I have a 38 Chevy 2 door sedan with the 2" wider fiberglass rear fenders and wanted to see what size rims and tires other 38 Chevy owners are running. I currently have 15 X 8 with 255/60 r15 on the rear and they sit too far under the rear fenders. I have about 2" clearance between the tire and rear fender lip.
post some pics. what is the total width between inner side of fender and body? what is rear back spacing on existing wheels? have clearance problems now?
Current backspacing is 4" I have no issues just not enough wheel and tire to fill up the fender. Look at my profile picture you can see how far the tires are tucked under the rear fender. .
On my 38 sedan, I have stock fenders and run 15x8 with the same 255/60R15 tires size. You just need a spacer to get the tire out to the edge of the fender, or run a wider wheel and tire combo, with backspacing to center it within the fender.
I have a '37. I think you need a 28" tall tire. The ones you have now are about 27". You can use a wheel with 2" backspace, same width as you have now. Or a 2" wider wheel with the 4" backspace. I have a different width rear with 8.5" wheels and a 10" tire in a stock fender. I'd bet you could get a 12" tire in there with the correct backspace.
I also have 15x8" wheels on my 37 Chevy Sedan. My fender width is stock. The tires are 215/70/1 5 and the rearend if I remember came out of a mid 70's Camaro which was narrow enough to accommodate the stock fenders. Not sure what the width of the rearend in your car is, but with the wider fenders you do have more options.
...not what you wanna hear, but if that were mine, I'd put original rear fenders on it, never cared for the wide ones. as a note, 37 & 8 rear fenders interchange but 38's are wider from the centerline of the wheel opening to the rear by 1 inch.
...not what you wanna hear, but if that were mine, I'd put original rear fenders on it, never cared for the wide ones. as a note, 37 & 8 rear fenders interchange but 38's are wider from the centerline of the wheel opening to the rear by 1 inch.
Easiest thing for you to do is buy a reversed wheel. that will push the wheel out where you want it. Maybe go a size or two bigger on the tire, but that may change your performance a bit. Not knowing other things about your car I can't say how. Sometimes better and sometimes not so good.