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• Tire size front
• Tire size rear
• Tire brand
• Wheel size
• If aftermarket wheels, what are specs. such as offset?
• Year of Camaro
• Make of Camaro (Z28s often had different ride heights)
• Factory springs? How sagged are they?

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For information on metric tires, see BF Goodrich's excellent web site at www.bfgoodrichtires.com.

Download BF Goodrich's 60k PDF file on the Radial TA. Gives suggested wheel widths, tread widths, section widths, and OD. Compare with the old designations above to find the equivalent metric tire size.

Download Adobe Acrobat Reader

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These cars appear to sit higher than any other second generation. This probably results in more tire clearance. Also, due to changes in the rear inner fender part way through the second generation (see note), it appears these cars may accept a slightly wider tire. Original tire size for the Z28 was F60-15 (235/60R15 or 245/60R15 depending upon brand).

Tires Claimed to Fit:
	Tire Size	Wheel Size	Tire Type		Springs
front	245/60R15	15x7 factory	BF Goodrich Radial TA	original
	comment(s): no rubbing
rear	255/60R15	15x7 factory	BF Goodrich Radial TA	original
	comment(s): no rubbing

	Tire Size	Wheel Size	Tire Type		Springs
front   245/45R16   16x10 aftermarket	Goodyear Gatorbacks 	factory
	comment(s): no clearance problems 	
rear 	255/50R16   16x10 aftermarket	Goodyear Gatorbacks 	factory heavy
								duty
	comment(s): no clearance problems 
		    room for more tire

	Tire Size	Wheel Size	Tire Type		Springs
front   265/50R15     	15x7-7.5 	BF Goodrich Radial TA	original
			Centerline 
			Champ 500s 
	comments(s): rub when cranked all the way
rear	295/50R15	15x9		BF Goodrich Radial TA	original 
			Centerline 				w/air shocks
			Champ 500s 
	comments(s): without air shocks tires hit on bumps

	Tire Size	Wheel Size	Tire Type		Springs
front   215/60R15     	15x8	 	BF Goodrich		?
			Centerline  
rear	265/50R15	15x8		BF Goodrich 		? 
			Centerline 				

Tires Claimed to Fit: (1973 LT)
	Tire Size	Wheel Size	Tire Type		Springs
front	235/60R15	15x7 American 	BFGoodrich Radial T/A	original
			200S 
	comment(s): no rubbing
rear  	295/50R15	15x8.5 American BFGoodrich Radial T/A	new
			200S 
	comment(s): air shocks, no rubbing

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Tires Claimed to Fit:
	Tire Size	Wheel Size	Tire Type		Springs
front   265/50R15	15x9 		?			custom
			0" offset				(lower than
								 factory)
	comment(s):  Small amount of the inner fender near fender lip 
		     removed, fender lip rolled, very minor tire contact at 
		     rear of front inner fender at full lock 
rear	265/50R15	15x9		?			custom 
			0" offset 				(lower than
								 factory)
	comment(s): Fender lip rolled, seat belt retracter bulge on inner 
		    wheel well flattened, harder suspension bushings to 
		    reduce movement of axle

Tires Claimed to Fit:
	Tire Size	Wheel Size	Tire Type		Springs
front 	215/60R14	14x6 factory	Kelly RoadHugger GT	factory
rear 	245/60R14	14x6 factory	Kelly RoadHugger GT	factory

(Note: This message was sent to me by a gentleman named Pierre who has tried many different combinations. Rather than trying to hack it into my format, I thought it best to use directly.)

A little further data for this section on wheel/tire combinations that work: I have a '77 Z28 with which I compete in SCCA autocross, or "Solo II" slalom racing. It is also a daily driver. All the below tire combinations work with no clearance problems.

The relevant suspension set up specs:
Front: aftermarket 530 lbs/in coil springs giving approx 1" lower than stock ride height, polyurethane bushings on upper and lower A-arms, 1 3/8" diameter anti-sway bar with polyurethane frame bushings and end link bushings.

Rear: 4-leaf springs with additional leaf added to bring rate to what I needed for slalom racing (approx 195 lbs./in) rate with polyurethane bushings at front spring eyes and rear shackle mount points. This gives close to the stock ride height with a stock height fabricated heavy duty shackle. 7/8" anti sway bar with polyurethane bushings at frame mount points and at drop links.

Note: although I upgraded all suspension components and new wheels at the same time, the stiffer suspension limits the suspension travel of stock spring rates and likely prevents some of the clearance problems that might otherwise occur with wider section width (summer and racing) tires I use on this car.

