Hey,

I posted a thread earlier about my '64 post car and throwing some 18's on it. I wanted to do a staggered fitment but after some research and help from this forum's members I decided that rather than get a little too close for comfort on clearance I would stick with my original plan to do 18x8's all the way around. I'm not extremely happy with it but I'm in love with my wheel choice and I don't want to compromise the brand to do a 17x7 and an 18x8.

ANYWAY...I was looking at my front tire last night and realized that I'm running a 225/70/14 in the front and a 255/60/15 in the back!!! I didn't even look at the front tire to make sure I was running the same size all the way around. I suck.

So...now that I've bored you to death with my stupidity here is my question....

If I run two different size tires on the same size wheel will it look ridiculous?

I'm thinking of doing a 235/45/18 in the front and a 255/45/18 in the rear. These tires will give me close to the same dimensions that I'm running now but I don't know if it translates from paper to practice.

PLEASE HELP AND THANKS FOR TOLERATING A TOTAL NOOB!

it wont look stupid at all. most run all of the same size wheels with staggered tire sizes anyway. id stick with all 18s, but your tire sizes are a little small. a 245 or 255 for the front and a 285, 295 or 305 (not sure about the 305 for a 64) for the rear. no use putting a 255 front tire on the rear.

Tim

it wont look stupid at all. most run all of the same size wheels with staggered tire sizes anyway. id stick with all 18s, but your tire sizes are a little small. a 245 or 255 for the front and a 285, 295 or 305 (not sure about the 305 for a 64) for the rear. no use putting a 255 front tire on the rear.

Tim


You think I could fit a tire that wide under the rear end? The 255/60/15's that are on it feel awfully tight under there. I could barely squeeze my index finger in between the sidewall of the tire and the rear fender lip.

you should have some more room to the inside. i may be wrong, but ive never heard of a 255 being tight in any A body. my 70 is a little different, but it will swallow a 305 with ease, and a 315 if it doesnt have a huge drop.

you should have some more room to the inside. i may be wrong, but ive never heard of a 255 being tight in any A body. my 70 is a little different, but it will swallow a 305 with ease, and a 315 if it doesnt have a huge drop.


64 and 65 - you can just squeeze in a 255/60/15.

i stand corrected then. i should have listened to the thread title. but thats a TINY tire for any horsepower level.

Tim

Thanks for all the insight guys. The wheels will probably be here either Thursday or Friday. I'm glad I held off on ordering any tires.

I'm still not sure exactly what size tire to run so I guess my best bet is to just go with the tire that is a close to the tires that are on it (dimensionally, of course).

I just hope a 235/45/18 in the front isn't going to be too skinny lookin'. I guess there's only one way to find out, right?

Thanks for all the insight guys. The wheels will probably be here either Thursday or Friday. I'm glad I held off on ordering any tires.

I'm still not sure exactly what size tire to run so I guess my best bet is to just go with the tire that is a close to the tires that are on it (dimensionally, of course).

I just hope a 235/45/18 in the front isn't going to be too skinny lookin'. I guess there's only one way to find out, right?


I posted to your other post a couple days ago with the tire sizes I am running and they fit well on my 65. I am not running a 8" wheel in front, I have a 18x7 in front and 18X8 in the rear.
The tire sizes are:
Front - 18x7 - 4.25 BS - Nitto 225/45/18
Rear - 18x8 - 4 BS - Nitto 255/45/18

The front have approx. 3.5" side wall and the Rear is 4" side wall. You can go onto Nitto's website and they will give you the overall height and width of any tire combo.

The early Chevelles are difficult to get any larger tire and wheel without alot of modifications.

Here is a picture - I don't have one uploaded with the front end on the car yet but maybe this will give you some ideas of what these tire sizes look like.

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/502/IMG_1609s.jpg

I've done a bit of measuring on mine to fit slicks. At most I have about 13" total width. It's been a few years now. I run slicks with a total width of 11.75, and it's tight. Make sure you leave at least 1/2" on both the inside and the outside for clearance.

Devin

I am not running a 8" wheel in front, I have a 18x7 in front and 18X8 in the rear.

My wheels are 18x8 all around with 4.5" backspacing.

Do you think I'm going to have any clearance issues in the front? I think I'll be okay in the rear and my tire guy said that I shouldn't have any issues anywhere but it seems like the more people on here I talk to the more worried I should be.

By the way, your tire size is awesome...I think that's what I'm gonna run with if I can get away with it.

Do you think I'm going to have any clearance issues in the front? I think I'll be okay in the rear and my tire guy said that I shouldn't have any issues anywhere but it seems like the more people on here I talk to the more worried I should be.

I would put jack stands under the suspension and put the wheels on the car. tape a paint stick or ruler a half inch out from the lip of the wheel on both inboard and outboard sides. Put the stick 4" above the wheel this will act as the tire. turn the front wheel from lock to lock and see if it is going to interfere with anything. Try to also account for some suspension travel.

I have a tool that measures for different wheel and tire combos and basically it is the same thing as what I outline above but it helps when you don't have a wheel and trying to determine what size wheel, offset, & tire is needed.

Hope it works out. I have been in your shoes with wheels and it is not any fun to think what you purchased won't work. But hopefully it will be just fine.
Let us know how it all works out.

I would put jack stands under the suspension and put the wheels on the car. tape a paint stick or ruler a half inch out from the lip of the wheel on both inboard and outboard sides. Put the stick 4" above the wheel this will act as the tire. turn the front wheel from lock to lock and see if it is going to interfere with anything. Try to also account for some suspension travel.

You know...that makes a whole lot of sense. Why didn't I think of that???