I'm looking for tire and wheel info my 50 ford shoebox..im gonna be running steelies and wide whites....some say 15x5 some say 15x6, , but they barely fit, ,,,215's , 165's etc......let me know what youre running and a pic would be cool........thanks HAMB'ers
I have '50 Coupe and am running 16 x 7 MkVII alloys ( I know...OT) with 215/65-16 tires. The 7" wheels are too wide and I experimented with backspacing. If I use more BS, as these are, tires rub the inner wheel housing when turning into a slope driveway. Less back spacing and they are too close to the wheel opening lip. Both issues are on the rear, of course. Anyway, my take is that up to 6" wheel width could be accommodated with appropriate backspacing and I find the 215 tires fit fine otherwise, though 205 might be a better choice. Ray
I have a future shoebox project & will be watching this thread for info on tire/wheel options. Thanks to all who give input.
If you have it lowered then you will probably find the 205's will be the biggest you should go. 215's and you will probably get tire rub unless you have a rear sway bar.
It depends on what you have done with the suspension, rear end, and how much you have lowered the car. If lowered significantly, and running the stock rear or something with close mount to mount distance, you will pretty much have to stay with the stock width rim and backspacing. If you did something with the front, like adding disc brakes you need to check the center hole diameter on the rim to make sure it will clear the hub. There are so many variables it is hard to give you an exact choice without knowing more.
I had 15x6 wheels and 215-75 radial tires on a '50 Ford coupe about 15 years ago. The 6-inch wheels looked good but did not allow clearance to run fender skirts in the rear so if you want skirts you might want to stick with 5-inch wheels. The tires did not rub but the rear end was sitting at stock height and the front was only lowered 3 inches. The 215-75 tires were okay, but a bit tall for the car. If I did it again I'd have bought 205-75 tires. Remember, though, that tire diameter and width vary from brand. I just took a set of 215-75 Goodyear radials off of my Chevy and replaced them with 205-75-15 Toyo/Diamondback tires and they are EXACTLY the same height but the Goodyears were noticeably wider. Side by side there was a very big difference in cross section. So one brand 205 might look just right on your Ford and another brand might look a bit short.
I've put 225x15 with a stock ford 6 in rim off a 70's ford. Haven't driven the car yet but i like the fatty tires. Car has areostar frt springs and 3 in blocks in the rear. Rear has to be jacked up on the frame in frt of the rear springs to stretch out the springs to get the wheels off thou.This is with a maveric rear end.
I'm running 215/75-15 Diamondbacks on Rally America 15 x 6 steelies. My car has a Nova clip and a wider-than-stock front track, so I had to fool with offsets to get it right, but they fit very nicely. They do rub the front wheel openings on full lock, but I think it's just settled a little in the years that it's been together. Whitewalls are 2 1/2", which I like, but Diamondback will make them whatever width you want. Here's the car:
I run Ford Ranger steelies with 205-70/15 radials. Stock front end lowered with cut Aerostars and 3" blocks on a Maverick rearend.
3" whitewalls went out of style in the mid-to-late '50s. If you prefer the look of the early '50s, OK, but I prefer the slightly narrower 2 3/8" or 2 1/2" which were in use by '56 or so. The '56 in my avatar has 2 3/8" WWs on 205s. Here's the shoebox with 2 1/2" on 215s. (Photobucket finally woke up!)
<<<3" whitewalls went out of style in the mid-to-late '50s. If you prefer the look of the early '50s, OK, but I prefer the slightly narrower 2 3/8" or 2 1/2" which were in use by '56 or so.>>> I've seen the 3" whitewalls, and 3"+...remind me of pearl-handled switchblades, gold teeth, and large drop-brim hats...
^^ I have a similar reaction, but a little different. I don't think of gangsta or zoot suits so much (when I see the superwide whites), but they are a fashion that went out during the early years of my enthusiasm, so they have seemed lame to me for my whole lifetime. Wearing Levi's with the bottoms turned up in one huge cuff is another example of "already out" fashion; there are others.
Here is a view of my naked, but "in work" sectioned shoebox club coupe that just got fitted with wide white booties....(6.70-14's)....no zoot suits here.
Here's my '51. 185/75-15 Coker Classics on the original wheels (5") on the front, 225/75-15 Coker Classics on some later 5 1/2" Ford wheels in the rear. The rear suspension is stock and I have Aerostar springs in the front. The right rear is fine, but the left rear hit the outer fender on a hard right turn. I loosened the rear suspension up and shook everything around and it didn't help. I even switched the springs side for side and the problem persisted. I finally gave up and removed about 1/4" from the inside of the fender lip on the left side. It will still hit slightly if I'm overly ambitious on right turns, but I can live with it.
I'm running 205/75/15 with the stock steelies on my 3" lowered '49 Club Coupe. I've put several thousand miles on it with no rubbing.
Put 205/75/15 diamondback 2.5 inch whitewall with 15x5 steel wheels all around on my Dad's 51'. Very pleased with result.