Hey guys Starting to get back to working on my girlfriend's 57 bel air moredoor. The previous owner put 4 wheel disc on it which is cool, but they don't work so great with the stock 14s. We are looking to go 15s with bias ply wide whites. stock tire diameter is like 26", does anyone know if we can safely run a 6.70x15? 6.70 is a little over 28.5". Any help would be awesome. Thanks!
to answer your question, yes. they might look a little big though, but probably only to someone who is really particular about that kind of thing. but why not just go to 14" disc brake wheels and 7.50-14s?
I'm not sure as to your tire size, but I think it's a good idea purely from a styling perspective to go to a 15" wheel. I never understood why automakers went to 14s that year. The 15" wheel looks so much better on a full-sized car like that. Same can be said for Fords as well. It fills out the wheel well more, a small change that makes a big difference
The '55 & '56 Chevs used a 15" wheel, and the overall tire size was 27" tall. You would be going quite a bit bigger at 28.5". Any particular reason you want to go that big? Since the '55-'57 have many similarities body/chassis wise, you would probably be good with a 27" tall tire. May I ask why you are set on bias ply over using a radial tire? Nice looking '57. Are you going to run the '57 dog dish caps on it, or something else? Gotta56forme/Scott
I put a 29" rear tire on my 57 and it was full, not much room left. I know you want Bias for the look (Coker makes the radials that look like Bias but there size selection is limited to 560 and 670 I believe).
A buddy of mine in high school had a '57 Chev 4 dr. His dad hated 14" wheels, so the car had 15" wheels with '56 Bel-Air wheelcovers. The 6.70 x 15 are the stock tire size for '55-'56 Chevrolets, so they will work just fine. Average height of a 6.70 x 15 is 27.5 " http://www.dbtires.com/crossreference.html I like the fact you're running bias ply since this is, after all, a traditional rod & custom site. http://www.classicchevy.com/chevy-t...ilvertown-with-2-1-2-whitewall-1955-1956.html Love that Dusk Pearl color! Nice ride!
You could probably go with a 7.75 x 15 and be fine with it. I think it fills out the wheel wells a bit more. I believe the police cars used this size. There are tire charts online with everything that you may need.
Wow thanks for all the replies! We are looking at 15s because we want to eliminate the giant wheel spacer that's used to clear the 14s in the back. Plus tire selection, plus the look. She likes the look of the bias plies, I've seen the radial bias lookalikes, but they are out of our price range, hard to justify $300 each. Sounds like the 6.70s will work. I think she's looking at spiders with beauty rings on black steelies. Maybe like a 2 3/4 whitewall. I'm thinking maybe a set of 57 cad caps as an alternate set. Any recommendations on specific tires would be great too. Currently looking at the firestones. Thanks again guys -Karl
Sorry for the crappy pic, I slapped my old G78 15's on my lady's wagon while I was working on it. They looked perfect size to me, this is on a stock 15" steel wheel off my 52 Chevy Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Thanks lone star. Exactly what I was looking for! Car looks good and they fill out the wheel well nicely.