Questions about rim/tire combo for an '84 c10

[KSTHANE]

Hi everyone,

I am new to the forum and am just now looking to make improvements to a truck I bought earlier this year. I am not a truck or vehicle expert in any way; I just grew up on a farm with trucks like this and now that I'm an adult I decided I wanted one. I bought this truck from an airport so it has been in a hangar for most of its life. As far as I can tell it was the most base model they sold that year and is probably totally stock.

I want to put some better wheels and tires on it but don't know how big it can actually accomodate without a lift kit. The bolt pattern is 5x127.

I'm sorry for this simple/stupid question, but can I buy 16 or 17 inch rims (I'm looking an Amazon.com for example, for wheels that "fit" my truck according to them) and some all season tires and expect them to actually fit in the wheel well? I'm really just looking for a much wider profile tire that is also wider circumference and fills the wheel well up a lot more.

Here are some pics of the truck from before I got it that show the current tires. Thanks in advance:

[85gmcguy]

Welcome!
Most would refer to the bolt pattern as 5 on 5" or 5 X 5. It's pretty common. With 15 X 8" wide you can go 255/60-15 pretty safely. Look around on Tirerack.com or something similar and you can compare heights/widths. If you figure "plus one" or "plus two" sizing you could probably go 265/50-16 or 275/40-17 without a problem, but compare heights and widths carefully and be careful with backspacing.

[bbbc10]

search the forum an u will find a lot of info.....

[jdl71]

Welcome! Looks like a pretty solid truck you found, well done! You might find it helpful to use a metric tire conversion calculator, like this. That will give you the tire size you are looking at in inches, after which you can go out to the truck with a tape measure and get an idea. The rears are not likely to be a problem fitting about anything, but the front is where you will need to do some measuring, with the wheels turned lock to lock. Make sure to measure both sides, with the wheels turned all the way each direction. And as mentioned, be aware of backspacing on whatever wheels you get, it can make a world of difference.

[KSTHANE]

Originally Posted by jdl71

Welcome! Looks like a pretty solid truck you found, well done! You might find it helpful to use a metric tire conversion calculator, like this. That will give you the tire size you are looking at in inches, after which you can go out to the truck with a tape measure and get an idea. The rears are not likely to be a problem fitting about anything, but the front is where you will need to do some measuring, with the wheels turned lock to lock. Make sure to measure both sides, with the wheels turned all the way each direction. And as mentioned, be aware of backspacing on whatever wheels you get, it can make a world of difference.

Thanks everyone. I went out and took some general measurements, not sure if I got exactly what I need. I turned the wheels from side to side and measured only about 3.5 inches of clearance from the inside of the wheel well when all of the way turned; same thing for the edge of the tire to the fender wall when turned as well. With that little of clearance on these 235/75/15's it seems like I might have trouble going very much bigger.

By the way, I tried searching the forum but there are so many random wheel threads that it makes it tough, and I don't really know exactly what terms to search so I apologize again for these questions.

[LT7A]

Welcome. Great truck. I think you might have trouble with specific Search terms but if you take a while and just browse people's 2WD threads where they are getting new wheels and tires, you will find a lot of options. Size-wise, I have seen guys running up to 275 60 15s. Your truck is cool just how it sits. So you may want to take your time, read about other people's projects, and find what you like. As 85gmcguy noted, if your wheel diameter increases, your sidewall height (aspect ratio) may have to decrease. And if you go taller, you may need to stay narrower.

[Malo83]

Depending on which rim size you run, 8" for the front and 10" for the rear

[KSTHANE]

Originally Posted by Malo83

Depending on which rim size you run, 8" for the front and 10" for the rear

Until browsing through some threads on here I didn't even know people put different size tires on front/back. Is there a functional benefit to doing that or is it just for looks? Any pics of a setup like that so I can judge?
Posted via Mobile Device

[TwoFiftyShifter]

255/70 is cool tire on an 8 inch rim. Comes in 15 and 16".

[bbbc10]

I had 15x10s in the back and 15x8 up front rear tires was 275/60/15 an front tire was 255/60/15 an i was lowered 5 in front an 6 back

[KSTHANE]

OK guys, I have four of these in my Amazon cart. 16x8's. I haven't picked out tires yet but based on all of the research I did over the weekend and based on your answers here I think I'll be able to find tires that fit on these rims that don't end up requiring me to do a fender trim or anything.

You can tell me if I'm wrong.

[KSTHANE]

I'm just hoping for some kind of signal that I'm not making a huge mistake here. I am planning on getting the rims above and then adding some 255/70/16 wheels to them. These will go on both the front and the back. I do not want to make any modifications to the body, lift, etc.. at this time. Does anyone think I will have a problem with this setup?

[Malo83]

Classic look, with the 4" BS you should be good to go, me I would go with a wider tire.

[KSTHANE]

I would like to get wider tires as well. I'm worried that if I go up to 275 on 16inch rims that it won't fit. When my current wheel is turned all the way to a side there is only 3" of clearance; the bigger rim takes away 1" of that.

A 275/70/16 is 31.2" tall and 11" wide; my current setup (235/75/15)is 9.3" wide and 29" tall. It looks like I may be able to get away with a 265/70/16 though.

[KSTHANE]

Originally Posted by KSTHANE

I would like to get wider tires as well. I'm worried that if I go up to 275 on 16inch rims that it won't fit. When my current wheel is turned all the way to a side there is only 3" of clearance; the bigger rim takes away 1" of that.

A 275/70/16 is 31.2" tall and 11" wide; my current setup (235/75/15)is 9.3" wide and 29" tall. It looks like I may be able to get away with a 265/70/16 though.

I ended up going with 265/70/16. I really like the way the combo looks, plus the truck sits higher and steers better. Somehow the front wheel caps already broke though but I didn't realize it until after I got home from the installer so I don't know what happened.
Posted via Mobile Device

[J Knight]

It's hard to look at upside down.

[cadillac_al]

That truck sure had an easy life on "the farm". Nice solid truck.

[KSTHANE]

Originally Posted by cadillac_al

That truck sure had an easy life on "the farm". Nice solid truck.

Ha, as you can see it was sold to me by an airport. My assumption was that because it was in a hangar it would have both been well taken care of and would have way less rust than an average old truck. The only bad rust is right under the cab corners. Those streaks on the side of the truck came from me as I sideswiped myself...ugh.

My next cosmetic change to the truck will be to swap out the grill. Should be easy except I fussed for an hour with trying to get the screw at the bottom of the grill out to no success so I gave up. Eventually I'll have it repainted. I kind of like the safety orange so I'll stick with that (I painted that toolbox a safety blue).

When I have it repainted I want to put a tailgate from a '79 on there since I like the centered letters more than the offset letters on the current tailgate. I'll have to modify something to get it to latch though, there's a rubber bumper on the current truck that doesn't allow it to latch, that or I would have to cut out a section of the old tailgate to get it to work.

I'm not sure how that earlier pic came in upside down but here it is fixed:

[Malo83]

My 83