Rim size

[Djweaz]

Struggling with trying to find the right size rim for my 59. Some don't or won't like my choice in rims, I do so I guess that's what matters. My problem I'm having is size and look and if it will need adapters or not. I've seen all kinds of sizes with or without adapters. I've even seen some posting that a particular size didn't need an adapter when I know it does. Those would be the 17 & 18 inch mustang bullet style rims. The previous owner tried on a pair of them and the backs worked the fronts needed adapters, which is what most people have said. One of the problems that is worrying me is I have 15" stock steel rims and hubcaps ( I know it came with 14" rims)I've had to take those rims off to work on the brakes and it was rough getting the rears on and off. I've read that the biggest problem is the front rims fitting. I have had cars that have rims and tires that were ill fitting. Either rubbing or when turning and I don't was to sink a bunch of cash and find that I've gotten the wrong size. The look I'm trying to go for is not on off those don't cars with huge rims. I want to modernize the look and yet keep it classic. The way I see doing this is letting the close to the ground look work with it. I want to fill in the wheel well a little more. I think the 17/18 inch mustang rim is too small. I don't know if 20 is the size though. I want chrome not polished or grey. 5 star like cragar ss is what i like so I'm not looking for bulging rims. I like them to sit back in the rim. I would rather not use adapters but if I have to I have to. Im just having a hard time visualizing 20 inch rims in the back with 10 inch wide knowing how much of a pain it is with 15 inch rims. The 1st 5 red birds love the stance wheel and tire size and is my second favorite rim. The black one is first choice in rim stance and tire & rim size. The peach one is much too low but I like the rim and tire combo and would be my 3 choice. The white one is the one with 20x10 rear rims. But the rims bulge too much for me. The last one is a nice look it looks like a mustang rim to me. It's too small and I don't think there is a lot of thinking putting a mustang rim or one that looks like and is associated with a mustang.

[Djweaz]

Additional views
Yellow is mustang rims
Black is sweet and a top choice
Grey I like the stance rims and tires but if I did this I might as well do chrome cragar ss instead of polished aluminum here

The burgundy and blue are just eye candy

All of these cars are sweet and not knocking them it's just what I am looking for what I like.

[simplyconnected]

Rob, the best rims are the ones you buy. It's like paint color or any kind of personal choice.

I tend to be more practical or 'utility' in my choice because I've seen too many beautiful rims ruined by a pot hole (that shouldn't be there).

I was in Chicago on Interstate 94 when I saw a full size Chevy with huge rims run over one. I could tell the pot hole came up so fast the driver had no chance to avoid it. BAM!... flap, flap, flap... $400 bucks blown... all the way to the shoulder of the road, then he had to fix it.

The kicker is, everyone else's car hit the same hole with no consequence because their tires were tall, with a margin of cushion between the tire and rim.

I guess show cars are different because they rarely travel the roads. My two cents. - Dave

[Ford351c594]

for me its the biggest rim that can fit with the skirt...... Just my 2 cents... If I get mine back from storage, I'll post some pics of the wheels on it. Its 20x8s on front and 20x10s on rear.

[Yadkin]

A discussion of rim size that fits isn't worth a dime without discussing backspace. Thus the "adapters" referred to in one of the posts here. In this post I found some good information, including dimensions for the old letter tire designations and a backspace visualizer.

Dave brings up a good point with regards to these low profile wheel and tire combinations. Also, I think that you'll degrade ride quality unless you do some major modifications to your suspension.

Last, and of course this is only personal preference, I never liked Bullitt type wheels on our cars. I love them on a Mustang, in fact own a set for my 2005. For mine I chose the classic wire wheels with white walls. Coker sells them relatively inexpensive, mine fit perfectly (although I lack skirts) and run down the road smoothly. Also the whitewalls, since they are so uncommon these days, fool my eye into thinking I have much larger rims and low profile tires. Pictures of mine vs. the OE hubcaps with blackwall tires here.

