Hey guys, I've searched the net to no avail. What I'm looking for is the tool that the guys on horsepower tv used to measure the backspace needed for the tire they had selected for I believe it was project king fish. If you already have a tire selected for your application, this tool fits inside the tire and you mount it to the hub or axle flange, you can then slide the tire closer, or farther away from the car and the tool will tell you how much backspace you need on your rim. Any help appreciated, thanks, Brad.

You don't need that special tool to measure your backspacing. A flat piece of angle stock can be used very easily. Do a search on my userid, I've explained how to do this.

I know what he's talking about. It's a tool to measure what you can fit on the car, not what the backspacing of a particular wheel is. I've seen one that allows you to mount the tire and shift it back and forth to see how/if it fits, and another that uses a piece of wire to mock up the silhouette of the tire. I can't find the things on the web, either, but I have print-outs at home of both of the gauges. I'll try to dig them out when I get home from work.

Thanks Kevin, I hope you find them. I'm going crazy trying to find it.

here you go

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/92318/index.html

OK, got it, sorta.
The one that can mount a tire is caller the Wheel Works Tire MountMate. The website is http://www.wheelworks.cc/ but it appears to be down. No idea on the price, but it appears to be marketed toward wheel and tire shops
From a Google cached Popular hotrodding article (http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:khiA44WWsSo J:popularhotrodding.primediaautomotive.com/archive/tech/0502_tech02.shtml+wheelworks+mount+mate&hl=en&start=7&ie=UTF-8):
Wheel Works
140 Hope Dr., Dept. SC
Daphne, AL 36526
(866) 499-6757
www.wheelworks.cc (http://www.wheelworks.cc)
.
The other one that uses a wire to profile the tire is called the Wheelrite from Percy's High Performance (http://www.percyshp.com - but I can't find it there) according to an article in the Nov. 2002 Car Craft. They say it's about $300.

Thanks Kevin, that's exactly it. Your right about wheelworks, even their phone number is disconnected. I did find it through a google search, but on a UK website that does call it a mount mate and that its made my mister tee. I'll keep searching. It's just that I know what size tire I want to run and this tool would allow a test fit without mounting tire to rim, and would also let me know what backspace to order on my new rims.

Good news, a local tire company has one. Looks like I'll be working with them on ordering tires/rims. Thanks again guys, this was just something that I had stuck in my head and it was driving me crazy until I found it.