I have a 1972 Chevelle SS. I am going to be changing my original wheels to the big and little tire style. I will be using BF Goodrich radial T/A tires 215/65r15 front and 275/60r15 back. I'm going to be using 15x7 front and 15x8 back weld draglites. Can someone please tell me what backspacing I should use.

I would go with 15x10 with 5.5 back spacing Y
ou will be able to get more tire under it.

[This message has been edited by blaauboer (edited 03-23-2002).]

[This message has been edited by blaauboer (edited 03-23-2002).]

15 x 10s are too large for a 275/60/15. You need a 15 x 8 with 4.5" of backspacing. As for the front, with 15 x 7s I believe 4" of backspacing should be fine.

BK72SS,Have you bought the wheels and tires yet?????.

I would agree that the 15x10 would be a bit too large. You would have to cut and/or roll the lip quite a bit. If it would work at all. 15x8 with a 4.5" backspacing should give you about 1/4" to spare taking into account tire buldge. Of course that is an estimate using my 70 as a reference.

Just make sure you sit down with tape measure and get every measurement you can think of. Then go buy the wheels and tires.

I am playing that game right now too. Really like the American Racing Torq-Thrust II's. The 15x8 with the standard backspacing (3.75") may cause rubbing with a 245 or 255 and I don't have the cash to get custom backspacing on those. If anyone out there has used a similar combo with these rims it would be great if I could get some info.

Is there a chart out there that lists rim widths/tires/backspacing combos that work? If not then I know it would be quite the task but it might be something www.chevelles.com (http://www.chevelles.com) could provide us with. It would save a lot of time and headaches.

Sorry about the lengthiness of the reply.

No, I wasn't saying that a 15x10 wheel wouldn't work or is too big, I was saying that a 275/60 tire is too small for that rim. There wouldn't be any wheelwell interference problems or cutting and rolling of any kind because a 275/60 tire is sigificantly narrower than the 295/15 or 28x12.5 that would normally be used with a rim of that size.

Bottom line: if you want to use 275/60s, use a 15x8 rim with 4.5" backspacing. No interference problems.

If you want to use a 295/50 or something of that larger width, use a 15x10 with 5.5" BS. That also should not present any interference problems.

For a general rule when it comes to backspacing issues, with respect to Chevelles it appears that a wheel with neutral(zero) offset is best (or at least pretty close). That is, the mounting flange is centered. So, for a 10 inch rim, you want 5.5" of BS. For a 9", you need 5" of BS. For 8", 4.5 of BS. For 7", 4" of BS.

Take the rim width, add 1" and divide by 2.

[This message has been edited by Larry (edited 03-27-2002).]

O.K. guy's I'm with larry ,I have tried almost every tire combo ,So If you want the fat and skinny look, go with the 10 inch wheel. it's not that much more I have tried 245/255/265/275/295s and now have 325s on my car .The problem with a stock back space is that you can not get a fat tire under the car, a 275/50/15 on a stock wheel will work fine because it's not that tall but still pretty fat ,I have thrusts IIs on my car in this picture is with a 15x10 /5.5 backspace with a 295/50/15 , Same wheel but now i have 325s on the car.

Sorry here's my picture.

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http://hometown.aol.com/blaauboer/myhomepage/photo.html

That is one great looking Chevelle! What are the dimensions for the wheels and tires on the front? Thank you for the info.

Blaauboer that's is one fine looking car you have there :cool. What color is it? My will be needing a paint job soon http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif.

The front wheels in the picture are 15x8 standard backspacing ,Tires are 265/50/15s .

The color is silver stone met.It is a honda color, (2000) model year, S2000 roadster conv.

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http://hometown.aol.com/blaauboer/myhomepage/photo.html

Thanks for the color info.