Hi All, Before pulling the trigger at Summit, I wanted to get a bit of peer review on my intended purchases for my '66 Skylark. Here are the details: 1. I am in the middle of a frame-off with QA1 suspension (tubular a-arms, coilovers, etc.) 2. I also have a Currie 9" (one of their crate axles set up like a GM 10 bolt) 3. I am adding disc brakes in the front from CPP (6466CBK-S) 4. I am leaving the Currie drums in the back (I think they might be Ford Explorer units) Since the car is in pieces, I can't get into a tire shop and I need to order my new front rims/tires a bit blindly so that I can move on with my project. Here are my thoughts: 1. I have always wanted Weld Draglites and this is somehow what I landed on for better or worse 2. For the front, I am thinking 15x8 with 5.5" backspacing (stock is 14x6 with 4.5" bs) 3. I am also thinking of P225/60/15 BFGs for now to get the project rolling (literally) again (I was also thinking about 225/50/15 but worried about going to low-profile and wide in the front when ordering blind like this) 4. I am thinking about putting the fronts on the rear for measurements to see how much more height and bs is possible and then I will order these once I get the body back on the frame These are the wheels and tires details from Summit: Weld Racing 90-58350 - Weld Racing Draglite Polished Wheels 5 in. x 8 in., 5 x 4.50/4.75 in. Bolt Circle, 5.50 in. Backspace https://www.summitracing.com/parts/wld-90-58350 BFGoodrich Tires 10971 - BFGoodrich Radial T/A Tires Tire, Radial T/A, P 225/60R15, 1,521 lbs. Maximum Load, S Speed https://www.summitracing.com/parts/bfg-10971 Am I missing anything obvious? Is there anything else I sould be factoring in before purchasing? Thanks, Ray
I would not recommend the 15x8" In the front at all, especially for a 225. That rim you listed is perfect for the back. I would stick to 15x7" front especially for a 225 width tire. If they have 15x7" front go with 4.5" back spacing. You could even do a 15x6 for a 225 width. If you really are wanting the skinnier tire that is fine but you could also run the 235/60/15 or 245/60/15 on the front. I am running 245/60/15 on the front of my 66' with 15x7 wheels. Factory 4 3/8" backspace. The perfect rear wheel for a 66'/67' with stock width rear is 15x8" with 5.5" backspace. That will put your tire and wheel pretty much dead centre of the wheel opening from outside lip to inner wheel well. You can for sure run a 255/60/15 in there and with a little bit of wheel lip trimming you can run a 275/60/15. The lip trimming just helps with tire flex for cornering. That said some axles don't end up being dead centre to the car. Greg
^^^^ This is what my recommendation would be as well, practically word for word! I run 235/60-15's on the front of my 66's, 255's in the rear. It's often difficult to find the desired offset available for the rear wheel in the style you want. What is the width of your rear? I ran those wheels when I put the Hoosiers on for racing. 275's in the rear, 70 series in the front:
I had settled on a 15x8 in the front as the 15x7 rim only had 4.5 BS when I thought that I had to have 5.0 BS (stock at 14x6 is 4.5 + 0.5 from the 1" wider rim)- I figured it was better to go wider and get the right BS. I am not married to 225/60, btw, the car has 225/70/14 on it now plus, back in the day, I had a '70 Nova with 225/50/15s front & back that I really liked.
I haven't measured the new rear end yet, sorry. I need to get the front wheels and tires to get unblocked on re-assembly and I had thought that I could just take them (when the body is back on the frame) and put them on the back to do some rough measurements and then order the backs in a couple months (who am I kidding, probably more like 2yrs from now the way things are going).
