 285's on my wifes car for a little more rim protection. I can't imagine a 245 on there,,,,I mount and balance my own tires,,,,,that would be a bitch to get the bead to pull out and seal on the rim, and if you managed that I think it would look a little strange. But that's coming from a guy that likes alot of sidewall.

Honestly I don't know what the factory offset is on the stock 17x9 wheels. What ever it is,,,I'd stick with it personally. It looks as though Tirerack feels the same way. It's good business practice for them to stick with OEM measurements so they don't have unhappy customers wanting to send wheels back.

**Als project** · 06-30-2009, 11:58 AM

Thanks for the input. I prefer the wider tire. 17X9 AR Torq Thrust Ms do not come with a larger offset than +45m. Hence, my delimma.

**Firebirdjones** · 06-30-2009, 12:04 PM

Originally Posted by Als project

Thanks for the input. I prefer the wider tire. 17X9 AR Torq Thrust Ms do not come with a larger offset than +45m. Hence, my delimma.

Hmmm, I've seen alot of 4th gens with the torque thrust II's on them. Not sure if they come with the required offsets or those guys are just finding a way around it. Let me check something.

**Firebirdjones** · 06-30-2009, 03:01 PM

Well I was digging around. All I can find for the 17x9.5 wheels for a 4th gen are all 56mm offset. The 16x8 wheels are 55mm offset.

The only 50mm offsets I see are when you jump up to the 17x11's.

**Mr. Luos** · 06-30-2009, 03:13 PM

275/40/17's fit PERFECT on my 17x9.5" TTII's. Wheel lip tucks nicely in the tire, no worries about the bead.

My 315/35/17 Nitto DR's are WAY too thin for my 17x11 wheels though.

A 245/45/17 is also way too thin for the 9" or 9.5" wheel. I had some old 245's to burn off on my stock WS.6 17x9" wheels....and they left a pretty decent lip exposed from the tire. Bead wasn't a concern, but it didn't look right.

**dklowrider** · 06-30-2009, 03:48 PM

17x9 m's offset is 45mm, 17x9.5 II's offset is 46mm. backspacing is 6.89 and 7 1/8 respectively.[dont know why the decimal and fractional mix] i too had tire rack advising the 245/45 for the front to insure against tire to fender contact. i dont know if the fitment is that different with m's-II"s seeing that a lot of 275/40's are run on the II's. personally i didnt want 275's on the front so i'm happy with the 245's. tire to rim fit was not an issue, and dont forget the difference in tire design, some have have more "rim over-hang" than others in the same size. if youre doing 9" all the way around that presents a different problem in that i wouldnt put 245's on the rear, but then you would have different size tires on the same size rims. do others have 275's on the 9" m's on the front?

**Als project** · 06-30-2009, 04:38 PM

[QUOTE=Mr. Luos;1978421]275/40/17's fit PERFECT on my 17x9.5" TTII's. Wheel lip tucks nicely in the tire, no worries about the bead.

Are you 17X9.5" TTII's +46mm offset or custom? Also, do you have any issues with tire to fender contact?

**coolz28** · 06-30-2009, 05:31 PM

I thought I had my new wheel and tire combination figured out until I got here. I want to use Z06 17x9.5 wheels with 245/45 on the front and 275/40 on the rear, that combination keeps the overall height practically the same as stock. When I called Tire Rack and asked them about running 315/35 on the rear they said they didn't know if they would fit my 02. But I have read other posts that say 315 on the rear are fine. The main reason for the 245/45 is that I want a difference between the front and backs and I don't want to steer a big tire on the front.

**Mr. Luos** · 06-30-2009, 08:53 PM

Originally Posted by Als project

Are you 17X9.5" TTII's +46mm offset or custom? Also, do you have any issues with tire to fender contact?

Pretty sure they are the +46mm....I would have to go back and check.

No problems on the front of the car.
None on the rear either, but of course I am fitting in thin 315's back there on 11" wide wheels.

**luvmyz28** · 07-01-2009, 02:58 PM

well I just got my front wheels here today they are the ttm's 17x9 with +45mm offset. I talked with tire rack and a local shop. they both said a 245 45 17 would be fine. they said a 275 might rub. might depend on what tire you choose. the impression I got from talking with them plus lookin through posts on here is that they should be fine.
hope thats the case

**dklowrider** · 07-01-2009, 03:10 PM

Originally Posted by coolz28

I thought I had my new wheel and tire combination figured out until I got here. I want to use Z06 17x9.5 wheels with 245/45 on the front and 275/40 on the rear, that combination keeps the overall height practically the same as stock. When I called Tire Rack and asked them about running 315/35 on the rear they said they didn't know if they would fit my 02. But I have read other posts that say 315 on the rear are fine. The main reason for the 245/45 is that I want a difference between the front and backs and I don't want to steer a big tire on the front.

im with you on not pushing the big meats around on the front, but my 245/45 is on a 9" wheel and look just about perfect to me. on a 9.5" i think you would be at the limit. keep in mind the same size tire has a pretty big range in actual measurements from one mfr. to another, as do wheels with the lip design etc. which affects the look. on the rear i have 275/40 on 10.5" and that is the absolute limit, probably going to go with 315/35 in the future, but youre choices are limited in that size so ill have to change all 4 if i want to match. seems you usually have to beat the inner fenderwell in and sometimes also roll the fender lip to fit the 315's. that would depend on the wheel specs [offset, backspacing] and if the car is lowered.

