oldzzy

Just wondering how many people are running 295/50/15's? I was thinking about running a set on the back, but I was a little worried about how much room there is for the tail pipes.

Qwik71442

I used to run 295/50/15's with 3" tailpipes but when they went slick I replaced them with 325/50/15's and still have roughly an 1" of clearance from the same tailpipes. oh, mine is with a 15x10 with 5.5 backspace

midrange

I'm looking to add some more tire to the rear of my '71 and am considering 295's also. Can we get some pics of some cars with them for ideas?

oldzzy

I guess I should've added that I am going to be using 15x8 SSIII's with 4.5" back spacing, and pypes 2.5" exhaust.

brownbomber77

Yes, everything fits. I have that wheel and tire and have almost an inch between the tire and frame rails and plenty of space for the exhaust.

oldzzy

Do you have any pics of your car brownbomber? Here's one that i think i got from this site somewhere.

71 OLDS

Shane,

a 295/50/15 tire is pretty short (26.7") vs a 275/60/15 or a 325/50/15 which are both 28" tall. If your car is lowered this could still look fine. But if not and you have that gap between the top of the tire and the chrome trim ring it looks terrible in my opinion.

Also there are other issues. If you get lowering springs to eliminate the gap you really will need to lower the front too in order to get a stance that looks "correct" front to back. Once you lower both the front and the back if you have headers, your headers will lose what little ground clearance they have. This could cause problems on speed bumps, going up steep hills or curved/steep driveways etc.

Also a short tire like that can cause issues with RPMs on the highway unless you adjust your rear end gear and/or an OD trans gearing accordingly. Bottom line it's a ton of adjustments to make that could all go away by starting with a 28" in the rear.

Just speaking from experience from trying out shorter tires in the rear on several of my cars in the past. I'll never do it again. If you've got the correct rear end gear, OD trans, custom tucked headers and/or exhaust manifolds, maybe your all set but just a word of caution if not.

-Joe

oldzzy

Thnx for the reply Joe. My car is lowered 2", I have a TKO600 trans, and the headers are ARH which tuck really tight to the floor. I was worried about the clearance between the tailpipes and the tires, cuz everything I have bought for this car doesn't seem to be an easy install, maybe I'll just stick with the 275's and be safe.

brownbomber77

Gah, sorry for taking so long. Here are the pics under my '77

yankees

I'm running a 295/65/15 on an 8 inch wheel with 4.25 backspace with no issues.

I want a set 295/55/15 drag radials for the smaller height as the rear end sticks too high in the air with the moroso rear springs. If anyone is looking for 295/65/15s let me know as they have around 30 miles on them and look new.

PL ENDO

where are you located?

RandyS

How much do you want for em?

yankees

$200

Fun71

On the other hand, it's similar to changing to lower rear gears (but a lot cheaper and easier). The short 245-60-14s make my 3.23 gears seem like 3.73 gears with 28" tall tires.

orange442

You should have no problems with clearance with the 15x8's and 295's. I have 315-35-17's on 17x11's w/6" bs on my 72 and have no clearance issues.

cdrod

Orange442:
That's exactly what I'm considering for my '72 ragtop project. Could you post a few pics of your car for my benefit? I'm a little unsure about going to a rim that's larger than 15" but the 17" rim opens up many more tire choices. Thanks!
Rodney