When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
What would be the best course of action to get a stronger stance? I’ve been told it’s the tires, or to replace springs, put 442 springs on it, spacers, it’s fine how it is, lift kit, etc.
I would probably leave it like it is and change the tires to something more aggressive. That is just me but I think the car would look a lot less like your grandmothers car. It all spends on what you are looking for. I like the wheels.
Thanks for the feedback and compliment. I do think I’ll just try a set of 215/70/14 or 225/70/14 Cooper or Firestone white letter tires before anything else. The color is Spirited Green. The original color was a hunter green.
CSM or assembly manual should have ride heights that you can measure. If it's a stock powerplant, it should not look like a muscle car, since Cutlasses weren't. Now, if you made it a beast, then do whatever you want.
Personally I don't think there is anything wrong with giving a Cutlass a muscle car flavor. I did it with a 72 convertible I had. Years ago when I bought it, it had whitewalls with wheel covers and single exhaust. The first things is did were to put Rallye II wheels on it with lettered tires and a set of dual turbos on it. It wasn't a muscle car but it was a helluva lot more fun to drive and I enjoyed it for years.
Before my restoration of my 1970 Cutlass it has air shocks with G70's on the front and L 60's on the rear, Mickey Thompson "Indy Profile" tire, simply awesome!
Yes, code 48. It was an original white top car.
I agree that I don’t see anything wrong with giving it a muscle look because rite now it seems to have a grandma look to me. Thanks for all of the feedback.
Don't touch the car, it looks stunning as it is. I'm not fond of light green but your car looks bitchin'. Any car junkie would love to have a ride like yours. Keep it detailed and preserved just the way it is, classy...! Good luck
Just adding a set of 225/70-14 tires with raised white letters would greatly enhance the stance and looks. They would also nicely complement the green and white top. I would had suggested 235/70-14 tires, but not certain if that size is still available.
I would put a pair of Monroe/Gabriel air shocks in the back , put 60lbs of air. Get some 235 60-14 BFG'S for the front , 255 60-14 BFG'S for the rear.
2 1/4 duals with a pair of Dyno-Max mufflers, then enjoy the ride with the new stance and muscle car sound.
I’m in Baton Rouge. Thanks for the feedback everyone. I’m looking at tires online and a lot of the 225/70/14 fit charts say they won’t fit on my car. Is there something I’m missing?
Location: Edmonton, AB. And "I am Can 'eh' jun - eh"
Posts: 24,525
The 225/70/14 is a direct fit for your car. The original tire on your car from the factory was an F78/14. 225/70/14 is the same height, just a little wider track. The online companies you're looking at don't know what they're talking about. Go to someone who does.
I’m in Baton Rouge. Thanks for the feedback everyone. I’m looking at tires online and a lot of the 225/70/14 fit charts say they won’t fit on my car. Is there something I’m missing?
Greetings from a Louisiana native!
You're not missing anything, that tire size will work fine. Those should be 14x7 wheels so the 225-70s will fit perfectly. I like to use 245-60 tires all around, but that's just me liking wider, shorter tires for better handling - I drive my cars fairly hard.
Here is my 68 with stocker white walls and then raised white letters. I think it does change the look just with tires. I agree the 225/70 are the way to go.
Question - what do you mean by "stronger stance"?
If you keep the stock rims you will be limited by the 14" tire size. There's not much available.
To switch things up I just went from the stock 14's to 17's. I'll save the 14's for show duty. Here is the before & after. This is JMO but you also get more bang for your buck in tires going to the larger rims. I got Z-Rated tires for less than an S would cost in a 14" or 15" tire
Spo and Ron those are nice rides and they both look better in the after photos. Those were the two looks I went back and forth with myself about. The deciding factor for me was the fact that 70% of the cars at shows had torque thrust type rims like Rons and I love the look but I was talked out of it because as my mechanic said “it’s been done to death”, but I don’t like any other aftermarket rims I’ve seen so it’s factory with beast tires for me. Thanks for the feedback!
You may like aftermarket repros of factory wheels. I use factory wheels on my cars, but I don't drag race, or pro-street, or pro-tour, so they work for my purposes of street driving and car shows. I also don't care for aftermarket rims as they remind me of the hood with old cars with new rims and loud stereos that are usually being obnoxious.
Coker Tire has lettered BF Goodrich 225/70/R14 and 235 also. At $127 a tire it is a very good price and you are not buying wheels (you have nice looking wheels). Here is a link:
If it was mine I would go with the BF Goodrich tires. Coker is a good company to do business with. Again, you car and you should do what you like. This is just a couple additional options.
By the way, I am from West Monroe originally but have lived in Texas since 1979.
