Wider Rear Tire Size?

[fasterthanu]

I just got my 388 stroker back, with 500hp . During the 500mile break in, there were a few minor problems, but they were taken care of by the builder. He told me I will really need to get wider and softer tires. I have an automatic, 700R4 with a 3000 stallspeed by Cone, 411 gear, with dual quads. At just a goose at 3/4 throttle, it peels out with np. I have been warned though that if I use stall speed convertor (with foot on break too) I will RIP the tires right off the car, lol. Any recommendations for tires? I want something I can drive on the highways with too. I currently have BF Goodrich 255/60/R15. I have 15x8 rally 500 rims on there. I thought the 60 was the width, but I was told from JustTires that if i went to 255/50/R15 it is a shorter tire. I want to keep the same height... Discount Tires recommened the Mickey Thompson 27x10.5 tires, street slicks. I saw online that they can't be driven on the expressway. I am really confused as to what to get to go wider, yet keep the same height. Please help me. Thank You!

 

[drags1998]

I think a 275/50 is very close to the same height as the 255/60, Go to tire rack.com & check it out. Just dont forget, when you REALLY do get traction, you'll find the WEAK POINT in the DRIVELINE. Good Luck!!!!

 

[81 Corvette]

bigger tires may also mean new rims and possible off set trailing arms. I'm not sure how big you can go before a problem will arise.

 

[fasterthanu]

Hmm.. Not sure. Using tire size calculators, I find that 305/50/15 is the same height as what I am currently running... The street slicks by Mickey Thompson are 27x10.5 and will fit on 15x8 rims. Those are .5" shorter than my tires. Problem with those are that i might drive on highways, 100 miles each way to have my dad work on my car, lol. As for the weak links in the drivetrain, I am sure they will surface soon. Now's the time, broke. lol.

 

[wishuwerehere82]

I had Eagle ST-275/60/R15's on my 82' last year and they were a lot easier to break loose than the BFG Eagle Gt-2 255/60/R15's that I have now. In fact I can't break them loose,even in the rain. I think the compound has something to do with it.

 

[curtis]

I run Kelly 275 60 r 15 on my 76. to go wider would not fit the 8" rim and had to move the park brake cable mount to the top of the trailing arm so it wouldn't rub the inside of the sidewall.

 

[Ludigdrums]

Different tire manufactures have different dimensions. So, make sure that you check them out specifically by brand. Their respective websites will have a list of the different tires and their dimensions. You're mainly concerned with the overall tire height. Is this because of the speedo? You can always change the speedo gear to make up for any change. Unless you're concerned with actual rearend ratio...that will change with different height.

I'm running 255/40/18 front and 286/40/18 rear with 18x10" wheels w/4" backspacing. I also have offset trailing arms. I have a wide body Duntov Turbo kit on my car, thats why I'm running 10" wide wheels. They line up nice. I have Dunlop (which is Goodyear) S9000....amazing tires! Great dry and wet traction!

Another thing about tire dimensions:
As well as height, a 255 tire in a 60 series will have a different width as a 255 tire in a 40 series. That is because the width is a mathmatical formula of the first two dimensions on the tire. They are width, sidewall height, wheel size.

Hope that helps some!

Good luck!

- Jeremy

 

[fasterthanu]

Thanks. Well, I want the same tire height for the speedometer gear which i just got done changing, lol, and it would look kind of funny for the rear tires to be shorter than the front tires. As for the parking brake cable, I am not too concerned, I never use it. The perfect height tires using those calculators are 305/50/15 by goodrich which they seemed to have discontinued the Euro TA Series. Grrr.