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I have 325-50/15 Nitto's with ZERO offset on the rear of a 1970 Cutlass. Pay more attention to TIRE clearance than wheel clearance.
.....Just my two cents worth.
Rick, Joe P has posted (Post #2) the best drawing to explain things. Thats the same one I have. Print out his drawing and use it to understand things. As I explained in the phone call, ZERO OFFSET will give you the least amount of problems, and with turning the front wheels.
I have:
15 X 10 61C 5X4.75 with a 5.5 BS CRAGAR SS with P295-50-R15 Radial T/A’s on the rear of my 1972 442! 15 X 7 61C 5X4.75 with a 4 inch BS CRAGAR SS with P235-60-R15 Radial T/A’s on the front No rubbing at all! OLE442
Last edited by OLE442; Dec 19, 2024 at 04:32 PM.
Reason: added text
I had a set of 295 50 15's on a 1971 Cutlass Supreme many years ago. I had a set of 10" wheels made with zero backspace. What I remember is the wheelwell was 14" wide or deep measured from the wheel well lip horizontally to the inner fenderwell. The tire tread was 12" wide which was fine going down the highway. Where I did have a problem is around town where I drove into a parking lot and they had a ramp across the sidewalk. The body would roll and the inside of the tire would rub the inner wheelwell. I got a lot of miles out of those tires and it wasn't enough to harm the tires. I did have the paint worn off the inside of the wheelwell. John
Folks on the forum here said I could go a size bigger than what I actually put on the car. I played it safe with a lesser tire due my issues back in the early 1970's with the L60 X 15 tires I put on the back of my 1967 GTO. I had every lift device known to man on that car but when I turned a corner, it chewed up the sidewall. Never want to do that again!!
Folks on the forum here said I could go a size bigger than what I actually put on the car. I played it safe with a lesser tire due my issues back in the early 1970's with the L60 X 15 tires I put on the back of my 1967 GTO. I had every lift device known to man on that car but when I turned a corner, it chewed up the sidewall. Never want to do that again!!
For reference, the wheel lips are typically 1/2" thick.
What this means is a 10" wide wheel with 0 offset has 5" inside & 5" outside of the wheel mounting surface.
Add 1/2" for the wheel lip & you have 5.5" backspace or an 11" wide wheel outside to outside.
This can vary slightly, but it's doubtful if more than 1/8".
No problems at all. I have 8” wide on the front. 225/60/15
People ask all the time if the car is tubed. Nope.
Are the fender openings rolled or trimmed back? I wouldn't do anything with the fender openings on my '72 so I didn't go as wide as some said I could. When I first installed the rear tires, they rubbed on the Flowmaster 2 1/2 pipes but I moved them a bit.
I want to thank everyone for their replies.
Thank you for the ohone call Ralph .
With all the information provided and some measurements it seems that a backspace of 5.5 with do the trick.
Now for the fronts... !
What I want is a 6" wide steelies BUT I want offset it to the fender a little more
Has anyone done this.
