tire size for 85 El Camino

[n2oracer]

I'm looking at buying a 85 El Camino. The owner is going to keep the 20" wheels that are on it now. I have a set of rally wheels I plan to use. I have 15x7 for the front and 15x8 for the back. I know the 15x8's have 4" B.S. but I'm not sure about the 15x7's.

I'm just going to use a regular street radial probably like the ones from Pep Boys. What size tires will fit without any frame or wheel well mods?

I'm thinking about 215/65 or 235/60 for the front and 275/60 for the back.
Do you guys think this will work? Any other ideas?

 

[Anonymous]

I have the 235/60/15 on 15x7 rally wheels all the way around mine. The front fits good with a little rub on the frame at full turn. Mine is lowered about a 1/2" though.

The 275/60/15 should fit fine in the rear but you could go to a 275/50/15 to maintain the original tire height. I ran the 275/60/15 in the rear with 15x8 rally wheels for a long time. They rubbed slightly on the inside of the fender but only when I had a load in the back or when taking turns that required the suspension to flex alot. If you still have the air shocks in there, and they don't leak, you should have no trouble with the 275/60/15.

Check out this sticky:

http://www.maliburacing.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35753

 

[n2oracer]

Thanks for the reply. I went and looked at the El Camino. It needs way tooooo much work --- motor smokes and it has a lot of rust in the lower part of the body.

But the day wasn't totally lost. I went to look at a 85 Monte SS. It had body damage on the driver's side. After talking to the owner he had a 78 Cutlass in real good shape. It has the 260" Olds V8 that looks to be recently rebuilt. The paint is faded but the body is straight. The interior is in good shape too. I think this might make a good work car. The small V8 probably gets decent gas milage.