Hot Rods 57 Chevy front wheels with aluminum ball joint spacers

What is the widest wheel that you are running on a 55-57 Chevy with the aluminum ball joint spacers? I currently run 4 inch wide Cragars on the front. I would like to run 200S American mags on the front but am not sure what is the widest wheel that I can get away with running without interference between the upper a arm/wheel.

 

Measure it.
Divide wheel diameter that by 2. Use a square with that measurement centered with the spindle and measure back

that’s a back space starting point for looking up a wheel backspace

 

What size 200S's, 6's or 7's?

 

I run 15x7 200S on the back. I would like to run 6’s in the front.

 

I'm thinking that the issue you might run into is sidewall to A arm clearance.
When you raise the end of the A arm up with the spacer it gets right in the area where the tire side wall usually wants to be. I think that was the problem with probably the only setup like that I ever saw when I was still living in Texas. Some guy around McGregror had either bought a car with a set or put a set on and the A arm chewed up the sidewalls of the tires. I saw the end results after he blew a tire. I'm thinking in that case he took the skinny front runners off and put some 70 or 60 series tires on it.

Still wide front wheels and tires don't jive with the gasser look.

 

Notes for the 6" wheel say's center's are placed @ true center of the hoop. Sounds right since back space is stated to be 3 1/2" which would include lip.

 

The wheel width won't be the problem, the backspacing will, and also depending on disc or drum brakes. Just as an example, my '56 has aluminum balljoint spacer's and big block spring's, 15X7 rims with 3.50" backspacing and 6.70-15 BFG bias ply's. When I had disc brakes in front everything cleared fine because the WMS of the rotors was 1" wider per side than the drums. When I went back to drum's in front I had to use 1.25" spacers to get the necessary clearance between the sidewall of the tire and the upper control arm. It's not the greatest fix, but it's not the end of the world, either. I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you find a pair of wheels you like, you can always make them fit, but the backspacing is what is going to bite you in the end. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. I have the stock drums on now but plan on switching to the disc brakes that set the wheel out about an inch. Hopefully the 200S wheels will work out. Of course I would like to run 4’s but I think those are nearly unobtainable in the 200S style wheel.

 

I seen 4’s still being available.