Thread: Could use a little wheel help. currently pro street, going pro touring? 41 willys P/U

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Hey guys I could use some insight with where to go, and maybe a little schooling with some offset. The truck was put together as a pro-street truck at some point. I like the look, and was shopping for another set of back tires for it. Come to find out BF Goodrich was the only ones that made the size that the truck was built with. I could go to a standard size tire but it really wont fill the fenderwell properly from what I have been reading. The original tire was a traction T/A 345/55/15.

Recently the pro touring look has taken shape, and I must admit that I'm a fan. I think I could probably fit a 19" wheel under the back and probably a 17 or 18 in the front. The front is no issue, the back however...I have no idea. I have a decent amount of offset in the back but I have no idea how to measure it.

Secondly where should I be going to look for wheels? Tire rack used to be my go to, but they are kind of useless in the street rod world.

Depending on how wide the tires are now and how much the rear was narrowed, you may have trouble finding a wheel/tire combo.
Things you may want to think about..........are you going to run road courses? is going to a bigger rim going to interfere with fender clearances both in front and rear?
Don't take this the wrong way , but I personally like the look of an old Willys with the fat tire look, like an old drag car.
I think you may find it will be somewhat costly trying to change the car to run those bigger rims.

Measure from the back of the rim to the mounting surface that contacts the rear drum. That's the back spacing. Google wheel backspacing and you'll get plenty of info.

How wide the tire and wheel can be depends of the space between the fender and the inner fender well and how much clearance that you consider adequate.

One thing that I found out is a large diameter tire might not be able to be removed easily, if the fender opening is much smaller than the tire diameter.

On my car, I was told that 10" wide wheels with a 4.5 inch back space would work, but when I tried to mount the 295/45/20 (30.5" diameter) tires on the car, they would not go on, without disconnecting the lower coil-over mounting bolt, removing the brake flex lines and the driveshaft, to drop the rear end really low. If you have really wide tires (like 18-22"), and a fender opening that's smaller than the tire diameter, it may be the only way to get the tires on and off. Tires like that require a narrowed rear end and a modified frame, to keep the tires under the fender.

I had 1-1/4" clearance between the tire and inner fender well, but 1/8" or less between the fender and the outer face of the tire. I was able to slot the mounting holes for my rear fenders and move them out about 3/8" to get the clearance I needed on the outer face of the tire.

Like Chopt50wgn says, the PO went to a lot of expense to narrow the differential and tub the bed for those wide wheels & tires. I expect that to put on what you're calling ProTouring tires you'll be looking at replacing the rear differential with one that's not been narrowed so severely. This is one of those design features that's worked out very, very early in the planning stage of the project, and changing is likely not going to be easy, or cheap. The only way to know is to take off a wheel & tire and start measuring backspace/offset then get on the horn with the wheel guys. Good luck with your quest.

Thanks guys, yea after some research I'm going to stick to what I have. I just need to get someone to make a tire or something

A lot of places sell Mickey Thompson tires that are 18-22" wide. Even the 18" require 15" wide rims. Those can run $1000 each. Here's a link to Newstalgia.

Sportsman SR

Here's some link to episodes of Trucks! TV show, where they built a Pro Street '37 from Downs (no longer in the body/chassis business). The first episode is TK2007-14, where they go to the Downs factory and bring the roller back to their shop.

Starting Project Hot Rod Truck | Trucks! | PowerBlockTV.com - Video
A Train for Project HRT | Trucks! | PowerBlockTV.com - Video
Project HRT Part 4 | Trucks! | PowerBlockTV.com - Video

Project HRT Part 5 | Trucks! | PowerBlockTV.com - Video

Body Work for Project HRT | Trucks! | PowerBlockTV.com - Video

HRT & Ron Covell Metal Shaping Lesson | Trucks! | PowerBlockTV.com - Video

Originally Posted by 1923tbucket

Thanks guys, yea after some research I'm going to stick to what I have. I just need to get someone to make a tire or something

Check Hoosier - Hoosier Racing Tire - Tires Designed For Champions