Wheel and tire set up

[eflow]

Hey ya'll, I'm putting together a new narrowed 9" rearend and I have to start making some final decisions on parts. I've decided to go with a retro-classic cheater slick instead of a modern street/strip tire. At this point I'm not sure about a certain spec. This tire-

www.coker.com/store/customer/product.php?productid=18288&cat=360&page=1

-will fit an 8" or a 10" wheel. That's fine since my Torque Thrusts come in both sizes. But what is really the difference between wheel widths or is there one? Is there an advantage of going with one size of the other? Or is this all just aesthetics?

[w2zero]

Have you looked into the backspacing available on the wheels? Centering the wheel laterally in the wheelwell is a must. A lot depends on how high or low the car is too. I have seen 10" Cragars on Fairlanes that were not rubbing but the car was sitting pretty high too. Be sure to do a lot of homework on the narrowing too as the offset, backspace, tire section and ride height all have to work together. Don't forget that everything can work out on paper and you still won't be able to get the tire on or off the car without dropping the shocks and shackles.

[Meteorgirl]

Looking at the specs of that tire, old drag racer hubby says that it will sit best on a 9-10 inch wheel. The 8 inch will work but you will have to run a little less air so the tire won't crown. For a slick like that , you want the rim width as close as possible to the tread width although the tall sidewalls will help compensate. The section width is the measurment at the outermost bulge of the sidewalls on the proper rim size. Tiire specs usually list section width based on a certain wheel.
BTW, man that's a tall tire. Are you adding some extra gear?

[STU]

I think a 10" wide rim is gonna be a tight fit in a stock meteor wheel-well, I have 14x8's on the rear with my narrowed 9" diff and they still rub slightly if I hit a bump the right way.

[eflow]

Stu - I'm going to have to open the well up a little with some minitubs. Right now I have 15x7's and they rub as well.

W2 - It is not going to be sitting too low. I'm going for a 60's gasser look so it won't be scaping the pavement at all.

Meteorgirl - Thanks for the rim/wheel size info. It is a taller tire than some. But this is what a door slammmer funny would have used if someone had run a Meteor in the factory experimental classes. I've seen this tire used on a few Fairlanes and it loooks cool. I haven't decided on the final gear ratio, though. It will definately be higher than its current 3:50 setup.

[jonesfactor]

I just picked up a set of prostars with 10.4 wide 29.1 tall tires, they are a TIGHT fit but they look funkin mean.... i dont think youll be able to squeeze those 30.2's unless youre bringin the outer edge of the tire in 2 inches or so on each side. there isnt much clearance between the front of the wheelwells and the tires, its about 3/4 of an inch on the ground, 1/4 without the springs compressed. another note, i had to put the car on jackstands, drop the rear suspension, AND flatten the tire to get it in the wheelwell, but you may not have that problem if youre narrowing the housing. whats the flange to flange width of your new rear end going to be?

heres my aluminum head 351w lightning block mockup posing next to its soon to be home.. the demolition starts next weekend for the mustang II crossmember install

[w2zero]

Look here in "historic photo" to find the look. www.performanceking.com/
I know a gasser don't scrape the pavement. Remember, I was there and remember most of the sixties...........even though they kinda melted into the seventies.....

[eflow]

Thanks for the link W2. I love that website!

BTW, I wasn't saying that you didn't know what a gasser looked like. In fact you've been a huge resource. I was just ramblin off at the mouth.

[w2zero]

HUGE RESOURCE!!!! Dude, I'm tryin to lose weight............

[w2zero]

You could check these out too. www.radirwheels.com/slicks.htm

[w2zero]

And these guys too. www.hurstracingtires.com/index.html

[eflow]

I checked out those other two sites. I like 'em. They are a bit more expensive but they both offer a wider range of sizes. I'll need to look into street legality. The Coker cheaters are legal for street use and it looked like some of these are as well but it didn't say so.

But now after lookin around I may have to go white walls instead of black! They look way too cool!

Thanks again.