Rear Wheel Width

Hello,

I want to get the widest wheel/tire combo possible on the rear. Been measuring tonight and I have 6 inches of backspace to the leaf springs and 3 inches from face of drum to fender lip. It seems possible to fit an 8 inch wheel if I get 5 1/2 inches backspace and 2 inches of positive offset.

My question: Is anyone running 8 inch wide wheels on the rear with no clearance issues?

Thanks for the help,

Spokane Sebring (aka-JWR1347)

I can't answer your question directly because I never tried an 8" rim on my car, but I can tell you that an 8 inch rim is typically around 9" wide.  The width measurement is taken on the inside of the lips where the tire mounts.  You usually add 1" to the listed width.  Back space is measured from the rear surface af the rim, so your 5 1/2" rim would have 3 1/2" on the front side.  The rim will stick out from under the fender 1/2" plus whatever tire overhang you have.

I don't think a 5 1/2" BS rim would fit on your car.  There won't be enough clearance between the tire and spring.  I have a leaf spring car and I looked for a long time at various wheels.  Like you, I wanted the widest rear rims I could get, but I believe you're going to need a 7" rim.  Unless you don't mind a lot of tire sticking out from under the fender. The MX version with the Fox body Mustang coil springs on the rear could probably use an 8", though.

Mike

Our "MX" uses 15"x8" rear wheels, mounting 275/60x15 BFG's. There is perhaps 1/2" clearance between the inside of the fender flare lip and the tire ... in 'road position'. All on an 8" FoMoCo rear end with drum brakes.
Regards,
Jimbo

I sure wish I had the MX rather than the 5000. The MX has extra room under the rear fenders which I'm sure is why your 15x8s fit well. Thanks for letting me know what you are running.

If anyone is interested in what I finally bought for wheels & tires, here it is. I discovered that there are virtually no performance tires available anymore for 15" wheels, especially in the diameter and width I needed. So I decided to go to 16" wheels. The next problem was finding the 4x108 bolt pattern/ width/ offset combination I needed. I searched for weeks and could nothing sold in the U.S.. I ended up with wheels made by Fox Racing out of the U.K.. They are 16 x 6.5 with 20mm offset. I had room for a 16 x 7 in the back, but couldn't get that width with the right offset. The tires are 225/Dunlop DZ101 Ultra High Performance Summer Radials.