I was going to buy a set of 275/60-15 tires for my 70 GS, but got a great offer from a buddy on 4, almost new 295/50-15 tires. I used the tire size calculator that someone posted, but wonder if they will fit under my car? I know that the 275/60s will, the 295s are are shorter, but just a bit wider. I just wondered if there was any leeway for wider tires, above the width of the 275s? I am hoping to use the 295s all the way around, and don't see too much information on the sizing for the fronts. I'm looking to put these on a set of 15x8" wheels, with 4.25" backspacing. I don't have the wheels yet, so I could change their width, if need be, and could go with smaller tires for the front. Just want to make sure everything will fit, before I spend the $$ and end up not being happy. Thanks, Scott
they probably won't work with a 4.25" BS. you'll need a little more to keep from rubbing on the outer wheelwell lip. i think you'll want somewhere around 4.75" to run a 295. for absolutely max space, it would be about 5". i'm going off memory, though, so let someone with big tires themselves chime in. my wheel's area 4 1/8" (15x8) BS, though, and it looks like a 275 will rub. so 4 1/4" definately won't cut it for 295.
I think the biggest you're going to get on the front is 255-60. That's what I have currently on my '70 with stock 15x7 and 4.25" backspacing. I'm going with 295 rear (with either 8 or 10" wheels) as soon as we get definitive answers on backspacing and will run either 245-60 or 235-60 front because they're nearly identical diameter as the 295 so I can use a 235/245 for a spare front or rear (for short distance).
A 295-50 up front isn't gonna work without some seriously small amount of backspacing, would look pretty bad. Agree with the above that you should have around 5" of backspacing (8" wheel) for a 295 in the back.
Personally, I don't think tires that wide would look very good in the front, if it were possible to fit them in. Unless you're converting to 4WD...
Phil, Do you know the backspacing required on 10" wheels for 295s? No cutting please. Thanks. I know it seems like I've asked 50 times.. gotta get it right before I order. Might end up with 8".
Thanks for all the help. I'm gonna use 245/60-15s on the front and the 295/50s on the rear. I found some Radial T/As for $71 for the front and my buddy has the 295s for the rear. BTW... I'm now the "official" owner of the car!! I just got back from my parents' house and the Secretary of State Office. Next step is to replace the brake components. I'm going to replace everything except the steel brake lines, and flush the old fluid out, over the next couple of days. It's basically been sitting for the last 20 years, so I figure better safe than sorry. I hate doing brakes, so I don't want to take them apart again. I enjoy working on almost everything else on old cars, but brakes aggravate me, especially drums. Scott
My X has 295-50/15's on the rear with 15x8's and 245-60/15's on the front with 15x7's...See my X in "Members Rides"
Looks good Eric. I see the bulge in the rear tires, not being critical, I might end up the same if I don't get the 10"ers. Great looking 'X'!
Okay, I got the 295/50 tires, but am having a heck of a time finding wheels with a 4.5" backspacing. What I really like are the American Racing Outlaws or Outlaw 2s, but can't find them with that exact backspacing. Would those tires require that exact backspacing, or is there some "wiggle room" on that. The only wheels that I could find with that amount of backspacing were some Cragar chrome wheels, they look okay, but not exactly what I want. Thanks, Scott
I too want to run 295's/50/15 on the rear but with a 10" rim. Every place that sells tires and rims has told me that the 295/50's need a 10" rim for the best performance so this is what I want to go with. So does any one know the correct backspacing for this wheel/tire combo for a 72 Skylark convertible? Thanks Tim
I run 15x10's. With that tire you'll want a 5.5" backspacing. That centers the rim in the wheel well.
For the true width of a rim you need to add 1/2" to both sides for the lip meaning 1" total. This will really bring the 10" rims to 11" width so if you want the tire to be centered on the 10" rim you will need to have a 5 1/2" backspace (11" divided by 2) or an 8" rim a true 9" will need a 4 1/2" backspace. My 72 Skylarks convert's rear drums are not centered in the middle of the wheel well, I have two more inches of room to the inner wheel well from the front of the drum, the measurement is 7 1/2" . I have 5 1/2" from my drum to the outer wheel well lip. I have a total of 13" from my outer lip to my inner well. So this means that if I want to find the center of my well 13" divided by 2 = 6 1/2". I will need to add 1" of backspace to any rim that I want to run to get my tire centered in the wheel well. Does this make sense to you? Are these measurements in line with other 70-72 Skylarks? Tim
Tim, that's exactly what I found on my 68 except my wells are a little smaller that the 70-72 cars, this is the right way to find what backspacing and tire/width you can use. PITA though.
I finally got my wheels and tried a tire that I had in the garage (295/50-15) and it wouldn't work. They rubbed just a bit on the outer wheel well, so I took off the molding to see if they would work if I trimmed it. No dice on that either. They just barely rub, which had I gotten the back spacing that was recommended to me by some others on the list, wouldn't have, since I have plenty of room between the wheel and the frame. I'm the type of person who has to see things sometimes to realize what is being said, an email or a post doesn't click with me. NOW, I understand how the different BS measurements work. The wheels I went with are American Racing "Smoothies", 15x8 4" BS. They look like wheels that you'd see on an old hot rod, but I like them because they aren't really flashy, but they add a lot of chrome. Now I think I may just go with 245/60-15 all the way around, since they are almost the exact same height as the 295/50s, but something like and inch narrower. I'm not building a race car anyway, just something for me to tool around in and have fun.
