1947 Plymouth rear tire size question

Hi Everyone,

I have recently acquired a really nice 47 Plymouth Special Deluxe Coupe with a sbc, 350 turbo trans and a 10 bolt from a Camaro. My question is, what is the largest size tire I can safely stuff in the rear wheel well?

I am thinking of using a 15" rim and the rear is currently drum break.

Any advice would help, thanks!

 

I have 15" wheels with 235 75 15 on my Desoto. It is a pretty tight fit and a little wrangling to get the wheel on. I will have to roll the fender the least little bit when I get it back on the road.

 

I am going to try a few different options this weekend and I will post results. I have a few friends willing to swing by with their rims/tires and we will test fit them, weather permitting!

Quick measuring looks like a 225/70/15 will fit................maybe

 

I have 205/75/15's on mine with the stock rear and stock wheels. It could definitely go with a bigger tire if I switched to a little wider wheel

 

235/70/15s on 15"x8" with custom backspace of 2 1/2"

It's lowered 3" in the back and I have 1 5/8" clearance to the lip of the fender and 1/7/8" clearance to the inside. No rub at all, easy to get on and off.

 

I'm running a 245 / 60 on the back of mine. Very tight fit but it doesnt run. Not even in hard corenering.

 

WOW thanks for the info!

Smokeybear, did you roll the lip?

Chopped 51, wow that is awesome! Stock wheel well? Back spacing? Rolled lip?

I love the look of the big tire!

Thanks

 

BTW hkestes, very nice !

Close ups of the set ups would be great everyone,

 

I have a 245/60-15 on an 8" wheel, on a '66-'67 Charger rear end with Cadillac rear disc brakes positively STUFFED under the rear fenders of my car, and surprisingly they don't rub. Just don't ask me to remove them for fun...

 

Nope, no rolled lip. Easy to install and remove and no rubbing. Here's a pic of the inner side.



and a pic of the front of the quarter when the car is jacked up.

 

I have 235/70/15 on my '48. That's a tight squeeze.

 

225 75 15 on 5 inch rims with 3.75 backset stock rear end. With stuff in the trunk I get a bit of rub on sharp turns, but I believe its related to need of rear spring bushings. Been told that 7 inch wide mopar police spec wheels were about max for stock set up.

 

Smokeybear how much did you drop the front?

 

I cut a coil and a half, dropped it about 3"-3 1/2". It's got a nice rake.

This pic shows the rake a little better, it's before the wheel change but you get the picture.. (pun intended)

 

NICE! Did you use blocks in the rear to lower it?

 

I'm running 235/75/15 mounted on Mopar cop rims on 50 Plymouth lowered a couple of inches. No problems other than a bit tight to get wheels on/off.


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Yup, 3" blocks.

 

On my 1941 Plymouth Coupe I had Wheel Vintique 15 x 7's Chrome Smoothies, standard backspace and there was about 1" clearance on both sides of the 235/75 x 15 Coker Cl***ic Radial tyres stock rear end and brakes.......and if you decide to widen the rear fenders 2" all round then you can fit 15 x 10" mags and 275 x 15 T/A's....that's whats on the 1940 Dodge, plenty of clearance also........lol...............andyd .....

 

Wow I am digging the wide rear tire look but I think the 235 area is where I am headed. Any back spacing hints?

 

Smokeybear that looks just awesome. I am ***uming you cut the stock coils and not Aerostar coils?

 

yup stock coils, When I down the car for the winter, I'm going to install the scarebird kit for the front disk brakes and I'm going to cut loose the lower mounting area of the A-arm and move it to the bottom. I'll install aerostar coils then and see how much I need to cut them if any.

 

Its really all about the width of that 12 bolt. Mine has a 9" and I had to completely remove/roll my lip to fit my 15x7 smoothie wheel. However if I had custom back spacing I could go inboard a good 3+ inches! I'm not exaggererating to say I could fit a 10" wheel! But I would have to narrow the rear end or get custom back spacing! But I'm actually planning on radiusing the rear wheel wells...more hot rod than custom!
Smokeybear your car looks great by the way!

 

Not sure how well this picture shows it but these 205 75 15s are crammed in there!

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Thanks man, I love these old fat fendered girls.
BTW, I got the fronts on today, here's some really ****py pictures of it.

 

I am in final fit up on mine. Found a early Ford Bronco 9" that was very narrow, had to re drill the axles to a. 5x 4-1/2 bolt pattern.

Major issue with tire size is body roll on corners with the leaf springs. There is lots of roll and most tires over 205's could hit the the inner wheel well.

Used a triangulated 4 link, no roll or side to side movement. I stuffed 255-60 15" tires on custom back spacing wheels.

 

Ok, One coil is cut and the other will be done tomorrow. I will post pictures as I go and list the parts and steps taken, the trial and errors and more! Maybe a new build post is in order!