70' Cutlass Supreme Holiday Coupe needs new wheels and tires. Looking to put her on some Cragar Eliminator 500's but what size tires would work in either scenario of 15x8 rim or 17x8 rim. Don't want to have to do any mods to the wheel tubs or fenders, but stock wheels on her now just are not cutting it. What size tire/rim combo goes best? I dont' want to have the low profile look but I also don't want it to look like I'm going the wide oval route either, not that there is anything wrong with either, just not the look I'm shooting for, somewhere in between.

 

I have 15" Cragar SS wheels that look similar but a little more old school. BFG 275/60R15 on 8" rims in back and 255/60R15 on 7" in front. They fill the wheel wells but can get a minor rub in front turning into a dip if the conditions are just right. Keep your stock rims for resale value or a change of pace.

 

I agree with Dane, my suggestion, no smaller than 15s no larger than 17s. That's a personal preference but even going up to 15s make a huge difference in look and ride quality. anything above 17s could end up looking too modern but try doing a search some guys have 20s on their car and it looks great.

 

I can't access my photobucket pics from work but I recently put 17 x 8 and 17 x 9 on a 72 Cutlass S I had. It looked great. You can see it if you look in this thread.

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...tml#post512607

 

X2 on Richards, they did look good on there.

 

Here's a pair of cars with CRAGAR 500Cs on them:
1968 Cutlass S convertible (I believe this is a members car) & I believe the wheels are 15x7.0" all around with 245/60/15 tires.
1968 Charger with 15x7.0" and 245/60/15 front & 15x8.0" and 275/60/15 rear.

I'm not sure exactly what you intended by not wanting the "wide oval" look, but with 7" & 8" wide wheels it's going to be difficult to not have wide tread/short sidewall tires on the car (especially with the 17" wheels). 8" wheels on the front need to be "well ordered" with proper offset or the tires are probably going to rub, inside or out.

 

Thxs everyone for the feedback and thxs Dane and hurst68olds for the tire sizes. Awesome to see the 500c's on the '68 and that's the look I'm going for. Point well taken about the offset for the fronts. Ideally, I was looking at 15x7 or 15x8 all around with a +4.00mm offset and 4.125 backspacing and trying to avoid the rubbing. Think this would cut it?

 

Nice wheels,the 500's are my favorite non factory aftermarket wheel.

 

You have to look at Richard's car before deciding! What ever combo he had, use exactly the same.....'Nuff said.....

 

Richard,
Thanks for posting as that look is precisely what I'm going for. Can you tell me what size tires are on the 17's? Also, what size offset and backspacing did you end up going with? Any rubbing?

 

This is what I went with

http://www.ebay.com/itm/17x8-17x9-GR...ed2e2a&vxp=mtr