**Mr. Luos** · 07-01-2009, 08:14 PM

Originally Posted by luvmyz28

well I just got my front wheels here today they are the ttm's 17x9 with +45mm offset. I talked with tire rack and a local shop. they both said a 245 45 17 would be fine. they said a 275 might rub. might depend on what tire you choose. the impression I got from talking with them plus lookin through posts on here is that they should be fine.
hope thats the case

275/45/17 comes STOCK on the WS.6/SS. They will be fine.

245's are simply TOO thin for the 9.5" wheel. They will leave quite a lip (off the wheel) exposed. Hell, they were too thin for my 17x9 factory WS.6 wheels.

**Als project** · 07-01-2009, 09:16 PM

There is a store on ebay, Custom Wheels Market, that is selling a 17X9 chrome torq thrust replica, +45mm offset, etc. with 275/40/17 tires mounted. ($1,250 shipped - seems like a good deal) I emailed him to ask about rubbing. He responded, "no problem whatsoever .. these 17x9 rims with 275/40/17 tires will fit fine and will not rub on a stock 98 Camaro (standard or SS models). We guarantee fitment. Thanks, Joe". Interesting. I'm tempted to buy from them because they are so positive. However, I'll probably stick with the American Racing brand, and I want a little better tire than what they offer.

I've about decided to proceed with TTM's and 275/40/17 all around, and keep my fingers crossed.

I'll keep ya'll informed as to what transpires.

**suede** · 07-01-2009, 09:18 PM

OK to help you out bud, I ordered the same TTM's from the tire rack, the got here just fine, i am running two firestone fusion and two kumho ASX's, both are 275-40-r17, and i have not one issue with rubbing, but yes they also called me and were trying to tell me that they would not fit at all, they would rub and all kinds of crap, he thought i was stupid when i said its not all that hard to run a 17x11 wheel, he told me i would haveto tub the wells and the whole works....

So basically, the TTM with that offset works fine....

**Firebirdjones** · 07-02-2009, 06:06 AM

Originally Posted by Mr. Luos

275/45/17 comes STOCK on the WS.6/SS. They will be fine.

245's are simply TOO thin for the 9.5" wheel. They will leave quite a lip (off the wheel) exposed. Hell, they were too thin for my 17x9 factory WS.6 wheels.

well actually it's 275/40-17 that was stock on the ws6 and ss but Luos is right. The cars were factory equipped this way and cause no issues.
Tires this size are barely parallel with the side of the rim,,,I just can't fathem why someone would want to go smaller with a 245 and give the appearance the tire bead is being sucked out to the wheel

Shucks I actually went with 285/40-17's all the way around on the factory wheels, and love it. Provides rim protection just in case (alot of curbs out here with tight corners) and I like the look of a little sidewall protruding from the rim anyway.

**Mr. Luos** · 07-02-2009, 06:26 AM

Originally Posted by Firebirdjones

well actually it's 275/40-17 that was stock on the ws6 and ss but Luos is right. The cars were factory equipped this way and cause no issues.

Thanks for correcting that.
Must have been typing too fast, or just exhausted.

**9T8W66** · 07-02-2009, 07:59 AM

Originally Posted by Als project

I want to put 17" wheels on my 98 camaro. OEM is 16X8 with 235/55/16 tires. I ordered 17X9 Torq Thrust Ms from Tire Rack - I like the "old school" look - in combination with 275/40/17 tires. I got a call from a Tire Rack salesman today saying that this combination will "rub" on my front fenders because the offset is too small at +45mm; that anything less than +50mm (which I think is stock) on a 9" wide wheel will cause me problems, that I may need to get the fenders "rolled". I asked him if going with a 245/45/17 tire would solve the problem, but he didn't have a good answer. I got the impression that he doesn't want to sell me the Torq Thrust Ms - very odd.

My questions to everyone:

1. Does Tire Rack know what they're talking about?
2. Does anyone have a 9" wide wheel on a standard camaro with an offset of 45mm or less with 275 or 245 tires?
3. How different does the 245 wide tire appear from the 275 wide tire - I don't want the tires to look too skinny.

The Tire Rack guy is wrong
The 17x9 w/45mm offset is about perfect.
17x9 WS6/SS wheels are 50mm offset and -5mm should not cause issues.

I would not hesitate to put those on my car with a 275 tire.