I am planning to put together a "Angry Jax" type car from my 71 skylark, and I am wondering what kind of rubber I can squeeze into these wheel wells. Ideally I wont be modding the body to clear giant rubber, this is more for the look than function (because really a 71 Skylark would be pretty terrible at serious off roading even with serious rubber.) Just wondering what overall outer diameter on the tire and patch width I can get away with. Assuming stockish ride height, and at most some fender rolling, no cutting or tubbing etc. These would be going on a set of old buick rally type wheels. I think the big thing is I want to go as wide as possible in the rear, for that sick fat look. https://i.imgur.com/E7XZUSQ.png https://i.imgur.com/INs09Kl.png Something like that.
How about we go with, I am willing to buy different wheels if I can make a good look happen, Including doing a staggered set. I really want that big wide rear tyre look, (not the super lifted interceptor, just the fat rears like on the fury road car on the right of the second picture.) That said, I believe the ralleys I have are 16 inches, and are 8 ish inches wide. No idea on what the actual backspacing is, but they are relatively centered. 4 inches ish?
The widest stock Buick Rally wheels were 7" wide. They may measure 8" from edge to edge, but that isn't how wheels are measured, it's inside bead surface to inside bead surface. It's likely that is what you have, and if so, B.S is about 4 3/8". Running really wide tires on rims that are too narrow is not advised as it can be dangerous. Some do it, but IMO, it isn't a good idea. Without modifying anything, the widest tires would be a P325/50R-15, but you would need a true 10" wide rim. Back spacing would need to be 5 1/2- 5 5/8". You can have them made in the aftermarket, but they are not cheap. The widest I would go on a stock rim would be a 255 tire. When you do this, realize that the car body may net be exactly centered on the frame, and you may have more room on one side than the other. It's common and will vary car to car. http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?th...ith-p295s-fitment-issues.322898/#post-2696261
Awesome. Thanks! I'm fine with doing a little massaging to get things right. So for the rear I'd be looking at something like this right? https://m.summitracing.com/parts/vsw-521h5161p0
Yes, but bear in mind that you may still have issues depending on your car. A 10" rim is really near the limit of what will fit, and like I said, some car bodies are shifted on the frame a bit. No way for us to predict that. 5.5" is the recommended BS for a 10" wide rim on a 70-72 Skylark/GS. Good luck.
I had a 31 inch tall by 11 inch wide tire on a Skylark with stock springs. I can try to remember the backspacing... was a 15x10 rim with either 4.5 inch or 5.5 inch backspace I cannot remember... Just tub, enlarge the wheel wells (cut and re work the quarters and narrow the rear end it out and then have some 33x20 tires like I have on my other Skylark in the last pic