Wheel/tire combinations I use:

• winter/inclement weather: Stock steel Z28 15x7 3 3/4 backspace five spoke wheels with Goodyear GT+4 225/70 15 M+S all season tires. This is very close to the original GR70x15 tire size so there is no clearance problem.
• summer: American Racing Torque Thrust D aluminum wheels (size 15x8.5 with 3 3/4" backspace) with 255/60 HR 15 Bridgestone Potenza HP-41 tires. This yields approx. a 27" diameter tire which is close to the original diameter of the OEM GR70x15. No net effect on odometer speedometer readings. This comes to about 3/4 to 1/2" of touching the rear inner fender well, and comes close to touching the thicker than stock front anti-sway bar but no real clearance problem at front. Probably no problem with clearance with the smaller stock diameter anti-sway bar. No clearance problem whatsoever at the rear.
• autocross racing: 15x10 custom wheels with a 5" backspace and BF Goodrich TA R1 265/50 15 road racing tires. This gives a 10.1" wide contact patch with no real clearance problem! These come close (about 1/2 to 1/4") to touching the front fenders at the lower front of the wheel well at full left or right lock. No clearance problem at rear. Note: I did have to get the rear exhaust pipes custom made to give more inner clearance for these wider tires. This was not a big job and involved only re-fabricating the pipes after the down bend past the rear axle. It cost me about $80.00 to get it done. The same size street tires exist (Dunlop and BF Goodrich) and this would be a decent street set up for those desiring a wider tire for maximum cornering potential. Note that the approx. 25.6" overall diameter of this tire is lower than the stock 27" tires - this would affect the speedometer and odometer readings.
• other wheel/tire combos that work - I have trial tested and driven these on my car. (I don't own them yet due to the cost of these size tires and wheels)! : 17x8 or 8.5 wheel with 4 to 4.5 " backspace and 255/50 17 tires. This is the stock set up which came OEM on the late great Impala SS. The only car tires in this size are the BF Goodrich TA ZR4.
• NOTE: the below combinations are not ones I have personally verified
  Other possible combos which yield a close to stock 27" diameter tire - as these are the same diameter and section width as the above set ups which do work, I would anticipate little clearance problems. The plus is these would also allow high performance aftermarket brake systems (i.e. Wilwood, Baer, etc...) with bigger diameter rotors. All these tire sizes exist:
  • 18x8 or 8.5 wheels with 255/45 18 tires
  • 19x8.5 wheels with 255/40 19 tires
  • 20x9 wheels with 255/35 20 tires

Tires Claimed to Fit: (1977 RS)
	Tire Size	Wheel Size	Tire Type	Springs
front 	245/60R15	15x7 Cragar SS	Cordovan 	factory
					Grand Prix
	comment(s): some rubbing occurs
rear 	275/60R15	15x7 Cragar SS	Cordovan	factory w/ helper springs
					Grand Prix
	comment(s): requires 1/4" wheel spacers to avoid rubbing inside of 
		    quarters under hard cornering

Tires Claimed to Fit: (1978 Type LT)
	Tire Size	Wheel Size	Tire Type	Springs
front	205/70R14	14x7 factory	BF Goodrich T/A	factory
	comment(s): no rubbing
rear	245/60R14	14x7 factory	BF Goodrich T/A	factory
	comment(s): rubs on aftermarket 2-1/4" exhaust under hard 
		    cornering

Tires Claimed to Fit: (1978 RS)
	Tire Size	Wheel Size	Tire Type	Springs
front	265/50R15	15x8 Corvette 	BF Goodrich	tired stock
			offset rally
	comment(s): no rubbing
rear	265/50R15	15x8 Corvette	BF Goodrich	heavy duty Z28
			offset rally
	comment(s): no modifications to fenders, no shackles, 
		    large bumps will cause rubbing on rear fenderwell

Tires Claimed to Fit:
	Tire Size	Wheel Size	Tire Type		Springs
front	245/60R15	15x7 factory	?			custom
rear	255/60R15	15x7 factory	?			custom

Tires Claimed to Fit:
	Tire Size	Wheel Size	Tire Type	Springs
front	235/60R15	15x7 factory	?		original
	comment(s): never tried it but it looks like a nice fit
rear	255/60R15	15x7 factory	Uniroyal	original
	comment(s): will rub inner fender very slightly under hard 
	cornering.  Original springs may be slightly sagged after 
        100,000+ miles.
 
        Tire Size       Wheel Size      Tire Type       Springs
front   245/50R15 	?		BF Goodrich	original
					Euro T/A
	comment(s): slight rubbing when wheels turned to lock
rear	265/50R15 	?		BF Goodrich	original
					Euro T/A
	comment(s): no rubbing

Tires Claimed to Fit: (1980 Berlinetta)
       Tire Size       Wheel Size      Tire Type       Springs
front   185/60R15     15x4 Centerline	BF Goodrich	original
rear 	275/60R15     15x10 Centerline	BF Goodrich	air shocks
			
Tires Claimed to Fit: (1980 RS)
        Tire Size       Wheel Size      Tire Type       Springs
front   245/50R16 	16x8		Goodyear 	original
			"rear" wheels	Gatorback
			from '89 GTA TA
	comment(s): excess clearance
rear	245/50R16 	16x8		Goodyear	original
			"rear" wheels	Gatorback
			from '89 GTA TA
	comment(s): excess clearance
"Rear" wheels have 16mm offset, "front" wheels have zero offset

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