C6 rims work on C5 ????

[fastazz40th]

I have an opportunity to buy some chrome spoke C6 rims super cheap for the C5 . If i remember correctly they will work but will need spacers and will stick out some. How much of a spacer ? Car is lowered 1 inch and 1/2. Will that be a problem. Any one have pics of said combo. Thanks in advance. Rob

[Rookie Vette owner]

Can someone clarify this for me. I have the C6 rims and went to place the spacer on the rears and it made my studs too short. I removed the spacer and have done a test fit with the tire and see NO interference from the trailing arms or the wheel well.. Has anyone completed this swap?? Will I need to install longer wheel studs? Will I have clearance problems without the spacers when the suspension goes through it's full range of motion? Thanks!

[Rookie Vette owner]

Could not find definite answers as to whether or not the standard C6 rim would fit on a C5, so last night I mounted them on mine. The results look pretty good, pics to follow! I did discover the following, due to the increased offset of the C6 rim (close to 1 in), the wheel/tire are closer to the inner wheel well, but they do not make contact even when moving through full range of motion. The combo does tuck under the wheel well a little more than the original, which may have been the original reason some people had referred to the 1/2 in spacers. If you are going to use the 1/2 in spacer, you will have to have new wheel studs installed as the original ones will not engage the thread of the nut with the extra stand-off. Going from the standard (17", 18") tires to the 18", 19" tires change the overall diameter of the rear tires from 26.7" to 26.9" and this means that at a registered speed of 60 mph you will actually be going 60.4 mph. The only remaining questions I have are whether or not the changed offset will effect the load on the axle bearings and if you use the spacers & longer studs to cancel out the offset, will this cause any type of abnormal force on the axle assembly.

[Rookie Vette owner]

First try at posting pics!

[Big Shot]

Originally Posted by Rookie Vette owner

First try at posting pics!

Same rims I have on my 97

[Rookie Vette owner]

Originally Posted by Big Shot

Same rims I have on my 97

Nice choice!! Did you mount them directly or use the spacers?

[XLR8]

Rookie! Very nice.

Jane Ann

[Big Shot]

Thanks, actually I bought the car with them on it but, Im pretty sure they're mounted directly no spacers involved.

[Mike Mercury]

C6 rear rims are a different offset. It's not a lot of difference though ... about 1/2" when measuring to the outside edge (rim lip).

Mechanically, they almost always fit fine on a C5 without any rubbing. But cosmetically they can make the rears look too far inward.. when compared to the stock C5 rims.

I am about to install C6 rims on my 2002, and I will be using a 1/4" spacer on the rears - solely for cosmetic purposes.

[Rookie Vette owner]

Originally Posted by Mike Mercury

I am about to install C6 rims on my 2002, and I will be using a 1/4" spacer on the rears - solely for cosmetic purposes.

I've had them on for about two weeks now and I took one off yesterday and did notice a light rub toward the top of the wheel well. So I am looking into the spacers also. I have the 1/2 " spacers and know that I need longer studs, which I am hoping to look for tomorrow. You may be able to get by with the 1/4" extra, but you are going to loose some of your thread engagement since the studs are not threaded to the end. Make sure you check it out because if you loose too many threads, the chance of stud/nut failure will greatly increase. Good luck!

[Rookie Vette owner]

Well, I finally got the spacers inserted. I had to have the dealer install the new longer studs, since they had to remove the hub to press them out. As you can from the two pictures, there is a little difference, but mainly, I now have the confidence that when I start lowering her in the next few weeks, she won't scrub the upper inner wheel wells.

Before:


After:


I know the picture angle is a little different, but they are moved out significantly.

[85_02_Corvette]

It seemed to me when you mount a 19x12 rim you want it to tuck in a little better, I decided not to add flares and the wheel tucked in a bit helps keep the rim from sticking out too much? now I am wondering if I should use spacers, yet I have no rub, the z06 has different offset than stock c6 wheel maybe this is why? anyone else tried to mount this monster rim? also when calculating tires the 325/30/19 is taller by a bit than the matching 275/35/18 from the factory if the front is 65mph on spedo, the rear taller size says 66.83 on a tire calculator, it makes 17 less revolutions per mile, so I ended up with 315/30/19 and 265/35/18 and the tire is less wide by a tit terd so it fits better in the back without flares and the 265 in front is better than stock and actually matches almost exactly with the smaller rear, wonder why GM did this, having such a huge difference in tire circumferance from the fronts to rears? anyone considering Z06 wheels on there c5, I would reccomend the tire change, you can get matching tires in either bridgestone re050a runflats or get the continental contact sport 3 which were cheaper and a nice tire, just figured bridgestone was a little better, but now front and rears same circumferance, and will correct the spedo with a power programmer soon. any input would be appreciated, I am sure there are pro's and con's to this, I WANTED THE LOOK OF THE JOHN HOLMES MEATS ON THE REAR AS WELL AS ADDED DRY TRACTION, LIVE IN VEGAS THE DESERT SEE'S 1-2 INCHES OF RAIN A YEAR, OR 6 DAYS THAT IT RAINS ON..

[pewterpowa]

I am putting '08 stock wheels on my c5, and per a tire/wheel "expert", there are no worries about fitment. backs are 19x10's and tire very close in size. I personally do not mind the small discrepency in speedo. I am more of a zero to 80 guy. The look should be pretty sick, vs. my wagon wheels now on my '99 vert. Then will lower, to go tight looking. New here, look forward to talking shop with y'all.
Shawn