Here is my 56, i traded this for a Harley on Craigslist, best thing i ever did! I have done a lot of fabrication on early Ford stuff but am not that familiar with the 55/56 Mainline. I have done a lot of surfing on OEM wheels and would like to go with a more traditional 50's cruiser look. I have looked on the HAMB and the best i can figure i need 15*7 on the front and 15*8's on the back. With a 5*4 1/2 bolt pattern.The thing Im unsure about is the offset. Any help would be Much appreciated!
OK, first, I dig your car. It trips all my buttons. Bitchin' Y-block! If you Google wheel backspacing you will come up with some info on how to figure what you need. http://www.hotrod.com/muscle_car_review/mscp_1204_how_to_fill_fenders/ http://www.mustangsplus.com/tech/backspacing/index.html http://www.automedia.com/Filling_Fenders_with_Fatter_Tires/ccr20100301ff/1 For my '58 I ordered Stockton Wheels “Milner” model wheels with14x7 up front and 15x8 with custom 5.5” backspacing in the rear. Tires are Mickey Thompson Indy profile, F70 in front and G60 in the rear. Rear wheels and tires are centered in their wells and are the max you can get without cutting or moving the stock suspension/diff/fenders. It gets to be a problem if you are trying to find used vintage wheels with a specific backspacing.
Locate a set of 15" wheels from a mid 80s New Yorker. Perfect fit front and rear without rubbing wheel wells.
The '56 Fords have tight rear wheelwells. I installed some 235/75/R15 radials on OEM 15 X 6 '72 Ford Galaxie wheels and the tires scraped on both the outside and inside under the right conditions. Measure very carefully....
Cool ride - good trade. if you are planning to lower, do brake upgrade, etc. to your car may want to wait and do that before rushing into new wheels/tires. have to allow for tighter clearances. measure the tires and wheels that you have now. check ads here, and place a wanted ad too once you figure out exactly what you want to run. also, check with vendors here.
You can fit a 7" wide wheel in a '56 but it's super tight and you gotta have just the right tire and backspacing to make it fit, and that's assuming you have the stock width rearend. I have a '52 Ford which is lowered 3" in the back and even a 215-75-15 on a 5.5" wide wheel is really hard to change out in the rear, it's tight in there. Really though, 7" and 8" wide wheels are more 70's period correct than 50's. A 50's car would run it's original rims (which were 5.5" wide) with caps or maybe chromed steel wheels in a 6" width. Unless you were running drag slicks, there wasn't really a tire made for a rim wider than 6" in the 50's. Nothing wrong with wider wheels per-se, but what you're describing isn't really a 50's look.
Thanks Steve for the heads up, I defiantly don't want that! And Squa, i appreciate the advice, i am defiantly no expert and this is new to me so your advice is much appreciated!
I've got 8" wheels with 235/60/15's all around on my 56. I did have to bend the rear quarters a little to stop the rubbing in corners and the rear end is 4 inches narrower than stock so I had to go with 2½" backspace on the rear to miss the leaf springs. I'm happy with it though.
I would like to try a 255/60 15 on a 15x7 (setup rearend housing to match). The sidewalls would start 1/2" narrower on each side; think I'll make it? Is that 8" wheel a little wide up front?
Stop by here,you'll enjoy the ride! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/social-forums/1952-59-ford-social-group.282/
Find a set of 1980s Chrysler New Yorker wheels. They are 15x7 inch wheels. I've had a set of these on both of my '56 Fords. They are painted blue in this pic with a set of cheater slicks. They did not rub.
I don't think it's too wide, I get a tiny bit of rub in a tight turn at low speeds (-5 mph) but nothing to be concerned about.
The key to getting wheels off the rear is to have shocks with enough travel to them. The parts jockey stores sell shocks that are too short and they will hold the rear up. Mine allow for the wheels to be taken straight off. I used to have to reach behind and take the drum off just to get the tire and wheel out.
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