Tire Size and Backspacing with Pics

[73Vert302]

Hello all!! I have recently installed new tires and wheels that I feel are correct for 15" rims. It was not without a few mistakes along the way. I know there are a lot of threads out there that address this subject-and THANKS to all the previous posters on this subject. I just wanted to share my experience.

For the tire size I am running 275-60-15 on the rear and 245-60-15 on the front.

Backspace in the rims for our cars is critical for a correct fit. Dont just go out and buy rims that look good. You need the correct backspacing to allow the rims to tuck up under the car. Most sellers on ebay or CL dont list the backspace. I recently purchased some Outlaw II rims for my rear with 3-1/2 backspace x 8-1/2 wide. What I had were tires that extended well outside the wheel wells. Plus they rubbed when going over a dip or pothole.

Here is the car with them on:

The front are 15 x 7 with 3-1/2 backspace and fit pretty well. Its hard to tell but the back tires stick out a lot.

Now here is what I ended up with:

These rims are 15 x 8 all around with 4-1/2" backspacing. I feel this is correct for those of us that want to run bigger tires on a 15" rim.

 

[timachone]

Thank you for sharing!

That's what I am in too. My car has now almost the same rim and tire combination like yours in first picture and in the back it is too much. I have 14x7 with 235/60R14 in the front and 15x8 with 275/60R15 in the back.

I want to change that!

Yours looks really good now ::thumb::

 

[73Vert302]

Thank you for sharing!

That's what I am in too. My car has now almost the same rim and tire combination like yours in first picture and in the back it is too much. I have 14x7 with 235/60R14 in the front and 15x8 with 275/60R15 in the back.

I want to change that!

Yours looks really good now ::thumb::

Thanks Tim. I appreciate the kind remarks! It made a huge difference in the handling as well.


Just for comparison, here is my car with the 14" Dog Dish Rims:

 

[timachone]

I like the look of them very much too - but unfortunately I need it a little bit wider in the back too...

So you have done the right way in my opinion ::thumb::

But - somehow every rim-combination looks good on your car - it is not like that on every other...

 

[73Vert302]

It was a hard decision to go away from the dog dish rims, but they were just overall too small for my taste. I really loved the dog dish rims though.

 

[Mikes73]

Your vert looks great with the new wheels, excellent choice.

 

[MeZapU]

You could always have a place widen the dog dish wheels to whatever width and backspace you want.

 

[73Vert302]

Your vert looks great with the new wheels, excellent choice.

Thanks!