tire width question AGAIN!!!

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tire width question AGAIN!!!

Postby grumpy d-bone » Fri Dec 28, 2007 5:42 pm

ok guys im really not wanting to hack up a good vega as told to me the other day, whats the widest tire wheel combo with back spacing i can run in my 72 gt vega and keep the tires inside the frnder lip? have a ford 9in rear end locker but factory specs on length, THIS QUESTION AGAIN!!!! i know but im on the fence on what to do hack and back 1/2 for a street car? part time racer? or leave rearend alone and rum not as wide have 10in on rear now but stick out 3in... thoughts?
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Postby flracer » Fri Dec 28, 2007 6:20 pm

Donnie ive got 15x7 rallies [with 4" offset ]on my 77 with 235/60r15 .They clear good no scrubbing but not much room to spare.Had 15x8.5 slots with these tires hit a small dip wheel lip ruined my left rear tire.This is with stock springs and untouched wheel lips no air shocks.
I dont see anything wrong with mini tubbing your car or modifying for more tire.Look at the red 74 posted few days ago that is a nice looking car.Vinny [L79 racer] same thing nicely done and looking car not hurt.
Also mailed frame print out this morning.


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Postby speedphreake » Fri Dec 28, 2007 9:46 pm

I would suggest getting 7" wheels, frame connectors and atleast 8 point roll bar and have fun with it. As others have said, you don't really need a big tire except for looks with what your doing. I'm attempting 1,000 hp on stock suspension and 9" tires and still have a back seat for my daughter to ride in.
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Postby BigTruckDriver » Sat Dec 29, 2007 2:17 am

I think you might have to get under the car for that one. I could not say what size and back spacing you need. You should get out the old trusty tape measure and check what you got.

Just put you a small slick for now and go drive it and have fun.
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Postby cosvega76 » Sat Dec 29, 2007 9:35 am

I have had 235/60-15s and 265/50-15s on the back of my Vega with 15x7 Center Lines with 3-5/16" backspacing. Currently, I have 245/40-17s on 17x8 Center Lines with 3-1/2" backspacing. The wheel openings are flared on mine, though, the 17s would probably be better with a 4" backspace with unflared openings.

Chuck
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To TUB or not to TUB.....

Postby 70styleVega » Sun Dec 30, 2007 6:02 pm

When I came to H-body.org, one of the first things that I became aware of was the number of relatively quick H-cars with stock wheelwells. As stated before, tire technology has come a long way. I've decided also not to tub or mini-tub my Vega.

Because of the traction bars in the the photo of your car, I'm assuming that yours is a factory 4-link like mine.

10secvega's setup does a pretty good job of "filling up the wheelwells", and laying down decent ETs (10.68 1/4mile) using 26 x 10.5 ET Streets. If you follow any of the 10.5 doorslammer racing, you already know that racers are laying down high 7 second/ low 8 second ETs on 10.5 slicks routinely, with optimized factory type suspensions.

Why don't you copy 10secvega's tire combo, in conjunction with the adjustable rear suspension upgrade of your choice (torque arm, ladders bars, 4-link upgrade). There are a lot of members that could advise you in dialing in whatever you select.

Also, there are mock up devices available to help you select wheel backspacing once you have determined your tire, so you can see the space your wheel/tire combo will take up BEFORE you buy the tires or the rims. Or if you have the time you can make a cardboard cutout of the tire cross-section, based on catalog info like I did.
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to TUB or not to TUB....

Postby 70styleVega » Mon Dec 31, 2007 10:42 am

I forgot to mention....

WITH REGARDS TO TIRE DIAMETER, based on what I've seen here on H-body.org and my limited experience, 26 inches is about the maximum diameter you can install inside a stock Vega wheelwell without trimming it.

WITH REGARDS TO TIRE WIDTH, the 10.5 section width is about as wide as will fit in a stock Vega wheelwell, as previously mentioned.

In 15, 16 and 17 inch tire sizes there is a lot to choose from close to a 26 diameter x 10.5 section. The H-body.org FAQ also list rear tire sizes that have worked for members. You will likely have to run an 8 inch rim width with a backspacing that will give you about 1 inch clearance (minimum) between the tire and the inner wheelwell.

Because every car has minor differences, once you have selected a tire size it is worth the time to do a mock-up and make sure you like how it looks.
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Postby spyder_xlch » Mon Dec 31, 2007 12:07 pm

Grumpy, don't let others tell you not to cut up your car. Look at Chuck's Vega above. Nice looking car and even with the flaired wheel openings it definatly doesn't look cut up. It's true you can run fast with out having to "cut" it up but if you want the big tire look, then go for it. It's your car and you want it to look how you want it to look.
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Postby 76Nomad » Tue Jan 08, 2008 12:37 am

Thank you for the picture. Are those the 17's? I was looking to put 17's on my '76 Vega Nomad.
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Postby BigTruckDriver » Tue Jan 08, 2008 3:47 pm

First pic on my stock rear end vega 75 I got 11 inches to the fender well lip. That does not mean a 11" wide tire would fit. You could use a tire with a SIDEWALL width of about 9.5-10"The wheel in the second pic is 8 3/4" wide , side wall to side wall (not tread , tread is 7 3/4"). Theres a body line about 5" from the lower edge and the total opening here is 26 1/2". There is plenty of travel up and down and dont know that stock height tire and suspension would even come close to hitting unless your car squats about 3" in the rear at launch. At stock height you could probably get away with a 12 wide tire on a stock height suspension, since there is so much up and down travel(clearance). Do you want to tuck the tires or go with the wide tire sticking out the sides look?

Someone should make a tire and stance sticky? Tire sizes and car height specs with photos if possible.
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Postby grumpy d-bone » Tue Jan 08, 2008 3:50 pm

BIGTRUCK, whats this size tire and rim? are you going larger?
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Postby JohnP » Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:15 pm

grumpy,

For what its worth. I have 275/50/15's on 15x8 wheels with 4 3/4 backspacing on my Vega.

It has a 12-bolt rear which I believe is the width of a stock rear. Wheel wells are stock. These tires are a bit wide, but with the flares that are on my car, its ok. With the stock wheel wells it probably would not look good sticking out a lot.

I had a hard time figuing out what would fit, and really was sweating when the tires arrive, but once mounted they fit ok, and I really like the old school raked look.

Image

Image
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Postby grumpy d-bone » Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:18 pm

WHERE DID YOU GET THE FENDER FLARES? they look cool
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Postby JohnP » Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:21 pm

they were on the car when I got it.
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Postby rustorbust » Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:40 pm

If you are running the stock springs and suspension in the car it will squat alot. My car was squating enough to have the tires rub at the front of the wheel opening and the rearend yoke was hitting the tranny tunnel. Thats when I ended up putting the f-body bags in the springs and it corrected it all.

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