Was wondering on a traditional build running full fenders. Lincoln brake drums and 5” front drop & 2” rear drop. What offsets really work well? Was thinking 16x7 - 2-1/2 O.S rear & 16x4 1-1/2 O.S front using 35 wire set up all around? Any pro’s or con’s would help before purchase would help. Thanks. Hogan
16x8?! Way too wide. I think it seems to work best on old Ford derived suspensions to use centered wheels.
Are you trying to build a 1970s styled car or something from another era? The '35 style wires are not 8" wide. Are you planning on cutting them out of their original rims and welding them into new ones? None of the changes you've made warrant 8" wide wheels. They don't really "push the envelope"; they're pretty tame and common, TBH.
That looks damn good the way it is. I’d just finished it and get on the road. Or have Anthony drop by, I’ll bet he’d drive it.
I've done a couple sets if early for customer cars both used stock 35 wires on the front with 500/16 Excelsiors and on the rear 18 inch 32 wires widened about 2 inches on the inside with 700/18 Excelsiors. Makes a great combination on a highboy or full fendered early Ford,
Thanks, I’ve seen this set up. 18” on rear and 17” up front. Rims were out of Wheelsmith. Thank you for the input. Never thought of the Excelsiors brand tire. Could be an option.
Be careful not to interchange offset and backspacing. The former is how far, plus or minus, the wheel mounting surface deviates from the center line of the wheel. The latter is how far the wheel mounting surface is from the inner lip of the wheel. A 16" x 4" wheel with 4-1/2" of offset would look like a front wheel on a dually truck, with the wheel mounting surface 2-1/2" past the OUTER lip of the wheel A typical 16" x 4" is centered, as in 0" offset, or 2" backspacing. For another example, a 15" x 10" -1.5" offset, or 3-1/2" backspacing.
Thank you great point. I did goof on my post on front your correct on front at 1-1/2 or zero, rear’s could use 2-1/2 just to keep tire at fender. Seems to be the norm.
thats how I measure back space, wheel company's measure from the top of the lip... not from where the tire mounts... some times that 1/2'' throws the whole wheel off for me...
Backspace should be measured from the inner edge of the wheel lip. If you don't measure it this way you will always get a figure that is at odds with the standardized method used by wheel manufacturers.
The Jalopy Journal
