Am looking at the 15 x 7 wheels in the CARS catalog for my 65 Skylark Gran Sport . Can anyone tell me if the 15 x 7 with 4 3/8" backspacing is the right wheel and would you know how large of a rear tire I could go with ? Thank you , George fxandhds94@aol.com
Yes! George: I just put 15x7 Buick road wheels w/ 4 3/8" backspacing on my '65 Sportwagon. The wheels themselves are a perfect fit. Original tire for the car was 7.75x14, which has an outside diameter of 27.02" and, believe it or not, a tread face, depending on brand back then, in the 4 1/2" neighborhood! Used Goodyear Regatta 2 on the front, 215/70x15, which has an outside diameter of 26.89" and a tread face of 7.1", and the tires look beautiful, filling up the well from the side and looking fat enough from the front. They rubbed on the inner fender bolt at the top of the wheel well in extreme turns before I put on KYB's and a 1 1/8" front sway bar with new end links (was planning this anyway), which cured the problem. Used 215/75x15 on the back because had a couple useable ones lying around my garage; they have an outside diameter of about 27.3", and are a close-enough visual match to the fronts. All four look plenty big. A word to the wise: the Regatta 2, at 7.1", has a wider tread face by about a half-inch than all competitors in 215/70x15. This is as wide as many wider-sized tires, and less expensive, but very highly rated on www.tirerack.com. I think there's several guys who've used wider tires on these wheels, who have told their tales in other threads; worth your doing search of the board. But in any event, these are the outside diameter numbers that you need. More width in the front begs stiff suspension to avoid rubbing the fender in turns; wider in back probably ok to about the 245 mm neighborhood or so, maybe more. I don't have personal experience with wide tires on the rear, but I think there's a fair amount of room. Hope this helps! Best regards, Steve
