I searched through the sticky and found a like at post #142 but it no longer works. There was another link, to the Holley website, but it only discussed finding the right wheel size. What I am looking for is the max tire size (radial p***enger car size of **X/**R15 for a factory 15" wheel for the 55/56 Ford p***enger cars. My concern would be the rear wheel well and of course the 6" width of the wheel itself. thanks in advance fellas...
There are charts like this but they are pretty vague and do not take into consideration the exact car, only the wheel to tire width. https://www.cokertire.com/blog/tire-size-cross-reference
Factory wheels are 5”. It also depends if your car is stock height. I have 215-75-15’s on 6” wide wheels and stock rear springs not lowered and just barely get them off using 2 jacks. Others experiences may vary.
This doesn't answer your question directly but gives an idea of how wide a tire you can stuff in the rear wheelwells. Member cka7 shoehorned a pair of Nitto 285/40R18's on 18x10 American Racing 5-spokes into the stock rear wheelwells on his '54 Customline. He said he trimmed about 1/4" off the inner lip and has to disconnect the shocks and let the rear hang to get 'em up in there but they fit and don't rub!
I guess you missed this in the "Sticky" https://www.racingjunk.com/news/how-to-get-perfect-rear-wheel-and-tire-fitment/ The problem with the stock wheels is the offset, using later model 15"steel wheels from mid 80's early 90's Crown Victoria's or Ford Rangers will get the wheels further into the wheel well and also allow for the disc brake upgrades.
I have 225/70R 15's on the rear and 215/70R 15's on the front of one of my stock '54 Fords but I am using the wider 80's to 90's Ford Crown Victoria wheels. The fronts fit fine but the rear tires can only be removed/installed with the tires deflated. They don't s****e once installed. I could make them easier to remove/install if I trimmed the inner lip of the wheel well about 1/4" but I would rather not do that.
As I spent a lot of years in the tire business back in the day, look for the lowest price tire in that size they will always have the same height but in most cases the section width will be slightly less giving you a bit more clearance.
i have been following the topic about tyre sizes ever since getting my vicky and although i will be staying with a y block and having an fmx converted to run instead of the fordomatic. but i have been thinking more and more about slightly narrowing the diff and altering the back space on the rear wheels......in all the discussions about the wheels i don/t recall seeing anything about altering the diff. has anybody done this or know of it being done?? or am i missing the obvious ?? i gotta admit it does sound too simplistic so got me wondering
jailbar Joe….You might be better off replacing the stock with something like the 8.8. Ford. There must a lot where you are as here. YouTubes show you how to narrow them without a lot of work. F-150’s had nice 11” drum brakes and you only need to make the cable hole slightly larger for the stock cable as it is metric to early Ford was in inches. The spring pads can be a slight problem depending on how close you want the brake back plate to the spring and the rim offset you are looking to use. Any problem can be over come.
Or you just click on this and scroll down to Post # 113 https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/faq-sticky.897329/page-4 Lots of great info in the "Sticky FAQ" thanks to all the members.
thanks for your reply jimmy six i agree with your quote....every problem has a solution. unfortunately those 8.8 explorers you mention are pretty thin on the ground over here, but i do have an an early falcon diff at hand and it is 2.92 from memory so will do the job i think......from the sounds of it my thoughts on shortened diff are a reasonable idea thanks for that cheers
hi jeffB2 you are right there is a ton of good info in the stickies,only problem is finding an 8.8 they are around BUT not as abundant as over there.....however it sounds like i am on the right track. thanks jeff
Joe is the Falcon diff like our 64-66 V8 Mustang 8” 5 lug? it’s almost a bolt in and plenty strong enough. There were 4 lug 6 cyl that are too weak.
Lots to wade through here, fellas! Thank you. Looks like I am going to have to double check the width of the wheels that I have bare at the moment. I thought they were 6" but maybe there are 5" from bead to bead. If I would just stop tinkering and leave well enough alone I wouldn't have all these questions...
66/67 falcon/ fairlane they are a standard fitment to these cars which came with v8 ,c4 auto and usually these combo's were 2.92 which will suit my application....i think
Just measured my originals - they are indeed 5". Not sure if Ford made a wider 6 or 7" wheel for that era...
I worked in a couple different tire stores in the late 60's and Firestone Wide Ovals were all the rage and started coming on OEM muscle cars in large quan***ies mid 60's. This is when wider wheels generally became available (6 inches was considered wide) for the 70 series profile tires. Later 60's the 60 series profile tires became available and 7 inch wheels started showing up more and more. A boss 351 1971 Mustang came with 15 X 7 steel wheels that would accept a 1955 Ford small hubcap but are very hard to find and expensive if you can find them. Some earlier wide wheels came on some police and ambulance packages but again, very hard to find. Even 6 inch wide 15 inch Ford disc brake wheels from the 60's are hard to find and expensive.
Try this site, https://www.automobile-catalog.com/tire/1955/744080/ford_country_sedan_station_wagon_v-8.html
made the measurements on my stock 1955 Ford wheels... 15", 4.5" lug spacing, 5" wide, 3.75" backspacing.
The Jalopy Journal
