Wheel and tire size fitment

["Turbo-T"]

The rear of my car is stock and not tubbed (nor will it ever be), I am considering some Weld drag lites.

I am considering M/T 275/60/R15 ET street radial tires mounted on a 15X8 Weld drag lites. The drag lites will have a 4.5 back space.

Just wondering if I will run into any clearance problems??

Thanks!

 

[blown okie]

i think most poeple go with 4 in. BS for fewer fitment problems.. you may have to run a spacer if you use 4.5 BS ..so i've heard..hope this helps some.

 

["Turbo-T"]

Thanx, seems Weld sells their wheels in .5 b.s. increments. I was afraid a 3.5 BS would stick out too much.

 

[unix_punk]

3.5 is common and a 275/60-15 fits fine from what I hear...Thats what I bought, except Prostars. Oh and good luck on getting a set of MT Dr's... When you can't find them, ive been hearing good about the Hoosier DR's.

 

["Turbo-T"]

Why can't you not find M/T ET street drag radials??? Did Jegs and Summit stop carrying them?

 

[jevans]

I recently ordered a new set of wheels and tires for my GN. I was able to borrow a set of Weld Pro Star's from a friend off his Camaro for measurement and fitment. The rears wheels were 8" with 4.5" backspace w/ BF Goodrich Radial T/A tires, 255/60's. The 4.5" backspace put the tire tight into the framerail, 4" backspace would work fine or 4.5" with a 1/4" spacer. The section width on the 275/60's are just a little wider than the 255/60's and are about a inch taller.The outside of the sidewall sit inside the wheelwell lip, so there would be no rubbing on sidewalls. My rearend is offset more on the right side than the left, I'll install a spacer to equal it out. Here's a few pics of the wheels and tires to give you a idea of what the 8" w/ 4.5" backspace would look like.

 

[unix_punk]

Why can't you not find M/T ET street drag radials??? Did Jegs and Summit stop carrying them?

They're still listed, but they keep pushing back the 'in-stock' dates. Haven't checked in a while though.

 

["Turbo-T"]

I recently ordered a new set of wheels and tires for my GN. I was able to borrow a set of Weld Pro Star's from a friend off his Camaro for measurement and fitment. The rears wheels were 8" with 4.5" backspace w/ BF Goodrich Radial T/A tires, 255/60's. The 4.5" backspace put the tire tight into the framerail, 4" backspace would work fine or 4.5" with a 1/4" spacer.

Thanx for the pics, I am wondering if I went with the 3.5 inch BS if it would send the 275/60/R15's out into the wheel well lip....?

 

[jevans]

Thanx for the pics, I am wondering if I went with the 3.5 inch BS if it would send the 275/60/R15's out into the wheel well lip....?

I think it would rub if you sit the rear down, you could roll the lip to help out. My wheels are going to be 8" with a 4" backspace, I'll post some pics once I have them mounted.

 

["Turbo-T"]

Ehh....I'd rather NOT roll the lips....I had to do that on my last car and I hated it.

 

[Underboost]

I run 15X10 Weld Aluma Star 2.0's 5 bs with 1/2 inch spacers w/ 275/60/15's. When I notch the frame I'll get rid of the spacers and run 325/50/15's

 

[86george]

3.5 vs 4.5 back space

I'd go with 4.5" backspace. If you think you're to close to the frame then use wheel spacers. Jegs has them in 7/32 5/16 7/16. Perfect back space is around 4". I'm useing 15x8 4.5"bs prostars with wide BFG steet tires and have no rub. But it's very close on the inside. I think I'd need wheel spacers to run 15x10 slicks. Good luck.

 

[TurboMonte 2]

Why can't you not find M/T ET street drag radials??? Did Jegs and Summit stop carrying them?

Are M/T ET Street radials the same as M/T Drag Radials--?

 

[TurboMonte 2]

Thanx, seems Weld sells their wheels in .5 b.s. increments. I was afraid a 3.5 BS would stick out too much.

