Helping a friend figure out what offset will work on the rear of his '65 Ford Falcon? He's wanting to go with a 15x7 front and 15x8 rear. What wheels did you use? What offset? What size tires? Car is currently in paint shop, so can't go in and measure
A 15X8 will be a very tough fit. I had a '64 Comet (which has slightly roomier rear wheelwells compared to the Falcon) and a 15X7 with a 4.25" backspacing just fit using a 225/60-15 tire. That gave 'adequate' clearance... Keep in mind that there's enough 'production' variance on these cars that what fits one car may not fit the next one if you're pushing the envelope. I was lucky and got a tire store manager who was willing to spend some time fitting wheels/tires until we found a combination that worked. I then picked out wheels that met the specs I needed. I'll note that these wheels (all four the same) had a bit too much backspacing in front and interfered with my Global West control arms so a 1/8" spacer was needed. I had a '65 Falcon Sprint at the same time, and the 14X6 (with a 3.5" backspacing) wheels on that car with 225/70-14 tires didn't have much more room than the Comet. The wheel off the Comet would have needed the fender lip rolled or removed to prevent rubbing. YMMV...
I had to trim the fender lip to fit 14"x 7" Cragar wheels with 215-70 tires. I doubt 8" wheels would fit without a narrowed rear end.
If you want to lo-buck it, 2005-2009 OEM Mustang wheels fit.... These are a 16x7, have the right bolt pattern, and full sets can be got for $200-300 if you shop a bit....
I have these same wheels for my 65. Do you happen to know what wheel spacers are needed for these? I plan on using stock suspension with the Shelby drop. Any tips /advice is greatly appreciated! Tia!
I am running 15 x 7's with 4-1/4 backspacing on my '60. 195/60-15. That said, my rear axle is 1/2" wider than stock, as is my front suspension. I am running front wheel arches in the rear, and handmade outer wheel houses. They would have fit in the rear with a well-rolled lip, but would have it the outer wheel houses with how low I am running it, but I would have had to perform suspension gymnastics to change a tire. After 1963 there is a little more room in there, as has been mentioned. At least on my setup, there is more room inboard, so a deeper backspacing would help with a wider tire/wheel. I would speculate that another inch going inboard would still be fine, but that would be a really deep backspacing, which, incidentally, those late model Mustang wheels just might be.
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