Did I make a bad choice?

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Joined
Jun 14, 2019
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Location
Coachella Valley (Palm Springs)
My Car
1973 Convertible, 351 4v CJ, C6, Mach 1 Decor options, power: steering, brakes and windows, a/c, Rally Pac gauges, Deluxe interior.
[url=https://ibb.co/ZVjjKXW][img]https://i.ibb.co/zrMMbxG/s-l1600-2.jpg[/img][/url]
I ordered 15”x7” w 4” backspace wheels and 245 R60-15 tires. Looking over the warnings and instructions my installer points out the “once mounted you own them” provisions for both. He’s concerned they’ll hit the fender when turning.

What sayeth the great minds? More backspace? Smaller tires? (Prior were 235 but 14”)

Stock 48 year old suspension.

 
I am no expert but 245 seems too wide for the fronts...

For what it’s worth a buddy had 235/14’s on the front of his 67 mustang and they rubbed around corners...but I guess it really depends on your rims spacing and offset.

Interestingly enough, I took my car out to a local show this weekend after being parked for ~2 years for interior replacement, (about 45 minutes drive at highway speeds each direction).  As I was floating around on the highway, I remembered that my Michelin Sport EP-X tires (that I bought in the mid 1980’s and are no longer made by Michelin) were somewhere around 30 years old and were well beyond the 10 year recommended replacement.  My car was parked for about 28 years before I restored the body in winter of 2018, so the tires have tons of tread....but the age of that rubber...yikes. No issues getting home, but I slowed down a bit just in case.

Anyways it turns out that this morning I was able to find 14” BF Goodrich Radial TA’s here in Alberta, Canada both p235/60 r14 for the rear and p215/60 r14 for the front to go on my vintage Cragar SS rims.   I was initially thinking that I would have to get larger rims and was thinking Magnum 500’s....but with just buying tires, it saved me about Cdn$1,600.

To be honest, it floored me that BF Goodrich was still making 14” radial TA’s and that they had about a half dozen of each in stock here in Alberta, Canada.  I told the seller that I was going to looking hard at the manufacture date when these tires come in...as if the manufacturers date was old I was not taking them...

I guess it doesn’t hurt to ask, as I was told that from time to time certain tire manufacturers make oddball sizes to fill out of favour tires.

Good luck with your selection, I hope they work for you.

cheers

 
Seems his concerns were perhaps for naught. Thanks y’all — I knew I’d seen that config in other posts and no issues mentioned 👍

 
245/60/15 on 7" wheels will give a slight polish to the top of the bolt that holds the steering box on hard left turns. You won't hear or feel it.

You can run 235s to be safe.  I think 245s  look better.  

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245/60R15's on 15x7's, backspace is about 3.25". I get some contact at the lower valence corner on the right side when turning left. I haven't driven much with these and it only happens at close to full lock on the right side. If I understand it correctly, increasing the backspace from my 3.25" to your 4" is pulling the rim/ tire inboard, which should give more clearance where I am having the issue. I have another pair of wheels that have about 3.75" of BS so I will probably swap wheels over the winter.

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I'm running 255/60R15 on 15X8 w/4.25" backspace in the front. I get a slight rub in the frame rail by the steering box on hard left turns. 

Reminder not to use original alignment specs with radial tires. You want as much positive caster as can be dialed in. If the tire makes contact with the front valance, you can rock the upper arm back with shims under the front shaft bolt. This moves the upper ball joint rearward, giving you more positive caster without adjusting the strut rod.

https://opentrackerracing.com/technical/

 
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