Seems a relatively large gap between 3.5 & 4.5" BS. For 275x60's, I would think a 4.5" BS would give you too large a spacer inside & 3.5" BS will rub inner fender lip. I would think we'd want to more safely be at a 4.0 BS...

 

[86george]

I think E/T street and drag raidals are the same. I've no idea why M/T can't supply those tires. Maybe to discourage street raceing ? I have my slicks 10x15x26 M/Ts on an old set of corvette ralley wheels 15/8s with 4" back space and they fit perfectly. The wheels are heavy and ugly. I want prostars to match the front wheels. But 3.5"bs won't work for me so I'll have to go with 4.5"bs and shim them out a little. The 4" back space seams to be a good fit so I wonder why Weld doesn't make them.

 

[Underboost]

My 15x10's w/4'' bs doesn't rub with a 28x10.5 slick thats with the stock molding & no mods to the inner fender. Now, when I went with 28.5 x 10.5 slicks I had to remove the molding and cut the inner lip out.

 

[T Spool]

Thanx for the pics, I am wondering if I went with the 3.5 inch BS if it would send the 275/60/R15's out into the wheel well lip....?

Yes, it will unless you fill up the air bags for that ass in the air Daisy Duke look, not to mention the horrendous ride you get with pumped up air bags. I recommend that anyone with 15x8 and 4.5 BS Weld's install longer 1/2" studs so you can safely run a small spacer and put the tire exactly where you want it.

 

[Limited87]

TSpool good call. On the 15x8s 4.5 back space you may have a slight clearance issue on the inside depending on the size section width tire your running unless you run a 1/4 or a 5/16 spacer which is no big deal but would reccomend the longer stud to be safe especially with higher hp cars.

If you go with the 3.5...you better be happy with the much deeper dish look and them sticking out plus if the tire has to much section width which all 28 inch tires do the tire will get into the 1/4 panel lip unless it is rolled...something I am highly against doing to our cars also...or blowing the air bags up so high it looks rediculas and launches like ass.

Here is the major prob. Wheel makers like Weld, Centerline, Billet Specialties, exc. dont give us the 15x8 with a 4 inch back space option we need on the wheels we want. Unless you go with the $400+ dollar a piece wheels like the Weld Aluma stars or there Magnum 2.0 which I have on my both my cars you just cant get it. You could have someone like Bogart make them specifically for our cars but they are big money also. I have been dealing with the same issues with these cars for 15 years and this is what I have come up with.

I have added a couple picts in the tires/wheels section of my dads car in the new Billet Specialties Street Lite wheels post that are 15x8 with 4.5 bs running a 5/16 spacer with true 28x10 Hoosier Quick Time Pros if you want an idea of how they fit up and the back space look. He did have the Weld Pro Stars with 4.5 with the same configuration. Its a tight fit but the idea is to get the widest tire possible with the best fit/look to put 500+ horse cars power to the ground.

 

["Turbo-T"]

Some possibilities I found, under $200 a piece....

Center Line Wheels 135804547 - Center Line Wheels Terminator Series Telstar Wheels - summitracing.com

Center Line Wheels 005804547 - Center Line Wheels Convo Pro Wheels - summitracing.com

Center Line Wheels 175804547 - Center Line Wheels Terminator Series Auto Drag III Wheels - summitracing.com

Of course I am not sure what offset would be needed.

Wow George you're the only guy I've heard of that thought of a 15X8 Corvette rally as "ugly" I'd gladly take them off your hands.

Yeah T spool I'm not trying to relive the 70's "air shocks era" with my ass in the air. I'd prefer to keep it where it is.

 

[TurboMonte 2]

I have a set of stock 87GN wheels (15x7 w/ 4" BS & heavy slugs, of course), painted stealth Vader black, that I'm thinking about putting a set of 28x10 slicks on one pair--and 275x60's ET Street (or Drag) radials on the other pair.

I realize these 7" rims are a little narrow vs. recommendations--but they're free to me right now. I'm assuming I'll have no fitment probs & I do have El Cheapo air-shocks on rear now to mask my suspected weak springs...

Wadayathink? (Not about minor hijack--but my thoughts/plans!) ??