I am looking at some new wheels. I am going 15 x 8 all the way around. On the fronts I am going 245/60 and on the rears 295/50. I know that 4.5 backspacing is ideal. Unfortunately the wheels I am looking at only come in 4.25 backspacing. I am sure on the fronts I will be fine. How about on the rear. How big of a difference will a quarter inch make due to the size tire I want to run. Are there any clearances that tight to matter? For my 72 Skylark. Also, any thoughts on a 15 x 8.5 rim with 4.25 backspacing. I don't know enough about how much that effects things.
Hi, I used to run 15x8's and now have 15x10's with 5.625" backspacing and a 325/50R15 tire. Your tire has a 10" section width and 12.2" overall width and is 27.6" tall. My tire is 11" section width and 13" overall width and is 28" tall. All that being said and knowing my clearances on my car, which is only about 3/8" on the inside by the frame and same at the upper part of the wheel well (after trimming it back @1/2"), I think that you are going to be VERY close to the frame on the inside. You should have room on the outside. The nice thing is that you can put up to a 1/2" shim in there to push the tire out if you need to. Good luck.
