backspace

MEGABU

Top Fueler
Aug 20, 2007
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Blue Island, IL
your backspace will depend on your rim width. a 15x8 will stuff a 28x10.5 tire very well with 4.5" backspace. a 15x10 rim will need 5.5", and you will need to roll the rim lip with a baseball bat(old tire guy trick). some rims(i.e. convo pros) come in 15x8.5 with 4" b/s, which will work fine, too, but the lip may still need rolled in slightly to avoid the dreaded shredded sidewall.
 

winditup57

Dragway Regular
Jun 6, 2006
848
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Davenport, IA
So with a 15x10 and 5.5" backspacing, it will clear the inner wheelwell and frame without issues? (other than rolling the lip)If I go this route, I will be using 295/50/15's
 

MEGABU

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Aug 20, 2007
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a 295/50 might be pushin' it a little on a 10 inch rim. if you know anyone with that combo, try asking if you can test fit it on your car. you'll hit the frame in front of the axle before anything else if i remember correctly. there's always spacers, although most people use them incorrectly and even dangerously. you could get away with up to a 3/8" spacer if you needed it, but ONLY if you're using long racing studs at least 1/2" thread diameter. you can fit a 275/60 on a 10 inch wheel, and that should clear fine if the 295 proves too wide. a 295/50 on an 8" may also work. wheels have the ability to stretch or shrink tires surprisingly well. the same tire on a 8" rim will look wider on a 10" one, because the sidewall follows the bead.
 

Time Warp

Dragway Regular
Nov 1, 2006
932
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Titusville , Florida
winditup57 said:
So with a 15x10 and 5.5" backspacing, it will clear the inner wheelwell and frame without issues? (other than rolling the lip)If I go this route, I will be using 295/50/15's

I run 15 x 10 with 5.5 backspace with MT 315-60r15 and no way would it clear the frame without a notch ( factory length rear anyways) My frame is notched all the way to the inner and thou i have 315-60r15 tires its still pretty close to the full notch .
 

MEGABU

Top Fueler
Aug 20, 2007
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Blue Island, IL
that's exactly what i was thinking. i understand the need to stuff as much rubber in there as possible, but you gotta experiment sometimes. i've found that even cars of the same make & model can have clearance differences of up to 1/4 inch or more, reinforcing the idea that no two cars are the same! i hate seeing guys wasting a load of cash on a combo they THOUGHT would work. stock rear & stock wells, you can't go wrong with a 15x8 w/4.5" bs wrapped in a 275/60/15. anything bigger will likely need SOME kind of modification, however minor. the tire store rule goes across the board; 'you mount 'em, you bought 'em!'
 

winditup57

Dragway Regular
Jun 6, 2006
848
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0
Davenport, IA
A 275/60/15 is almost 2" taller than a 295/50/15. Which is why I wanna run that tire if possible.
 

MEGABU

Top Fueler
Aug 20, 2007
3,092
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Blue Island, IL
so put a 295/50 on an 8" rim and you should avoid any major clearance issues. you'll still get a fat look and plenty of rubber on the deck. like time warp was saying, you start getting into 10" wide rims, tire choice becomes VERY limited!
 

winditup57

Dragway Regular
Jun 6, 2006
848
0
0
Davenport, IA
I suppose a 275 wouldnt be as bad as I was thinking. the last time I had a set of those on a Malibu..it killed the off-the-line performance, but that was back when I had the stock 350 and 2.** gears.

I havent made up my mind on what size rim/tire combo to use yet.
 

MEGABU

Top Fueler
Aug 20, 2007
3,092
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Blue Island, IL
if you look close at my avatar, those are 15x8 weld draglites with 4.5" backspace wrapped in 28x9" firestone slicks which are almost identical in size to a 275/60(just slightly narrower), and as you can see, they fill up the wheelwell nicely.
 

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