Fitting wheels and tires

randaroo

randaroo

Member
As I build this thing, again, I was wondering how to shop for wheels and tires.

Years ago when I did the dropped axel and cobbled all the chevy stuff into the mess, I had enough room in the wheel wells to keep 15 inch wheels and tires. I used old Cadillac type tires, in those days LR78-15 which were quite cushy and big no problems.
Later I built in the Camaro clip and didn't narrow it so I went with an offset front wheel, common on the front wheel drive cars at the time.
So I wound up with 14's slightly offset on the front and the lr78-15 on the rear.
I had painted the wheels body color and did rings and baby moons which looked OK for that car.
Nowadays, I see you can spec your offset and wheel tire fitment before you screw up a set of tires/wheels that don't fit properly.
Any links or ideas on how I should be fitting/specifying my wheels and tires?
I'd like to go with something snazzy and a whole lot newer.
 
these are both great to puddle through and the fitting guide helps me get armed with numbers.
Any place in Vancouver or close by that has lots of choice and knowledgable staff for this kind of thing?
I've always been partial to the torq thrust since I was a kid, I also like the wheel well/tire look of some of the BMW, Mercedes euro cars, its the relation of the tire to the car body. I was wondering about removing or rolling tight the fender lip that is about 3/4 of an inch, if that makes it work...
wait a minute I got way too much to do befor digging into that stuff/idea... but if ya got anything, lemmeknow.
 
Don't know anyone in Vancouver anymore but this guy I've used, as many other have, for both wheels and tires.

Darrel Loose, Wheelmasters Classics, Calgary
1-866-547-0605

www.wheelmasterclassic.com


Not sure about the BMW and Benz stuff but doesn't hurt to call him.
 
you's guys are right, that is an amazing site. The fitment questionair is excellent and the catalogue presentation is so easy to get googoo eyed in.
My head is spinning, when I get the body back onto the chassis I'll get the good measures and revisit for potential purchase.
I'm not sure though if i'll bag the old girl and with most wheels I will need to disc convert the rear too so I'd better stock up on beer bottles as I get closer to springtime.
Thanks for this, excellent.
 
I measure the width inner fender lip to inner fender lip. Now subtract the width of the rearend face to face and divide by 2. This gives you your working space on each wheel. Go to a site like Summit and check the tire you want. They list just about every one. It will give you true tread width as well as section width. If the fender does not touch the tire at any time with full down travel of the suspension, I'd probably have my tread 1" inside the lip and the section width will nicely fill the fender opening. Don't forget that wheel width is measured inside the rim so an 8" rim is about 8.75" - 9.25" wide. Now subtract the wheel width from the casing, again divide by 2 and you will know where your outer rim will sit relative to the fender and the face of the rear end. Calculate the distance from the rear end face to the inside rim face, remember that inside rim face is now behind the rear end face and the difference will give you your back set. Using the cart above or the one on Stocton Tire will help in the calculation. You will have to do this all over again for the front to make sure the front tires don't hang out further then the rear and that the tire doesn't hit the fender during a hard turn. Good luck.

wuga
 
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