[Thunderherd]

A discussion of rim size that fits isn't worth a dime without discussing backspace. Thus the "adapters" referred to in one of the posts here. In this post I found some good information, including dimensions for the old letter tire designations and a backspace visualizer.

Dave brings up a good point with regards to these low profile wheel and tire combinations. Also, I think that you'll degrade ride quality unless you do some major modifications to your suspension.

Last, and of course this is only personal preference, I never liked Bullitt type wheels on our cars. I love them on a Mustang, in fact own a set for my 2005. For mine I chose the classic wire wheels with white walls. Coker sells them relatively inexpensive, mine fit perfectly (although I lack skirts) and run down the road smoothly. Also the whitewalls, since they are so uncommon these days, fool my eye into thinking I have much larger rims and low profile tires. Pictures of mine vs. the OE hubcaps with blackwall tires here.

Wow! Nice looking Bird!

[Yadkin]

Thanks! It's been a lot of work, and I got a lot of good advice from this forum!

[Djweaz]

That was a good website. Thanks. It had specific sizes That fit exactly the 58,59,60 birds. 18x7 will fit perfectly without any adapters. That's the way I would rather have it. I know 20 inch rims will fit as well but I don't know if they need adapters or not

[dgs]

I love your selection of images, the Squarebird looks fantastic will new wheels and maybe a bit of lowering. Interestingly, that black one in your first post isn't my car but it's my picture (salguod.net is my website) and that's my uncle in the shot.

I put Boyd Coddington Junkyard Dogs on mine several years ago. Like you, I wanted bigger but wanted to respect the old style. Modern very low profile "rubber band" tires just don't look right to me.

One of the things I thought about was the white wall on the originals. With 14" wheels and 2 1/4" white walls you've got about 18 1/2" of "bright" in the center of the wheel. So a 17" - 18" wheel feels about right to me (I kinda wish I had gone 18" with mine.) The factory tires were between 27 5/8" and 28 1/8" tall, so even at 17" and 18" you need meaty tires to fill the wheel wells. My 55 series tires are a common size on some modern SUVs and yet are still a bit short compared to the originals.

Mine are 17" x 8" all around with zero offset and 235/55R17 Pirellis. Offset and backspace are two different ways to measure the same things - where the mounting surface of the wheel is in relation to the width. Offset is the distance from the center of the wheel width, backspace is the distance from the back wheel lip.

Offset is the spec usually used by tire shops and wheel manufacturers, but there's no way to easily measure it on the wheel. And, because backspace measures to the outside of the lip and the wheel width is to the inside, there's not an easy way to even convert from one to the other. I believe that my wheels have about 1/4" wheel lip, so a zero offset is about 4 1/4" backspace for mine.

What I do know is they fit fine with almost no rubbing. At extreme LH lock I get a very little rubbing on the heads of the steering box mount bolts. They are a bit of a challenge to get on and off in the rear. You have to get the car up in the air pretty high and let the axle drop. Then slide the bottom of the tire, tilted toward you with the wheel facing down, under the axle and rotate it up into the wheel well. More width will make that harder but a larger diameter should make it easier.

Once installed, there's room for more than my 8" wide wheels (and the 235 tires are 9 3/8" wide) in the rear with the skirts installed. There isn't much more room up front, though.

Here are a couple of pics of my setup:

[c4clewis]

You are right. 4.25 to 4.5 inch backspace on 17x8's fit well.

[RustyNCa]

Well, I'm the yellow 58 with the bullits and I can say I had to run a front spacer with them to clear the spindle or the upper a arm, it's been so long ago I can't remember which it was now.

The rear clears everything fine, it's just a pain to pull them off the car.

It's all personal likes, I tend to think 17" look about right on the squarebirds. 18" maybe, I personally feel like 20" are getting in the realm of not enough sidewall.

Cheers
RustyNCA