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Tell Me What You Think

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bravenrace

Member
After way too many years of running $100 swap meet wheels, I finally bought a set of wheels and tires for my car. The car itself is no beauty queen, so I had to be careful to get wheels that didn't make the car look bad. I was also going for an old school look, so no big hoops were considered.
I ended up with what you see below. Problem is, something doesn't look right to me and I'm not sure what it is. Does the rear need raised? Maybe slightly taller front tires? I'm going to be getting another set of tires and wheels for road course use, and they will have a much more race oriented look, but I kind of wanted these to look a little race like also. I'm not sure they do.
What do you guys think? Any suggestions?

- Please ignore the mufflers hanging underneath. I have not yet installed the rest of the system, but needed to test drive the car, so I just bolted them on temporarily.
 

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I prefer a size or two smaller tire in the front compared to the back. That would also lower the front just a bit.
 
No, don't go any smaller. Just hard to tell when all I saw was the first pic.

Looks better from different angles. I see nothing wrong...but if you still do not like it, just ship me the car to get it out of your sight............
 
I think you may not be liking the way the rear tire fills in the full wheel well. Maybe it's just how it sticks out farther than stock. What size tires are you running front and back?
 
Maybe one size smaller on the rears, Looks alittle big in the wheel well. What sizes are you running. Otherwise I like the look. Could drop the front another half inch.
 
I'm running 245/60-15 in the rear and 215/60-15 front, and no, I don't have any rubbing whatsoever. But these wheels have a much more appropriate backspacing than torque thrusts, as far as fitting of a larger tire.
I don't want to lower the front, as that wouldn't be the look I'm going for and my old school headers would drag on everything. I'm actually considering raising the rear about an inch, but I'm not sure if that's what it needs or not. Once I'm recovered from some back issues I'm going to mock it up to see if that does it or not. But I may also be way off, so don't hesitate to make suggestions.
 
If you need the clearance up front then yes, Raise the rear a little bit. Just looks a little nose high as is. I had the same size on my 65 for mock up and they did fit fine.
 
Looks pretty good. To me, the imbalance in how the wheels fill the wheel wells catches my eye. Back pretty much fills the whole thing, front has 3" or so of clearance. Raising the back / dropping the front might help, but you might have to drop sizes int he back or go up in front.

BTW, like the rims - what brand / style?
 
245's don't really fit. I figured that was the size. They stick out beyond the quarter clearance. If you had rear passengers you would getting contact. That's why it looks odd. That "appropriate" back-spacing results in pushing the wheel out so it doesn't rub on the lower inner well. It gives it an old school big meats look which is fine if that is your goal.

I used to run low full length header like that back in the day. Used to get lots of "jolts" when they would bottom out...which they did ALL the time. Was always underneath repairing a leak or something it seemed.
 
"Horseplay" said:
245's don't really fit. I figured that was the size. They stick out beyond the quarter clearance. If you had rear passengers you would getting contact. That's why it looks odd. That "appropriate" back-spacing results in pushing the wheel out so it doesn't rub on the lower inner well. It gives it an old school big meats look which is fine if that is your goal.

I used to run low full length header like that back in the day. Used to get lots of "jolts" when they would bottom out...which they did ALL the time. Was always underneath repairing a leak or something it seemed.
Click to expand...

Boy, you make a lot of assumptions. 245's do really fit. Very well in fact. :thu These wheels have more backspacing than torque thrusts, not less. They locate the tire further inboard than most wheels. There is no suspension or body interference throughout the suspension range. I've checked it.
I'm an old fart too. The headers on this car I've run before. No need to educate me about it. :confu
 
"apollard" said:
Looks pretty good. To me, the imbalance in how the wheels fill the wheel wells catches my eye. Back pretty much fills the whole thing, front has 3" or so of clearance. Raising the back / dropping the front might help, but you might have to drop sizes int he back or go up in front.

BTW, like the rims - what brand / style?
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'm glad you like it. The wheels are Cragar S/S 1 piece aluminum. They are 15x7 with a 4.25" backspacing, which is why they fit better than TT's with 3.75" back spacing. A 245 tire fits no problem. In fact, I could easily have gone bigger on the rear.
 
Just speaking from personal experience.

Looking at the pictures you posted it looks like the quarter metal would hit the tire if you had weight in the rear and hit a decent bump. The top of the tire should be inside of the lip not under it. Now that you posted it is a 245 mounted on a 7" wheel it makes more sense. That is a wide tire for that narrow a rim. Most people mount it on a 8" rim with 4.5" BS. That's why I assumed less BS (which it actually is). You must have rather stiff rear springs. As for 245's fitting, that is not the norm. Take a look at Nick's (Dodgestang's) fitment guide for reference. I'm sure you are familiar with it. It has dozens of real world examples to which you can compare.

You originally stated it didn't look right to you and asked for opinions on possible reasons. I was just giving you some feedback.

http://www.dodgestang.com/emAlbum/album ... 2065-6.pdf
 
The tire IS inside the lip, and I'm well aware of Nicks chart (I became a member of the VMF in 1998). And you are incorrect, a 245 is NOT too big for a 15x7. BFG lists a 7-8.5" range of rim width for that tire. Listen, I could take the figgin springs off the rear of that car and those tires would not hit the wheel well lip. Okay??? You are looking at a picture, I'm looking at the car. Keep that in mind.
And BTW, an 8" wheel is 1" wider than a 7" wheel, which means a 15x7" wheel with 4.25" backspacing locates the tire further inboard than an 8" wide wheel with 4.50" backspacing. See, you learn something every day!
 
"bravenrace" said:
Ha ha! So, since you are obviously yanking my chain about the exhaust (right?), do you REALLY think the wheels and tires look good?
BTW, I was going for a look similar to this:

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9 ... cLo7uKFHJw
Click to expand...

Showing me a photo of that banner in your garage is a good way for me to add you to my ignore list :guns

The wheels look good. The blacked out cragar look on the copper top is nice. :nut
 
"bravenrace" said:
The tire IS inside the lip, and I'm well aware of Nicks chart (I became a member of the VMF in 1998). And you are incorrect, a 245 is NOT too big for a 15x7. BFG lists a 7-8.5" range of rim width for that tire. Listen, I could take the figgin springs off the rear of that car and those tires would not hit the wheel well lip. Okay??? You are looking at a picture, I'm looking at the car. Keep that in mind.
And BTW, an 8" wheel is 1" wider than a 7" wheel, which means a 15x7" wheel with 4.25" backspacing locates the tire further inboard than an 8" wide wheel with 4.50" backspacing. See, you learn something every day!
Click to expand...
Just to be clear, I'm not the guy who pissed in your coffee. Not sure why you are responding so angrily to my posts. If you go back and re-read them maybe you'll see I was only trying to give you something to consider.

I never said a 245 wouldn't fit a 7" rim. I said it was a wide tire for that width rim. And it is. I realize all I can see are pictures. So all I can base anything I say is on those same pictures. And again, you said it didn't look right and asked for opinions on why. I have had three 65/66 mustangs and have had many different wheel/tire combos so its not like I don't have something to base my comments upon.

I know I shouldn't but I will try to explain my point on 7" vs 8" wheel and 245 tire. Just because you pull the sidewall in to fit on a 7" wheel doesn't necessarily make the "bulge" or tread width of the tire any narrower. The tire is going to "over-hang" a narrower wheel just that much more. So it may very well stick out more with less BS. maybe you just learned something new today. :sarc
 
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