Thread: 1955 Chevy Wheel Size ????

Tweet

Hello,
I am new to this forum. Thanks for the help in advance. I am trying to buy my dad wheels for his 55 chevy for Christmas. He has a stock rearend. What I am wanting to do is put American Racing Torque Thrust II's, 16x8 on the rear and 16x7 on the front. I'm not too concerned about the front but the rear on a 55 seems pretty tight. I'm sure with as popular as these wheels are there has to be someone who has done the same thing. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Dennis

In addition to what the older than me geezer suggested, you need to consider several factors. I've had both a '55 and '56 with eight inch wide wheels, 3 3/4 back space, in the rear. Both were doable, but required a little "massaging" of the rear wheel opening lip, meaning they had to be "flattened" a little on the back side. Beyond that, it will depend on the aspect ratio of the tire used, and cross section width. Also, these cars are not all built the same from one to the other. Some have less clearance than others, even from side to side on the same car. And that is true even if they've never been hit. If the car has been damaged, especially directly in the quarter panel, it may not have been returned to it's exact, original position. It's also possible to jack out the wheel opening a small amount without altering the appearance of the quarter panel. However, this is best left to someone who knows how to do it (in other words, EASY DOES IT). In front, seven inch wheels, with standard offset, can be a bit wide, again depending on tire size and how much lowering has been done. Usually they hit at the top center of the wheel opening at the extremes of turn in, especially when entering a drive apron. If the tire "hooks" it will roll out the wheel opening lip, or any trim that is in that area.

Thanks uncle Bob, would we be better off using a 16x7's front and rear or 16x6's on the front ???? He currently has 15x7 Crager Street stars with 235R60-15 Goodrich TA's on it. I was planning on staying with about the same diameter and about the same tread with.
Gift certificates are nice but I want to see his eye's light up when he see's them Christmas morning.
Dennis

It isn't about the wheel diameter, as long as you're maintaining the same, or very similar, overall tire diameter and profile. It's about offset, offset, offset. Use what's there now as a guide. Get the current offset, see how much clearance you have in and out, and then extrapolate from there. If the current 7's have a 3 3/4 backspace and you don't have an inch clearance to the wheel opening, then you won't be able to go to 8" with the same backspace. You'll either need more backspace, or stick with the 7". You might want to spend some time with a local wheel shop guy and get an education you can see rather than read, or go to the websites for wheel manufacturers, most of them have diagrams explaining these principles. Sorry, I don't have a silver bullet to speed up your learning curve, but at least you can build on this.

Thanks Bob,

If I can keep him out of my garage, I'm gonna pull them off tonight and take some measurements.

Dennis

I know you already have some excellent advise, but if you wanted to add some additional room for a wider rear rim/tire you can install leaf spring pockets. It moves the sprimgs parallel to the frame and will not raise or lower the car. By keeping the springs parrallel you gain the extra space to put up to a 12" wide wheel and 13" wide tire with no problem. Again you must watch that backspacing. Classic Chevy International and others sell the Spring Pocket Kits. I run a 17"x9" Torque Thurst II wheel with 10" Komo's, but I was looking for a specific look on the car when lowered and with a 4-link rear-suspension. Clearance isn't a problem, but if I could do it over I'd redo my backspacing different to get it a bit wider for when I race. I didn't work the backspacing to my advantage. Like previously stated it's backspacing, backspacing, backspacing

If you want to see the 55 with the Torque Thurst II's here my web site with some pic's http://www.geocities.com/fpayne55

Also, Bob's comment about watching the front with 16"x8" is correct. I thought the same thing about the rear and didn't focus on the front as much. I run 16"x8" and had problems. Mine were partly due to the first guy who had the car put a 68 Chevelle front clip on it, which widened the front by approximatly 3/4". However, don't just assume this well fit with the standard backspacing. Check it out. I've had to do numerous things to get it right, when a little more checking up front could have save me some headaches. I've learned hard that lesson on backspacing.