Safe clearance between tire and bedside?

[JJorgensen52]

Hey all, looking for advice.

I'm in the middle of a build on my '50 GMC and I am planning to use a 4WD s10 rear axle in it, but this has got me muddled up over wheels, tires and backspace.

I was looking at running a 215/70R16 on a 16x7 with 3" backspace. The tire has an 8.9" section width on that rim, which gets me to about 4" of tire inside the wheel mounting surface.

My axle measures 59 1/4" wide WMS - WMS, and the bed is 50" wide between the wheels.

Long story short: My combo is sitting right now with just a shade over 3/4" spacing between the tires and the beside.

Is 3/4" enough? What are y'all running? I'm used to running about 1-1/4" - 1-1/2" but those are 4x4/work trucks. This is going to be pretty much strictly a cruiser.

[octanejunkie]

3/4" is pretty close for comfort.
Are you running a rear sway bar?

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by octanejunkie

3/4" is pretty close for comfort.
Are you running a rear sway bar?

I am using a 67-72 style coilover suspension with a panhard bar, but wasn't planning to use a rear sway bar as well

[Tree-50]

I'm not sure what all is included in the flex of the metal but I would think there is a little more wiggle room than a brake caliper, that being said, in theory once it clears IT SHOULD clear forever, there should be no movement once all bolts are tight. I ran a set of wheels on a BT car with about the width of a dollar bill between caliper and wheel face.. but again, a caliper is a little more "set in place" than a bed I guess.

[JJorgensen52]

I don't imagine the bed will move, I'm worried about suspension shift under load or cornering. I think I may just migrate to a shorter tire to get my section width down a bit. I was shooting for a 28" diameter on a 16" rim (for the factory look) but the backspacing to get the 1.5" of clearance I'd like isn't something I'm comfortable with