i have a 1972 skylark. what are the largest 15" wheels and tire combo and what back spacing can i use. What about 16" rims? they seem to have more tire choices with 16" rims. i have a 455 which puts out around 500 hp, an auto trans and 3.42 gears. i want to hook up well on the street. what are your thoughts on a combo? john
Hello. Yes, the largest wheel/tire you will fit on the back is a 15x10 wheel. You will need 5.5" to 5.75" of backspacing to center it in the wheel well. It seems that there is some "variance" in the rear wheel wells of our finely produced cars. I personally have the 325/50R15 Drag Radials on my car. They do fit, but you will probably need to trim the top of your wheel well about 3/8" of so to insure no rubbing problems. My backspacing is 5-5/8" on a 15x10 rim. You can get larger diameter rims, but the overall dimensions of the tires cannot change. A tire that has a section width of almost 13" like mine can only have a maximum diameter of about 28". This is because of the rounded shape of the upper inside of the wheel well. A narrower section width tire will allow for a taller tire, up to about 30". I've seen where most of these 275/50R17 and similar-sized tires are about 26" to 27" in diameter and will fit with no problems. Just make sure the rim is centered in the wheel well. An 8" wide rim needs 4.5" backspacing. A 10" wide rim needs 5.5" backspacing.
thanks! i would like to see what tire options are available of the different manufacurers for the 15" rims. there are a larger number of 16" diam tires available (i am looking for sticky non drag slick tires. ia m not sure about the drag radials. i would like to explore other options than just the drag radials.). i think that the 275-285 series tires will be the way to go. i do not want to cut the wheel wells at all. john
I'm running a 255/55R17 on the back with a 5.5" backspacing and a 245/55R17 on the front with 5" backspacing. I'm running BFGoodrich Scoorcers, but they offers a comp T/A for these sizes now. Go to www.tirerack.com and they show all the tire sizes and options avalible. :TU:
I have also found that a 15 x 9 with 4.5" rear spacing fits great with a 275/60R-15 in the rear. For the front a 15 x 8 with 4.5" rear spacing with a 235/60R-15 works fine. No modifications what so ever with this set-up. These guys are right, there is room for more back spacing in the rear for sure. If you run 3" tail pipes this could be limited depending on exact tailpipe routing.
caution here. sometime ago Phil (70 gsconvt) recomends me 15x8 with 4.5 bs and 275/60-15 tires. the Cragar SS 15x8 are available with a 4.25 bs. is a small diference of the recomended 4.5 bs and i love the look of the Cragars. in my '72 'Lark the 275/60 tires rub and i need to trim the wheel wells and add some airbags to the rear springs... i dont think the 15x9 with 4.5 bs can fit in my car but is probably the "variance" Phils comment. i'm thinking in going to a bigger rear tires close to the Phils setup. unfortunately the 15x10 Cragars have the same 4 1/4 bs as the 15x8. the Weld Racing wheels came with the correct 5.50 bs. for the tires aside of the drag radials and based in the 325/50-15 specs (28 diameter x10.5 tread x13 section) i found some options: - M/T Indy Profile S/S N50-15 tubeless bias ply tubeless 28x11.8x14.1 $157 at Summit - M&H Muscle Car D.O.T. Drag Tire N50-15 tubeless 28.2x11x12 $178 at Jegs - Pro-Trac Racig Profile N50-15 polyester/fiberglass belted tubeless 27.87x11.30x12.65 $163 at Coker - M/T Sportsman 29x12.5 bias ply tubeless 29x10.6x13 $144 at Summit - Hoosier Pro Street 29x12.5 Radial 28.6x10x13 $220 at Summit the Hoosiers are the only radials but are priced high and 0.6 taller. the Indy Profiles and Muscle Cars have a soft compound close to the drag radials and i dont know if they are good for the street the Sportsmans and Racing Profiles are street tires but are bias ply. are much badder than the radials? all cars i have owned have radial tires. the Sportsmans are the best priced and looks good with some Weld Pro Stars but are 1 inch taller than the recomended 28 diameter... what you think?
I personally don't think you will like the bias ply if you drive the car much. There is just such a difference between them and radial tires. And don't forget the new Mickey Thompson tires, 325/50R15. I have to admit while the Drag Radials are BIG and look cool, you will only get around 5K-7K miles out of them. They are a soft compound rubber and do not last long at all. I'm sure the mew M/T's are similar. I was considering going with the M&H Muscle Car Drag tire next. The N50 is 28.2" diameter, 11" tread and 12" section width, so it's actually less wide than my 325 Drag Radials overall, but has a bigger tread width. My current tires are all but bald and I'll need something this spring. I know, I know, it's not a radial. But I don't drive the car that much.
I'm in need for a higher dragslick tire. I got the chance to fit 29.5/10.5x15 Phoenix Dragslicks on my 10J 5.5BS rims and this tire, even with removing the wheelwell moulding etc was way to big and got stuck in the outer wheelwell. The guy I got these tire from to test fit, has also some Phoenix 28.5/10.5x15 tires that I can test fit. I looked at both tires specs and the total section width of both tires are the same, So i'm wondering if they will fit. Here are the specs of both tires: 29.50/10.50x15 28.50/10.50x15 Tire diameter 30.20 inch 28.60 inch Section width 13.00 inch 13.00 inch Tread with 10.80 10.60 My former tire were Toyo Dragslicks: Tire diameter 27.70 Section Width 12.30 Tread width 10.00 I need a higher tire cause I'm in the revlimiter (7000rpm) before the finishline. Does anyone have suggestions what tire will be higher as my old set and will fit for sure in the rear? I wanted to test my new TH400 at with the 29.50 tires out last friday on a street legal race (street track no prep etc) but they didn't fit. So I went on my streettires (Hercules HP4000 275/60/15) to test the new trans. Trans worked great! Adn made a new PB on streettires 12.15@116MPH I felt 11s ET coming on cause the track was getting better (lost most ET the first 100-150 meters cause the track was slippery and we had some rain drops coming out the air now and then so that didn't help either). Greetz Robert
Hi all, sorry to bring back a dead thread but I have a related question. My Skylark has been sitting for 10 years so naturally the tires are completely dry rotted out. I am also not a fan of the wheels that are currently on it so I was planning on getting new wheels and tires after going through brakes and suspension ect . . . but I just saw these on Craigslist and wondering if they would fit my car (1970 Skylark Custom). According to the ad and the post above they will fit, but those ET streets look pretty meaty . . . http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/wto/5257726407.html What do y'all think? Should I just save up and grad some cheap wheels from Summit? I was pricing out a set of 4 new wheels and BFG Radial T/As for about $800 total. Thanks!
The front will fit no problem. 15 X 8" rim with 4 1/2" B.S. is fine. The rears however have the same B.S. of 4 1/2", but they are 9" wide. To center them in the wheel well would require 5" of B.S. They may rub on the outside.
Hmm would this be something that I can cure by rolling the fenders? I know that there can be differences in clearance from car to car, but is an extra 1/2" a deal breaker? Also the guy said that the fronts are 3 years old, rears are two years old. No cracks and not kept in the sun. Rears have a few passes on them. He said he'd take $500. Worth it? Thanks for the tips!
It's your car, but I would never touch the fenders on any car. Rolling the fenders? I bet you would damage them.
You can put some air bags in the springs and with a few lbs of air could keep them off the 1/4. Fair price also
Yeah the price seems nice, that's what got me. I guess no telling what's what unless I try the wheels on my car. I'll see if the seller will let me do a test fit!