Thanks for the Kudos. I too like stock rims, but I do like me some Hurst wheels too! Can't afford to play with the originals, so on my 64 I went with 15 x 7 Hurst repops. Same style as the original, just uses a polished outer rather than a beauty ring. Still have a set of 14 SSI and SSII if I every want to change it up.
Location: Edmonton, AB. And "I am Can 'eh' jun - eh"
Posts: 24,525
Originally Posted by redoldsman
Then my choice would be Discount Tire. There is not a better tire company out there.
I dunno Glenn. I got mine from Costco. Pricing was better than anywhere I looked on the market and their mount/balance/nitrogen fill installation was only $15.00/tire
Thanks Allan. That is a heck of a deal. Nitrogen fill is pretty rare around here. One thing Discount has is full road hazard replacement for the life of the tread. If you take their road hazard warranty and ruin a tire, they don't gauge the tread and then prorate it. If it still has legal tread on it, they replace the tire and the only cost you have is the cost of the road hazard on the new tire. I have never seen anybody else offer this. Maybe I need to get a Costco membership.
Location: Edmonton, AB. And "I am Can 'eh' jun - eh"
Posts: 24,525
Costco only warranties for 5 years against all road hazards. I was impressed with how they handled my sisters car. She had a sidewall failure on one tire. Since they didn't stock that anymore, they replaced all 4 tires no charge, and the tires were already going on 2 years old. I don't know if that's a consistent thing with them, but I was really impressed. We use our Costco card enough to justify the annual cost.
im gonna catch some heat for this one... air shocks and wheels with 4.00 offset... the wider wheel and air shocks will make it look beef!!! im from the 80's get off my back.. yes i had a mullet..
Thing with the BFG is they are expensive for a tire that's really nothing special. They look nice but its just an S Rated Tire. I had them on my TA when I had it (TA on a TA, Get it?). For me its hard to justify $150 a pc for them. Also, I was never able to get the letters really glistening white. They were an off white. IDK if they are still like that.
im gonna catch some heat for this one... air shocks and wheels with 4.00 offset... the wider wheel and air shocks will make it look beef!!! im from the 80's get off my back.. yes i had a mullet..
I can appreciate the Day2 look on a Nova because it has no wheel well. On a Cutlass you can get a really fat tire underneath if you want at stock height.
Thing with the BFG is they are expensive for a tire that's really nothing special. They look nice but its just an S Rated Tire. I had them on my TA when I had it (TA on a TA, Get it?). For me its hard to justify $150 a pc for them. Also, I was never able to get the letters really glistening white. They were an off white. IDK if they are still like that.
agreed.. bfg are over price and over rated.. check pep boys. they make a futura raised white letter tires. that are nice tires. balance well and and dont make a lot of noise.. and are less than half the price of a bfg.
I've read all the responses and will weigh in on this.
Going with the same size tire all around will not change the stance at all. You'd need to do a "rubber rake" with a larger (aka: taller )tire in the rear. Sometimes the taller tires comes at the expense of the width. Taller often = narrower. You'd need to go even wider and then the overall package can get really HUGE. You need to research carefully to get the right sizes that work together if you want to keep the same wheels you're running, or if you go with the same size rims all around.
I love a heavy rake on certain cars. Two of my non-Oldsmobiles run staggered rims as well as rubber rakes. Once car runs 14s front and 15s rear while the other runs 17s front and 18s rear. Like has been said, 14" and even 15" nowadays are getting harder to find in a huge variety of sizes. 17 and 18 are commonplace.
I agree that BFG tires are over rated and over priced. There are plenty others out there just as good, or even better for less money. Lately I've been having good luck with Cooper Cobras.
Coker stuff is not very good. They are notorious for defects, especially in their custom whitewall tires. I know that whitewalls are not really the discussion here, but beware of the quality that Coker puts out. Diamondback Classics is far superior to Coker.
One some daily drivers, I've run the same size tires all around and altered the stance by cutting a coil out of each front spring. My black D88 in my signature is that way with 255/60/15 Cooper Cobras all around on an 8" rim, but with a coil taken out of brand new springs in the front. I cut the coil before I even installed the springs. (it also makes them easier to install since you don't have to compress them as far. ) They've settled a bit over the 5 or so years they've been in the car.
I also can't stand raised white letters. I realize they are the part of the stereotypical muscle car look. But I have run them back in the 1980s and hated trying to keep them clean. And who wants to give free advertising to the tire company after you already spent an arm and a leg on the tires to begin with.
Thanks guys for all the feedback!!! One thing I noticed is 90% of you alls advice was about tires and not springs, spacers, lift or drop kits, ect. so I’m convinced the biggest factor affecting the stance is tires. You all gave me a lot to consider and now I can sound like I know a little bit when talking to the tire guy to make my choice. Happy cruising.
July 22nd, 2018, 07:16 AM
Stance
Looks good to me IMO
) They've settled a bit over the 5 or so years they've been in the car.
