My 1939 Packard Six Club Coupe was built in the mid-nineties. I would like to improve the proportions of the wheel/tire. Currently the front tires are 205/70R15 while the rears are 31x18.5xR15. I would like to go with 225/40R18 on the front and an R20 in the rear, both keeping close to the overall diameter of the existing tires. I like the looks of the American VF506 wheels. Problem I'm having is with the tire width on the rear, widest I have been able to find are 13.5", which even with a 2" spacer leaves too big of a gap between the rear tire and fender on each side, and I don't want to mess with the Ford 9". I know I can make up some of the distance with offset, but I would like to move the spokes out some, so they are not so recessed. I would appreciate thoughts on options for the rear tires. TIA.
It's a tubbed pro street car, and you want to put more more road race type tires on it....kind of hard to do, without redoing the rearend. And then the car is going to be a ??? style car. You might be better off looking for some 1970s/80s style wheels, which would match the pro street look better.
Be aware that the shorter sidewall tires are going to ride rougher and are prone to getting bent/broken.
And I have a set about 5 years old and have bent 2 of them. And they still ride like **** on an old car.
I have also been looking at tires and the usual sites are trash for finding sizes because they want you to select width, then profile and then diameter, before they show results. This is annoying, because it's like guessing and you don't know if you have hit or not until the end. What I did was call and talk to one of the manufacturers. They all should have a tech line. Explain what you currently have, both size and hopefully actual measurements (width and height), and also what you would like to find as replacement, again with actual measurements. I talked to a very helpful gentleman who agreed that the pick system is flawed and was willing to discuss options for what I wanted to install. Having an idea of weight of the vehicle, intended use and what is important (wear, performance, look) will help find a solution. I wanted a fairly tall, narrow rear tire that wasn't a light truck style with off road tread, for example. Not easy when you are talking about 265/75R15. Your tires are even more specialized and narrow focus. You at least are willing to go with a bigger diameter wheel to get your desired outcome, but this requires balancing both wheel and tire selection. If you expect to replace in 5-10 years, it's also important to check into long term availability. The market keeps moving to larger diameter. I won't offer wheel options, they are very personal taste, but your desire to move the face out more in the rear can only be accomplished with spacers or a wider axle. It currently has the deep offset of a pro street look, which moves the forces on the outer axle bearing, increasing wear. Using a different offset wheel with spacers will be the same. You will have to decide if this is something you can live with. Another thing to consider is getting them in and out. Even if you have others deal with it, having to drop the rear axle low enough to remove the tire is going to be affected by your decisions.
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