Wheel / Tire combination - Will this work?

[clint4vette]

Just a quick question to see if this combination works on a 64.
I see a lot of posts that talk about the American Racing Vintage TT2 7x15" wheels with 4" back set, Tire combinations vary. This seams to be a rim of choise.

I have a set of Goodyear Assurance Triple tred 215-65 x 15" Tires.

I see Torq Thrust ll wheels (Polished) 7"x15" with 3 3/4 back set for a very reasonable price. I didn't see them in 4" backset

My question, is the difference in the 1/4" backset going to cause a rub problem?
Has anyone used this combination?
Thanks for any feed back,
Clint

 

[Lucy64]

I am not so sure that this will work. I bought some Cragar S/S wheels from Newstalgia wheel ( www.newstalgiawheel.com ). The expert there discouraged getting 15x7 and convince me to get the 15x6 that has 3 3/8" BS with 215-70x15 tires for my 64. He was totally correct. They are perfect and anything larger would have caused me problems.

 

[WayneC]

I have seen several reports of 215/65 tires being used without problems on 6" rims. Some folks think the 215/65 looks a little small in the wheel opening due to it's smaller diameter... after all, these are the days of 20" bling wheels with rubber band tires, so the fashion is to make 'em look bigger!

A 7" wheel with 3 3/4" backspace is going to put the outside of the tire closer to the fender lip than a stock tire on a stock 5 1/2" rim, and the aspect ratio of the tire may put it even a little closer to the fender when hitting a bump on turning despite it being a shorter tire than stock. The 7" rim exceeds the rim width users have reported as acceptable for those tires (215/65 on a 6" rim) by 5/8" on the outside, so it's a risk.

If you currently have something close to stock, see how that all compares to what you have today... measure the backspace of the wheel (put a straightedge across the outer edges of your rim and measure down to the wheel lug hole surface) and the distance between the tire bead inside surfaces (bead width... may be difficult without a bare wheel); subtract backspace from the bead width. Now do the same for the rims you are considering (ie, 7" with 3 3/4" backspace = 2 5/8" sticking out toward the fender). Subtract the number you calculated for your current wheel/tire combo from 2 5/8" and you'll have about the extra amount the new combo would stick out, which should give you an idea (by holding the end of a ruler on the outside your current tires) of how close the clearances are.

BTW, the 215/65 tire is about an inch shorter than original tires, so it will introduce a 4% speedo error from stock tires (the tires are slightly smaller in diameter so speedo thinks car's going faster than it is, so it reads a bit higher than actual speed).