First off, it's a 72 GS with 14x6 rallys currently on it. I think they look dinky so I looked for a set of 15 rallys. I found a pretty good deal nearby for a set of 15x7s from a 70 GS, so I picked em up. Now, my plan is to eventually put 17s on the car, but usually the ones I find that I like are far too much for my budget right now. That's why I bought the 15s. But now it seems like everyone is telling me to ditch the 14s And 15s, and just find a cheap set of 17s. The main reason behind that train of thought is handling and much better tire selection I guess. I'm about to spend damn near $3500 on a suspension overhaul from SC&C. And general consensus seems to be that putting 15s back on after upgrading the suspension is almost like shooting myself in the foot, in that I'm spending all this to make the car handle better but the 15s will deny me a fair amount of handling vs 17s. Much less tire selection and brake selection. (I just wasn't thinking about this stuff earlier because I was ignorant of these relationships. and I though I could keep the 15s around to swap out every once in a while with the 17s I eventually buy. In hindsight, that seems kind of dumb) I don't want to cheat myself out of optimal handling after spending so much to fix the awful handling characteristics these old cars were born with. And I don't necessarily Want to spend some $700 on mediocre rubber for the 15s if I'm going to ditch them sooner than later, if I find cheap 17s that I like. (It was suggested that I look at Cragar D windows and soft 8s. Not sure how I feel about those, but they're the cheapest I've been able to find..) Alright, with that out of the way, here are some questions for y'all: Anyone know where I might be able to find a cheap set of 17s? Any convincing arguments for a size Other than 17? How wide can I go without running into problems like tire rub or anything? All 4 wheels and tires will be the same size , as the car is a daily driver and I want to be able to rotate them. Is 17x9.5 to big for the front? 9 or 8 better? I want to be able to fill the wheel well as much as possible without sacrificing performance. What backspacing do I need? I heard 4.5 will work but 5 is preferable, but I think I read somewhere here that 4.75 is correct.. Suggestions on wheel sizes and tire sizes would be helpful as I know nothing of what tire sizes will or won't work. Keeping in mind that all four corners must match, any ideas on what might be an ideal wheel/tire combination for me? Also, don't get me wrong, I like the look of 15 rallys and lots of rubber. But this car is not some kind of throw back tribute to younger days. It doesn't Need to look the way it did coming off the lot in 72 if that means using inferior components to today's standards. This is not that old guys car down the road. You know the guy, takes it out of the garage to wash and wax and put it back, maybe drive it once a year. This car is a driver. Everyday. Admittedly, I've been driving it just fine for months on 14s, but tire selection is zilch. If I can achieve better performance with modern wheels and tires, it's foolish not to. Same reason I'm upgrading the suspension. Anyway, sorry for the long post, any input is appreciated!
We put 17x8 on our 65. Pics on the LKQ calendar thread here. (You can vote for me too!) We do like the 17's, car had 14" before that.
your're lucky that you can go a 9.5 if you do. on my car(66 skylark) it's not really an option unless i want to spend a bit. suspension upgrades are important as well as breaking. on wheels it's all up to you. i like the cragar wheels for the price but then i thought about it. If i invest widely on my suspension might as well save a bit for some wheels. some people are purist and never want to leave the 14-15 rally size. at first i didn't like them but now i appreciate them for what they are, original. I ended up with 17's though, i've mocked them up and love it. i couldn't find many wheels that offered 5 BS but centerline was able to deliver on that. it's a bump we all go through, i was stuck on this subject for about a year without making a step forward. whatever you choose though and do good luck.
I was torn about putting 17" wheels on my car. Using rear discs with factory 15" wheels was a challenge. In the end, I kept the 15" wheels because on the roads around here, I couldn't find a tall enough 17" tire to suit me. It rides better with 15" tires and you don't feel every little pebble in the road. If you go with 17" wheels, make sure you have the springs, tires, shocks and geometry for it. I'm not too hung up on original either. I put tubular A-arms on it, quick ratio steering, Edelbrock heads and a Turbo 200-4R. It still handles very nicely. FWIW, the Miata autocrossers a few years back were all ditching their 17" wheels to go to 15" wheels because they were more forgiving and actually gripped better according to them.
I'll probably leave the 14s on it for a bit after I install the new suspension components. And I might be able to try out a buddys set of 17s, from his malibu, to see how the ride differs. I had no idea anyone was claiming a performance Advantage to 15" over 17". I'll have to consider that..
I just had an idea that I hadn't thought of before. This takes a step back from going up in size like I want, but it could be cool. I have 2 sets of wheels, 14" & 15". I wonder what it would be like to get rubber on the 15s, put 2 on the rear and 2 of the 14s on the front....
