275 width fitment. Who Has'm or Has Tried?

[wilnutt]

Has anyone managed to get 275s under the rear? If so, what size wheels and tires are you running? Did to make any adjustments to the body or chassis? Trying to find a wide whitewall drag radial that will fit. The smallest width I can find is 275.

[rmk57]

With a 255/ 60/ 15 M/T Street radial R mounted on 8.5 Centerline auto drags with 4 7/8 b/s I have 3/4" to the leaf spring and slightly over an inch
to the fender lip. I did trim the lip slightly, took off maybe 3/8".  M/T specs say 10.3 section width mounted on a 8" wheel and a 275 has a 11.1 section width.
You would have roughly 3/8 per side with a 275, maybe a bit more if you mounted them on a 7 inch wheel. Not sure what kind of contact patch you would have
on a 7 inch wheel though. If you folded the lip and have the correct b/s wheel you may get 1/2" per side.

[octane]

Hello, new to the forum, first post....

I have 275/60/15 tires under the rear of my 57 Custom.  The wheels are 6.5 wide, I can't remember the back spacing.  However, I do have to take the shocks loose to get the tires off.  I didn't modify anything to get them to fit.  I'm not sure if the fender lip has been trimmed before.  I have only recently bought this car, had it for almost a month now.

[RICH MUISE]

Welcome to the forum. Any indication that the p o had the case narrowed? What wheels? The backspace would be the main consideration here. A lot of aftermarket wheels decrease the backspace as whe wheel gets wider. Seems backwards to me, but I was trying to get 8" wheels for the back, but none were available with the backspace I needed in the wheel styles I liked. Disc brakes?
When you're ready for new rear shocks, if you change to '56 rear shocks, they will allow the rear end to drop far enough to change most tires without having to unbolt anything. Plenty of threads here on that mod if you run a search. In the search, watch for posts by Jim (crap, my memory just ran a blank on his last name), he's the one that came up with the change.

[octane]

This is the first 57 I've owned or worked on.  So, from what I see, I don't think the rear housing has been narrowed.  When I bought the car it had polished torq thrust wheels with 215 and 235 tires front and rear.  The steel wheels that are on the car now, came with it when I bought it.  I measured the back spacing before putting them on, but I can't remember what it is.  The car still has drum brakes on the rear.  The 275's are tight, but there is still clearance.  I haven't had a tire rub in the rear yet...... yet.

I have looked at some posts on the '56 shocks.  I'm going to check into those.  Thanks.

[rmk57]

  How much room do you have towards the front, at the dogleg ? As far as shocks go I used 79-8? Mustang. Just use an adapter to go from stud to eye on the bottom of the shock. Nice thing about the Mustang shock is there everywhere and the compression / rebound specs are more than enough for 57 fords. I use Strange single adjustable's that seem to work pretty well.

[RICH MUISE]

Do they also give the extra drop that helps with the tire changes?

[gasman826]

I have 255-55-17 front and rear on 9" wheel width.  These tires are as big as I can have on the rear without rubbing.  The inside of the tire is less than 3/4" from the leaf springs and 1/2"+ on the much trimmed outer lip.

[octane]

This is a side shot of my car.  I'll try to get a picture from underneath tomorrow showing the tire in the wheel well.  I think the narrower wheel may help pull the side walls in some.

[rmk57]

  Nice looking car you got there. What engine, trans do you have in it?

Never mind I see you have in the members rides section.

[octane]

Ok, as I said earlier, I hadn't had any tire rubs yet.  Well, that ended Saturday.  I do have a small rub when I make a right hand turn.  I'm thinking maybe a rear sway bar would help that some.  But, it is VERY tight around the outer lip.  I can get a finger between the tire and quarter on the drivers side, but not the passenger side.  So, I have a little work to do to keep the 275's on there.  Here's a couple pics of the passenger side rear tire...

[hiball3985]

This not unusual, many people have noticed that the bodies don't sit exactly on center and are shifted to one side a little more, or possibly the way the axle housing was made?

[gasman826]

ain't rubbin'...ain't big enough

[lalessi1]

ain't rubbin'...ain't big enough

Well that comment inspired me!!! Thanks Gary. I took delivery of my 275/60 x 15 Cooper tires yesterday. my 8 x 15, 5.25" BS wheels are out for powder coating (black). BTW Wheel Vintiques quoted 6-8 weeks to ship but I got the wheels inside of 2 weeks. I will keep all posted... 

[RICH MUISE]

Please do, and remind us of what, if any, mods to the back end to help accommodate the tires.....shortened differential, disc brakes, narrowed lip, etc etc